What is a service on Windows XP?

A service on Windows XP is a program that runs in the background offering services to other programs or performing tasks based on triggers and schedules.

Since a service is running in the background, it will not be visible on the desktop most of the time. But some services do show up as icons in the task bar near the bottom of the desktop. Because of this invisibility, you don't really know how many services are running on your Windows XP system.

Many virus or malware are designed to run as invisible services, so that you don't notice them easily. You need to review services on your Windows XP system regularly to disable or remove any suspicious services.

In most cases, a service will run as a process in CPU waiting for other programs to call it to handle a specific service. If there is no other program using the service, it will be idle is CPU and consume almost no CPU resources.

But some other services perform scheduled tasks. They will wake up and run time to time. If many of them are running, the system performance will be impacted. You need to review services on your Windows XP system regularly to stop or change schedules of those services to save CPU resources.

All services on Windows XP system are managed by the Service Control Manager. If you are creating a service yourself, you need to follow interface rules and protocols of the Service Control Manager,

The primary user tool to view and manage services on Windows XP is the Services console. It can be accessed by clicking "Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services".

⇒Introduction of Services on Windows XP

⇒⇒Windows XP Services Tutorials