Many dozens of services are often active in Windows. We show you how to check and manage it, also via the handy freeware ServiceTray.
Step 1
Here’s how to find out which services (background programs) are running in Windows at any given time. Open the task manager with Ctrl+Shift+Esc and go to Services. From the context menu you can now select a service (again) start or Stop.
Step 2
For more control, press the Windows key+R and enter services.msc from. Click at the bottom Advanced for additional information. Right click on a service and choose Properties to pause, start or stop it. You can also get it here Customize Startup Type or the service Switch off. Of course you only do that if you know what you are doing.
Step 3
If you only want to turn services on and off at specific times, you can ServiceTray be useful. After installing this free tool you start Configure ServiceTray on. Select the service you want to monitor, choose an icon and refer via Browse to the folder for the shortcut. By default it is in the folder Startup, so that ServiceTray starts with Windows. Confirm with Create Shortcut.
Step 4
Double click on the shortcut to launch it and the corresponding icon in the Windowssystem tray. Right click on this icon to start or stop the service. If this doesn’t work, right click on the saved shortcut, choose Properties, go to Compatibility and put a check next to Run this program as administrator.
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