Windows XP does not offer a way to quickly switch between different service profiles. The only way would be to enable or disable all services manually which would be quite a lot of work. Service Profiles was an entry to the Donation Coder programming competition and it rightfully got a price there.
The PC Software, which comes in a 32-bit, 64-bit and Source Code edition for Windows XP, provides an easy to use interface to create Service Profiles. Let me explain where that could be useful: You might want to use a “fast” configuration to maximize system resources for an application, you also might want to create on profile to download and install updates from Microsoft and probably a third that uses all the services that you need in your daily routine.
The PC software asks you to create a backup of the current state which I would highly recommend. The main program interface displays the services with various information, a description pane and one that will contain the various profiles.
Each service is listed with its current state, start type, display name, description and a check box that can be used to change the active state and startup type for the selected service by right-clicking it. All the other services will be taken from the default profile and remain as is unless you change them as well.
The “play” button will activate a selected Services profile. The application developer has included sample profiles taken from Black Viper’s service configuration website which can be applied to the application as well.
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2 Responses to “Switch Between Different Service Profiles”
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[...] Windows XP/2000 only: Free Windows utility Service Profiles, crafted by helpful programmer Eóin at the Donation Coder site, lets you customize which background services are running or will fire up next time you boot your computer, saved into switchable setups. So if you need an ultra-light system for a high-intensity game, or just need to eliminate background distractions while working with a certain program, Service Profiles is a great alternative to manual tweaking or even re-installation. The coder even includes pre-built profiles derived from Black Viper’s well-known configurations. Service Profiles is a free download for Windows XP/2000 only. Service Profiles [Donation Coder Forums via gHacks] [...]
I have been using a program for years that does much the same thing and more in some ways. This program is called pserv.cpl and is available at http://p-nand-q.com/e/pserv.html
The program was written before we had 64 bit processors and appears to only support 32 bit processors. Still, because of familiarity, I like it. This new program is certainly a great one.