Recommended security practice is to disable any services on your computer that you do not require. One of the ways that Hackers can gain access to your computer is by exploiting specific services. However, if the services aren’t running, they can’t be exploited.

Although a lot of services in XP and Windows Vista are now disabled by default, but there may be some additional ones that you will not require. If so, take a few minutes to disable them using the steps that are described below.

To disable a service in Windows Vista:

1. Open the Run command from the Start menu.

2. Type in services.msc. The Service Management Console will appear.
3. Scroll through the list of services to locate the one you want to disable.
4. Right click the service and click Properties.
5. Click the drop down arrow beside Startup type and click Disabled.
6. Click the Stop button to stop the service.
7. Click OK.
8. Repeat these steps for each service you want to disable.