Speed shutdown of Windows XP Pro by disabling Terminal Services

Speed shutdown of Windows XP Pro by disabling Terminal Services

Takeaway: Is Windows XP Pro grinding to a halt? Terminal Services may hold the key. Here's what you need to know about troubleshooting this complex applications system and disabling it if necessary.

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If your Windows XP Pro system slows or even stops when you shut it down, there's a good chance that Terminal Services is the reason. Users often overlook Terminal Services as a possible source of shutdown problems because it works quietly in the background.

Terminal Services is the brains behind such things as Remote Desktop, Remote Assistance, Fast User Switching, and Terminal Server. If you're not using any of these programs, you can disable Terminal Services. If you are using any of these programs, you can stop Terminal Services and reconfigure it to start up manually. Here's how:

1.Right-click My Computer and select Manage.
2.In the Computer Management window, open the Services And Applications branch in the left pane and click Services.
3.In the Services pane, locate and double-click Terminal Services.
4.In the Terminal Services Properties dialog box, click the Stop button and then set the Startup Type setting to either Disabled or Manual.
5.Click OK and then close the Computer Management window.
6.Restart Windows.

If you don’t find Terminal Services in the Services pane, or if it is there but is already disabled, or Windows still hangs during shutdown even after you change the Startup Type setting, then the source of your shutdown problem is not related to Terminal Services.

Note: This tip applies only to Windows XP Professional.