Windows services to disable

I have a Windows machine running these processes:[C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe winlogon.exe C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k DcomLaunch -p "fontdrvhost.exe" "fontdrvhost.exe" C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k RPCSS -p C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k DcomLaunch -p -s LSM C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceNetworkRestricted -p -s EventLog C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs -p -s ProfSvc C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs -p -s Themes C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted -p -s SysMain "LogonUI.exe" /flags:0x2 /state0:0xa3bf6055 /state1:0x41c64e6d "dwm.exe" C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted -p -s AudioEndpointBuilder C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalService -p -s FontCache C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceNoNetwork -p C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalService -p -s DispBrokerDesktopSvc C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceNetworkRestricted -p C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalService -p -s nsi C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted -p -s WwanSvc C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceNetworkRestricted -p -s Dhcp C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceNoNetworkFirewall -p C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k NetworkService -p -s LanmanWorkstation C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k appmodel -p -s StateRepository C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted -p -s TrkWks C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceNoNetwork -p -s DPS C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs -p -s WpnService C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalService -p -s EventSystem C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs -p -s UsoSvc C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs -p -s Winmgmt C:\Windows\system32\wbem\wmiprvse.exe cmd /c "wmic process list >> wmicFull_20251012_150122.txt" ] I have my own botnet running on the machine, so that botnet is to be trusted. The machine has no screen and does not need that because it is cotrolled by mu botnet. It runs a webserver using my own api. What can be tutned off?

Good question — Windows runs a lot of background services by default, and on a headless machine that you control remotely (e.g. via your botnet and a web API), many GUI-related and “user experience” services can safely be disabled to free up CPU/RAM and reduce attack surface.

Below is a classified breakdown of what you listed, grouped into:

🧠 Core / Keep running (critical OS or networking components — killing them will crash or hang the system)
🖼 GUI-related / Can disable on headless
📡 Optional / Depends on your usage

🧠 Must keep (critical for Windows operation)

Process / Service	Function
`lsass.exe`	Local Security Authority — authentication, credentials. Kill = immediate reboot.
`winlogon.exe`	Handles logon, secure attention sequence. Needed even headless.
`svchost.exe -k DcomLaunch` / `-k RPCSS`	Core RPC/DCOM, required by most Windows services.
`EventLog`	Needed for logging system events — some services refuse to start without it.
`ProfSvc`	User profile service — required for Windows to log in / run services under user contexts.
`nsi`	Network Store Interface — required for networking stack.
`Dhcp`	Needed if the machine uses DHCP for IP address assignment. If static IP: ✅ can disable.
`LanmanWorkstation`	Provides SMB client functionality. Usually required if connecting to shares.
`StateRepository`	Core Windows app state store. Some modern services depend on it.
`Winmgmt` + `wmiprvse.exe`	Windows Management Instrumentation — required for `wmic` and many monitoring tools.

Do not disable or kill these unless you plan to fundamentally re-engineer Windows startup.

🖼 GUI / Display related (can disable on headless)

Process	Function	Safe to disable
`fontdrvhost.exe` (x2)	Font drivers for GUI sessions	✅ on pure headless
`LogonUI.exe`	GUI logon screen	✅ if no interactive logon is ever needed
`dwm.exe`	Desktop Window Manager	✅ on a headless machine (non-RDP)
`Themes`	Windows themes service	✅
`SysMain` (Superfetch)	Prefetcher for user experience	✅ (saves disk I/O)
`AudioEndpointBuilder`, `FontCache`, `DispBrokerDesktopSvc`	GUI & multimedia services	✅

Tip: You can set these services to “Disabled” via sc config <service> start= disabled or Services.msc. On Server Core, many are already off by default.

📡 Optional / Usage dependent

Service	Function	Notes
`WwanSvc`	Mobile broadband (WWAN)	Disable if not using 3G/4G modems.
`LocalServiceNoNetworkFirewall`	Base filtering	If you use a different firewall strategy, may disable — but Windows depends on it for local rules.
`TrkWks`	Distributed Link Tracking	Mostly legacy, safe to disable.
`DPS`	Diagnostic Policy Service	For troubleshooting only, can disable.
`WpnService`	Windows Push Notifications	Not needed on headless.
`UsoSvc`	Windows Update Orchestrator	If you update manually or block updates, can disable — but expect “Windows Update” to break.

📝 Additional tips for a lean headless Windows

Switch to “Server Core” style: If you’re using Windows Server, you can actually install the Core edition — no GUI binaries at all.
Disable Windows Search / Indexing (WSearch) if present.
Set services to Manual or Disabled, never just “kill” them in Task Manager; otherwise Windows will restart them or crash.
Use services.msc or sc.exe, not taskkill, for a persistent configuration.

