msconfig: understanding the difference between "disabled" and "stopped"

I'm new to Windows 11 (I'm currently running 23H2, 22631.3447); previously I used Windows 7.

I used Run... msconfig and clicked the Services tab to take a look at what's running in the background.

I see a huge list of services, the majority from Microsoft. Here's a sample of the long list:

Could you please help me to understand the difference between a service being "stopped" and a service being "disabled"?

• All of the services have a checkmark on the left-hand side. I think this means these services are enabled.
• Some services -- many, in fact -- have status "Stopped," listed on the right-hand side of the list.

What's the difference between disabled and stopped? Are the stopped services still using system resources (even if minimal)?

Is anyone aware of a resource (tutorial, website, etc) that will help me know what the services do, and which ones I can safely disable (uncheck)?

• For example, what in the world is Function Discovery Resource Publication and can I live without it?
• Similarly, what is GameInput Service? I don't typically play games (except for web browser-based games), so I can probably live without GameInput Service enabled. But if I would install games on my system, would I need to enable GameInput Service in order for some games to run properly on Windows 11?

In other words, how do I know which Microsoft bloatware I can uncheck in msconfig's Services tab? Do I have to learn by trial and error, or are there tutorials that can help me with this?

A stopped service just means that that service is no longer running but can be changed to a running state. If it has been set to disabled then it can't be started again until it has been enabled.

Each service will have a description associated to it, which usually gives a good indication of what that service might be used for, if you open services.msc then you'll be able to view that information.

I think you'll be quite hard pressed to find an official source about which services are safe to disable but you if you want to remove "bloatware" then look at removing any unnecessary programs and apps first, their services may be removed at the same time.

classic35mm said:

Is anyone aware of a resource (tutorial, website, etc) that will help me know what the services do, and which ones I can safely disable (uncheck)?

• For example, what in the world is Function Discovery Resource Publication and can I live without it?

Click to expand...

You can see a description of what each service is for if you look in Services rather than msconfig. Function Discovery Resource Publication is what lets other PCs on your network see your PC and any shares it may have. Function Discovery Provider Host lets your PC find and see other PCs on the network.

Exactly what x BlueRobot and Bree said. These services are not always stand alone services, either. Some services depend on other services and we do not know what all those dependencies are so what you may think is "bloatware" not always is. If you want to debloat as you call it, it's my recommendation changing services is not the way to do it.