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Windows XP Pro SP3

  • I can disable, for ex., RIP Listener in services.msc...

Or

  • I can unistall it in ControlPanel --> Add Or Remove Programs --> Windows Components ---> Networking Services --> Rip Listener

One may think that 2) removes setup files from disk. Well, it is not. The files are still there, it is removed only from registry. Even more, I do not need to insert Windows Setup CD to install it again.

What are you doing - uninstalling or disabling?

And why?

Oskar Duveborn
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Gennady Vanin Геннадий Ванин
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  • Your "comment" takes up half the question space - try moving it to a real comment instead of cluttering up the question, making it harder to read? Also instead of adding in-line comments to the question, try to reformulate it to be more clear. – Oskar Duveborn Aug 15 '10 at 12:52

1 Answers1

2

If it is an out of the box service I don't need for some reason, I disable it. Disk space is so very cheap these days that leaving the files behind (but still patched) is no big deal. The one difference would be if the XP station has a smaller SSD installed (i.e. 30GB) then it might be worth it. But I'd still leave the service installed but disabled until I needed space.

If it is a 3rd party service I added but now don't need any more, I uninstall it. If it didn't come out of the box, chances are it's 3rd party. I'd rather not leave those files kicking around if I don't have to.

If it is an optional Windows service I added but now don't need any more, I disable it. Same reason as out-of-the-box services.

sysadmin1138
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  • I do not believe that uninstalling the out - or in-box services free disk space anyway. Why, then, after uninstalling, the following setup does not require CD? I think uninstalling of Windows service just deletes registry entries. – Gennady Vanin Геннадий Ванин Aug 12 '10 at 13:29
  • One valuable observations from your answer is that reinstall (uninstall with following installs) would probably loose patches/hotfixes/updates. Though I am not sure in it. – Gennady Vanin Геннадий Ванин Aug 12 '10 at 13:31
  • @vgv8, The service pack files are cached in the Windows directory. If they contain all that is needed for the service then you will not need the XP CD to reinstall the service, even if it is uninstalled and the files removed. On a side note: I'm not sure why you would have the RIP Listener installed in the first place, there practically no good reason to use it. – Chris S Aug 15 '10 at 14:31