Schuyler

Has anyone found a good dictionary of Windows services and what each one actually does, impact if disabling, etc?

The problem is too many are generic to have a really good definitive list.

I should clarify — too many use the same generic name, i.e., svchost

I would point out that executables associated with stuff kicked off from svchost.exe is able to be gleaned from the system using a tool like sc.exe or services.msc. So it isn't really "using" that name, it is just not a stand-alone executable.

The bigger challenge is that, especially where you rely upon vendor-supplied/managed PCs, there are a lot of services that aren't even part of Microsoft's ecosystem that may need to run.

@colemankane you beat me to it. :)https://twitter.com/mackwage/status/1345478185777942528 …