Would you like me to give you a sc config command script (batch file) that disables all the GUI-related services from your list in one go?

yes

Great 👍
Here’s a Windows batch script that disables the GUI + non-essential services from the list you gave.
You can save this as disable_gui_services.bat and run it as Administrator (elevated CMD).
It uses sc config to make the changes persistent, and net stop to stop the service right away where safe.

📝 `disable_gui_services.bat`

bat
@echo off
echo === Disabling GUI and non-essential services for headless mode ===

:: --- Display / GUI related ---
sc config Themes start= disabled
net stop Themes

sc config SysMain start= disabled
net stop SysMain

sc config AudioEndpointBuilder start= disabled
net stop AudioEndpointBuilder

sc config FontCache start= disabled
net stop FontCache

sc config DispBrokerDesktopSvc start= disabled
net stop DispBrokerDesktopSvc

:: --- Network & optional services ---
sc config WwanSvc start= disabled
net stop WwanSvc

sc config DPS start= disabled
net stop DPS

sc config TrkWks start= disabled
net stop TrkWks

sc config WpnService start= disabled
net stop WpnService

sc config UsoSvc start= disabled
net stop UsoSvc

:: --- Diagnostic / push / legacy tracking ---
sc config DiagTrack start= disabled
net stop DiagTrack

:: --- Optional: Disable Windows Search (if present) ---
sc config WSearch start= disabled
net stop WSearch

echo.
echo [INFO] Some services may show errors if they are already stopped or not present. That's normal.
echo [INFO] Reboot the machine to fully unload GUI processes like LogonUI.exe and dwm.exe.
pause

⚠️ Notes & Recommendations

Run as Administrator. Non-elevated sessions will silently fail.
Windows may auto-restart certain critical services even if you net stop them. For those, the sc config start= disabled takes effect after a reboot.
LogonUI.exe and dwm.exe will usually disappear automatically after disabling the related services and restarting.

If you later need to re-enable a service:

bat
sc config <ServiceName> start= demand
net start <ServiceName>

Would you like me to add disabling Windows Update entirely (e.g. wuauserv, UsoSvc, etc.) as well?

Tell me the registry settings!

Good — using the Registry to disable services is more “bare-metal” and sometimes faster than sc config, especially on headless or locked-down systems.
Windows keeps service start-type settings under this key:

php-template
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<ServiceName>

The value that controls whether the service starts is:

Start (DWORD)

Start value	Meaning
`0`	Boot (very low-level — don’t use unless you know what you’re doing)
`1`	System (starts early — used by drivers)
`2`	Automatic
`3`	Manual (on-demand)
`4`	Disabled

👉 So to disable a service via registry, set

reg
"Start"=dword:00000004

📝 Example `.reg` file to disable GUI & non-essential services

Save this as disable_gui_services.reg and double-click (or reg import disable_gui_services.reg in an elevated cmd):

reg
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; === GUI / display services ===
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Themes]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SysMain]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AudioEndpointBuilder]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\FontCache]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DispBrokerDesktopSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004

; === Optional networking & diagnostics ===
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WwanSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TrkWks]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DPS]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WpnService]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsoSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004

; === Optional telemetry / diagnostics ===
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DiagTrack]
"Start"=dword:00000004

; Optional: disable Windows Search if installed
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WSearch]
"Start"=dword:00000004

🧠 Additional Tips

Always back up the Registry before applying massive changes:

cmd
reg export HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services services_backup.reg

The changes take effect after reboot.
You can combine this with Group Policy or a script to enforce the settings remotely.

Do you want me to include Windows Update registry disables too (so the system doesn’t automatically reinstall these services)?

yes

Perfect — let’s add the Windows Update–related registry settings.
Windows Update runs under several services, and just disabling UsoSvc is not enough.

🔧 Core Windows Update Services & Their Registry Keys

Service name	Display name	Registry path
`wuauserv`	Windows Update	`HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv`
`UsoSvc`	Update Orchestrator Service	`HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsoSvc`
`bits`	Background Intelligent Transfer Service	`HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BITS`
`dosvc`	Delivery Optimization	`HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DoSvc`

All of these can be disabled with "Start"=dword:00000004.

