Services
Set Windows service start types in the image - templates, tied components, and the services setup keeps protected.
Two tabs on the Settings page list the Windows services carried by the image. Services holds the same set Computer Management shows, and Extra Services holds the driver and hidden entries below it. Set a start type on any row and the change is queued for the next Apply, like on the other pages.
Beyond the shared Show entries, the service tabs add two axes of their own to the same drop-down: the Privacy, General and Lite template views, and the start states - Boot, System, Automatic, Manual and Disabled - to list the services currently set to one of them.
Start Types
Each row carries the service's start type rather than a tick box, so a service can be moved between running earlier, running on demand, and not running at all. Pick a value from the drop-down on the right, or press its first letter while the row is selected.
- Boot - starts with the kernel, before the rest of the system.
- System - starts during system initialization, after the boot drivers.
- Automatic - starts on its own once Windows is up.
- Manual - stays idle until something asks for it. The safe middle ground for a service you do not want running by default.
- Disabled - never starts, and anything depending on it fails to start too.
Prefer Manual over Disabled when you are unsure. A manual service costs nothing while nothing calls it, and still answers if something does.
Templates
The Template button on the toolbar sets a whole group of services in one click, sorted by severity: Privacy, General, Lite, and Not recommended. Each deeper level includes the one before it, so Lite covers what General and Privacy set.
A template appends to what you have already chosen rather than replacing it, so applying one never undoes a row you set by hand. To start over, reset the tab from the toolbar first.
Tied Components
Selecting a service shows its tied component in the description at the bottom of the page. A service whose component is already queued for removal is greyed out on the row, since the component removal takes the service with it - there is nothing left for a start type to act on.
The same link runs the other way through the Components page compatibility options: turning one on protects the components it needs, and the service rows tied to them follow.
Protected Services
Some services cannot be changed at all. A service that breaks a running Windows if misconfigured is locked on the row, and its description says so, naming basic functionality as what it is needed for. These stay locked everywhere, because the damage is not confined to setup.
A second group is dangerous only while Windows Setup is running - the installation hangs, or the out-of-box experience fails, if they are already off when setup starts. On an image these rows are editable: the value you pick is held back and applied at first boot of the installed system, once setup is out of the way, and the row description says as much.
- Editing an image - the row is editable and the change lands at first boot.
- A deployed system, or a boot and recovery edition - there is no first boot left to defer to, so the row stays locked instead.
Extra Services
The second tab lists the boot-critical and driver services, which are not shown in the Windows service UI at all. They mostly leave the image through component removal rather than through this list, so the tab is here for completeness and for a general overview of the driver payload the image carries.
Do not change anything on this tab unless you know exactly what the service does. The page shows the same warning while the tab is open.
Offline Image or Live Install
Both tabs work the same on an offline image and on the current installation loaded in live mode, so an existing Windows can be trimmed without reinstalling - see the Host Refresh guide for the live workflow, and the Windows Lite ISO guide for service trimming as part of a full lean build.