How to modify Windows 7 Services Groups

Question

How do you modify the windows services loading groups? There are some default groups that windows uses to load in a specific order.

Here are some examples of groups:

• PlugPlay
• COM Infrastructure
• EventLog
• AudioGroup
• UIGroup and others.....

I wish to find this list order and try to change some specific services on this list and see what happens with Windows boot time.

Answer 1

I don't recommend modifying a service's LoadOrderGroup, but it can be done with sc.exe from the command line.

C:\>sc config /?
DESCRIPTION:
        Modifies a service entry in the registry and Service Database.
USAGE:
        sc <server> config [service name] <option1> <option2>...

OPTIONS:
NOTE: The option name includes the equal sign.
      A space is required between the equal sign and the value.
 type= <own|share|interact|kernel|filesys|rec|adapt>
 start= <boot|system|auto|demand|disabled|delayed-auto>
 error= <normal|severe|critical|ignore>
 binPath= <BinaryPathName>
 group= <LoadOrderGroup>
 tag= <yes|no>
 depend= <Dependencies(separated by / (forward slash))>
 obj= <AccountName|ObjectName>
 DisplayName= <display name>
 password= <password>

The part you're interested in is group= <loadordergroup>. This says that the list of valid LoadOrderGroups is in a value named ServiceGroupOrder in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control, but I found in Windows 7 that there is no such value. There is a key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ServiceGroupOrder with a value List. The data for List is obviously a list of the groups, in the order that the groups get loaded.

Once again, I wouldn't touch any of these configuration settings unless you're certain you know what you're doing. I have no idea what problems you might cause.

Also, be advised that sc.exe is extremely picky about syntax.
sc config messenger DisplayName= Messenger works.
sc config messenger DisplayName=Messenger will not work.
sc config messenger DisplayName = Messenger will not work.

Answer 2

Hold down the windows logo key and hit "r". Type in "mscofig" without the quotes and hit enter. Click on the services tab. Be careful what you change here though and make sure you create a restore point before doing anything.

Theres also "services.msc" but that's generally unwise to mess with unless you absolutely know what you're doing.