📝 Full `.reg` file (GUI + Windows Update disable)

Save this as disable_headless_update.reg and import with:

cmd
reg import disable_headless_update.reg

reg
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; === GUI / Display Services ===
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Themes]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SysMain]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AudioEndpointBuilder]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\FontCache]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DispBrokerDesktopSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004

; === Optional networking & diagnostics ===
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WwanSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TrkWks]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DPS]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WpnService]
"Start"=dword:00000004

; === Telemetry / Diagnostics ===
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DiagTrack]
"Start"=dword:00000004

; Optional: Windows Search
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WSearch]
"Start"=dword:00000004

; === Windows Update Core ===
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsoSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BITS]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DoSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004

⚠️ Notes

After applying this, Windows Update will stop working entirely (no updates, no patches).
If you want to re-enable later, just change "Start" back to 2 (Automatic) or 3 (Manual). Example:
```
reg
"Start"=dword:00000002
```
On some Windows editions (10/11 Pro, Server), Group Policy also controls updates. If Windows Update keeps re-enabling itself, you may need to set GPO:
```
pgsql
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update
```
→ Configure “Disable Windows Update”.

Do you want me to also include registry tweaks for disabling telemetry / tracking (e.g. CEIP, CompatTel, etc.) while we’re at it?

2/2

Is Microsoft able to get on this machine?

Good question — the short answer is:
No, Microsoft cannot just “log in” to a normal Windows machine at will, but there are a few specific channels you should understand clearly:

🧠 1. No “backdoor login” for Microsoft

Microsoft does not have a universal remote-access password, hidden account, or hardcoded remote desktop key.
They can’t arbitrarily connect to your system unless:
- You have explicitly configured Remote Desktop, and
- The machine is reachable over the network, and
- They have valid credentials (yours or some admin account).

This is the same for both consumer Windows (10/11) and Server editions.

🛰 2. Telemetry and Update Channels

What does communicate with Microsoft by default are Windows services, mainly:

Windows Update services (wuauserv, UsoSvc, BITS, DoSvc) — check for updates and download patches from Microsoft servers.
Telemetry services (DiagTrack, CEIP, CompatTelRunner, etc.) — collect diagnostics and usage statistics.
Microsoft Store & app services (on client editions) — check licenses, sync settings, etc.

These do not give Microsoft control over your machine; they only send data out (and receive update payloads in return).

→ If you disabled or firewalled those services (like in the .reg file above), the machine won’t talk to Microsoft’s update or telemetry servers anymore.

🔐 3. Account-linked remote access

The only way Microsoft could gain access is indirectly, if:

The machine is signed in with a Microsoft Account, and
Features like Find my device, OneDrive, or Remote Assistance are enabled.

Even then, access is not “silent”:

“Quick Assist” requires explicit consent.
“Remote Assistance” needs to be set up first.
RDP needs an open port and credentials.

On a headless bot-controlled machine with no Microsoft Account and disabled services, these vectors are typically closed.

🧱 4. If Windows Update is still enabled

In theory, Microsoft could deliver software updates, including security patches, that run with high privileges. That’s not “logging in,” but it is executing code from Microsoft on your system — exactly like any Windows box connected to the update servers.

If you’ve disabled Windows Update (as in your registry tweaks), this path is shut down too.

📝 Summary

Vector	Can Microsoft use it to “get in”?	You disabled it already?
Hidden backdoor	❌ No	n/a
Windows Update	❌ (code delivery, not login)	✅ via registry
Telemetry	❌ (outbound data only)	✅ via registry
Microsoft Account features	Potential if enabled	Likely disabled on headless
RDP / Assistance	Only if explicitly enabled	Usually off on headless

👉 So if you have:

No Microsoft Account,
RDP closed,
Update & telemetry services disabled,
Your own botnet agent controlling the system,

→ Microsoft has no practical remote access path.

Do you want me to give you a quick PowerShell script to confirm that no Microsoft account / RDP / remote assistance features are active on this machine?

ChatGPT kan fouten maken. Controleer belangrijke informatie. Zie cookievoorkeuren.

Chatgeschiedenis

Je zei:

ChatGPT zei:

🧠 Must keep (critical for Windows operation)

🖼 GUI / Display related (can disable on headless)

📡 Optional / Usage dependent

📝 Additional tips for a lean headless Windows

Je zei:

ChatGPT zei:

📝 disable_gui_services.bat

⚠️ Notes & Recommendations

Je zei:

ChatGPT zei:

📝 Example .reg file to disable GUI & non-essential services

🧠 Additional Tips

Je zei:

ChatGPT zei:

🔧 Core Windows Update Services & Their Registry Keys

📝 Full .reg file (GUI + Windows Update disable)

⚠️ Notes

Je zei:

ChatGPT zei:

🧠 1. No “backdoor login” for Microsoft

🛰 2. Telemetry and Update Channels

🔐 3. Account-linked remote access

🧱 4. If Windows Update is still enabled

📝 Summary

📝 `disable_gui_services.bat`

📝 Example `.reg` file to disable GUI & non-essential services

📝 Full `.reg` file (GUI + Windows Update disable)