Automatic Windows Services disabling by SYSTEM user account

The data you are looking should not, by default, be located in "C:\Documents and Settings\Default User". That is the location of the default user profile, which is the template for new user profiles. Its only function is to be copied to a new folder for use as a user profile when a user logs onto the computer for the first time.

If the service is following Microsoft's guidelines, it will be storing data in the application data folder (%APPDATA%) or the local application data folder (%LOCALAPPDATA% on Windows Vista and later). It should not use the My Documents or Documents folders, but you might want to check there as well.

On a typical installation of Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, check the following locations for application data for programs running as Local System (NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM):

• C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\Application Data\Vendor\Program
• C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\Local Settings\Application Data\Vendor\Program
• C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\My Documents

On a typical installation of Windows Vista and later versions, check the following locations for application data for programs running as Local System (NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM):

• C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Roaming\Vendor\Program
• C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\Vendor\Program
• C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\AppData\LocalLow\Vendor\Program
• C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\Documents

Of course, substitute the appropriate vendor name and program name for Vendor and Program.

[Edit - for bricelam] For 32 bit processes running on 64 bit windows, it would be in SysWOW64.

• C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\AppData

While in theory it may sound like a good idea, here are a few potential issues:

1. Dependency detection isn't perfect; some programs/software may expect services to be active that aren't, and simply fail to function rather than attempting to start them.
2. In some cases, an event may require the sudden starting of a large number of services, leading to inopportune system slowdown.
3. Some services, while not technically dependent, may still prefer to be started in a certain order. I saw this recently on a client machine when one service would not successfully start unless made manually dependent on a late-starting service, even though they were not technically dependent.

Blackviper's Service Configs are considered by many to be the bible of windows services optimization. Look under "Popular Content".