What's the minimum set of processes needed to run Windows XP?

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2.
You can run XP with 2 processes.
No printing, no audio, no GUI (3 processes with GUI), but the majority of thigns work. You can browse the web, play games,(well, some games)
THats not including the system idle process, either.
All you *NEED* are System and crss.exe

http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/07/running-windows-with-no-services.html

Posted by: n3ldan at January 8, 2006 6:02 PM

Can you give me a set list of system critcal task, eg, explorer.exe

Posted by: CHRISPman at March 28, 2007 7:58 PM

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It depends on how you use your machine. Read the article - that's exactly what
it attempts to answer.

Leo
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Posted by: Leo Notenboom at March 29, 2007 7:07 PM

but whats the bare minimum, regardless of what you may be doing? whats the most efficient?

Posted by: Jon at August 31, 2008 6:12 PM

Why hasn;t anyone answered this question? IT simply states... whaich procexxex etc need to be on? Which don't? (If theses aren't running, windows won't run,) Which processes HAVE to be on? I would also like to know. Thanx much.

Because there is no answer. It differs based on your computer, your hardware, the software you may or may not have installed, and even your personal preferences. There is no one single answer. Sorry.

-Leo

Posted by: Timothy at September 12, 2008 7:45 PM

OK, ok... so I can "end prcess," "yes," on... explorer.exe in task manager and Windows should stay up and running? Thanx again.

It "should". But you shouldn't have to end explorer.exe unless there's some kind of problem you're trying to resolve an dof course that problem could have other side effects as well. Also note that if Windows is working properly, explorer.exe will automatically be restarted if you end it.

-Leo

Posted by: Timothy at September 13, 2008 4:03 PM

9 out of 10 xp setups will definatley need this lot as a minimum to operate:

* System Idle Process
* explorer.exe
* taskmgr.exe
* spoolsv.exe
* lsass.exe
* csrss.exe
* smss.exe
* winlogon.exe
* svchost.exe - There will be a few of these.
* services.exe

check this website for more detail:
http://billmullins.wordpress.com/windows-essential-processes-the-bare-minimum/

Posted by: billy bob at January 9, 2009 9:05 PM

Ok . I will give you an example . xp with a wampp server , what are the minimum services needed .

Posted by: Jannik at March 26, 2009 5:57 AM

if i can remove unwanted process from my machine
could my system get good performance ?

Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on the specifics of your machine and situation.

- Leo
04-Apr-2009

Posted by: Jayan at April 4, 2009 5:02 AM

i have a(?) application that won't run any more
after i disabled some(?) services and made some(?) manual start. why? i'm an idiot, but i digress.

questions is, how do i get back to a last known good state? are there recovery points?

or, is there some way to find out what service(s) an application needs that it doesn't have so it can run?

Posted by: Gene at April 18, 2009 2:59 AM

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