Disable Windows XP Services

To conserve memory, some services unneeded on a standalone XP desktop (mainly used for web access and some word processing) by setting the services to Disabled:
Alerter
Computer Browser
Shell Hardware Detection
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
SSDP Discovery Service
Server

Set to Manual:
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Security Accounts Manager
Smart Card

How to change service settings:
Start, Run..., services.msc, highlight a service, right-click, Properties.

PC Anti-Virus

Clamwin has been a trusted anti-virus solution for years. Clamwin stays resident, has scheduled scans, and integrates with Windows Explorer.

I tried the avast! solution on an older XP system.
The product installs a couple processes that start automatically as services, using about 25M or RAM. The avast! full boot scan is a great way to find and remove trojans. A few problems were found (in the recycle bin and in an old system restore point).








Results of full virus scan.




Due to RAM constraints of the older PC, I uninstalled the product after a boot-time trojan scan and full virus scan.

Windows XP Media Sharing CPU Usage

Using Windows XP, particularly after logon, sluggish performance and high CPU usage by wmpnetwk.exe may be noticed. Media Sharing uses the service provided by wmpnetwk.exe.

If you don't need media sharing for Windows Media Player, then the service does not need to be started.
Press the START button, RUN, and type: services.msc

Near the end of the list, highlight Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service. The STATUS will likely by "Started", and the STARTUP TYPE will likely be "Automatic".
Right-click the entry and choose "Properties".

Set "Startup type" to "Manual".  Press the "Stop" button to immediately stop the service, or wait until your next logon.

Disabling wmpnetwk.exe will save about 23,200K of memory.