Thinkpads Forum

hi all,

i hate to have any services running that i don't use.

when i inspected the various ThinkVantage services:

ThinkVantage Access Connections Main Service Module (acsvc.exe)
TSS Core Service (tvttcsd.exe)
TVT Backup Service (rrservice.exe)
TVT Scheduler (tvtsched.exe)
tvtnetwk (IUService.exe)

i noticed that i don't really need them.

unfortunately it seems that if i disable any of these services my boot time goes from 37 seconds to 112 seconds.

can someone explain why this might occur?

and is there a way to disable the ThinkVantage services without incurring a boot time penalty?


-- david

Usually these delays are caused by your computer trying to make an internet connection - unsuccessfully.

If you are not using Access Connections, try the following: make sure the Wireless Zero Configuration service is turned on and set to Automatic. Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services > Wireless Zero Configuration. You may need to also set your wireless adapter to let Windows manage your wireless connection. Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > right-click on wireless adapter, choose Properties, then choose the Wireless Networks tab; make sure box is checked to "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings".

If you are not using your wireless adapter, you should be able to shut it off with Fn + F5, then Windows will not look for a connection on startup (if I am not mistaken).

GomJabbar wrote:Usually these delays are caused by your computer trying to make an internet connection - unsuccessfully.

that doesn't surprise me, especially since i couldn't find any issues in the event logs.

interestingly, the delays i've noticed are both during the shutdown process and the startup process.

GomJabbar wrote:If you are not using Access Connections, try the following: make sure the Wireless Zero Configuration service is turned on and set to Automatic. Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services > Wireless Zero Configuration. You may need to also set your wireless adapter to let Windows manage your wireless connection. Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > right-click on wireless adapter, choose Properties, then choose the Wireless Networks tab; make sure box is checked to "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings".

If you are not using your wireless adapter, you should be able to shut it off with Fn + F5, then Windows will not look for a connection on startup (if I am not mistaken).

i'm confused. are you suggesting that if wireless networking is enabled (with or without any wireless networks available) then the delays associated with attempting to access the internet will disappear?

if you are suggesting this, how does that jive with your last suggestion to shut off my wireless adapter if i'm not using it?

btw, i believe you are mistaken wrt to the function of Fn + F5. according to the pop-up that appears when turning on the physical wireless switch, the Fn + F5 command modifies the wireless power level--it does not turn it off or on. this correlates with my experience.


fwiw, while i suspected that a process attempting to contact the internet and failing to do so was possibly responsible for the delay, i'm not so sure this is the case.

i did as you suggested and enabled my wireless connection (which was disabled). i then rebooted with all the ThinkVantage services enabled except:

Access Connections Main Service Module (acsvc.exe)

the delay was similar, ~115 second boot time.

then, when i re-enabled the 'Access Connections Main Service Module (acsvc.exe)' service and rebooted, voila, back to my 37 second boot time--with or without my wireless adapter enabled.




so it would seem some process is dependent on ThinkVantage Access Connections, and timing out.




an important note related to the above statement. i went through the ThinkVantage services more finely and was able to narrow down the problem to just the:

ThinkVantage Access Connections Main Service Module (acsvc.exe)


all the other lenovo (i've been calling them ThinkVantage) services:

TSS Core Service (tvttcsd.exe)
TVT Backup Service (rrservice.exe)
TVT Scheduler (tvtsched.exe)
tvtnetwk (IUService.exe)

could be disabled without a problem. in fact, disabling actually shaved another few seconds off off my boot time. now it averages about 34 seconds.

btw, my short boot time is the result of a lot of other services and startup items being disabled. and fwiw, i _not_ doing this to minimize my startup time (although that is a nice repercussion). i disable all services that i don't need because in my experience the windows os runs much more stable when i do so.



can anyone think of why disabling the:

ThinkVantage Access Connections Main Service Module (acsvc.exe)

would cause lengthy shutdow and startup delays?



peace,
david

Disabling AC does not do you any good because AC has direct access to your network adapter. Before any network adapter connects, it needs permission from AC. Since AC is not running, the request is not responded. As a result, after several timeouts, the requests are automatically handled by windows default system. If you want reduce boot time, UNINSTALL it.

besonen wrote:i'm confused. are you suggesting that if wireless networking is enabled (with or without any wireless networks available) then the delays associated with attempting to access the internet will disappear?

if you are suggesting this, how does that jive with your last suggestion to shut off my wireless adapter if i'm not using it?

btw, i believe you are mistaken wrt to the function of Fn + F5. according to the pop-up that appears when turning on the physical wireless switch, the Fn + F5 command modifies the wireless power level--it does not turn it off or on. this correlates with my experience.

I do not understand the process entirely. I have in the past experienced slow boot up times while my T42 was trying to establish a wireless connection and the chosen wireless profile in Access Connections was not available. In the past, I have turned off the Wireless Zero Configuration service with no ill effect. Other times I have seen boot up times increase dramatically when this service was disabled. I believe that Access Connections takes a long time to time-out when it can't establish a connection. With the Wireless Zero Configuration service turned on, Windows times out the attempt much sooner and the boot process resumes.

I turn off my Intel 2200BG wireless adapter using Fn + F5 when I am away from home. My boot up times are good when away from home with the wireless adapter shut off. I believe Access Connections does not attempt to establish a connection when the wireless adapter is turned off. However, this also depends on the settings chosen within Access Connections itself. In Access Connections I have the box unchecked to "Allow wireless connection at Windows logon".

Access Connections is tied in very closely with your wireless adapter driver. In fact it will only work with IBM/Lenovo supplied wireless drivers of the correct version.

XIII wrote:Disabling AC does not do you any good because AC has direct access to your network adapter.

what a POS. i can't believe lenovo installs crapware like this. utterly unbelievable.

this, iirc, is the first piece of software i've come across that requires uninstallation to actually be disabled. shame on lenovo for being the first company that i've come across to pull such irresponsible behavior.

factory installing [censored] like this means that less experienced people will perceive that the thinkpad hardware is no better than lesser laptops. when in fact it's just a [censored] piece of software.

someone needs to convey this to the lenovo higher-ups so they can pull their heads out of you know where. this is a major PR problem.

btw, all my cussing is because i've spent waaay too many hours tracking down this defect-by-design problem.

good grief.

Personally, I quite like Access Connections and have never had a problem it. But then, I'm not trying to eliminate as many services as possible.

On another Access Connections note, I noticed that when I installed it I could no longer disable my Wireless Adapter from within Windows at all. I also wasn't able to use the "Repair" feature because it returned an error saying that it was unable to disable the card. I uninstalled Access Connections and reinstalled the driver for the Wireless and now everything works as I like it to, I have no intention of reinstalling AC when it even goes so far as to break basic Windows functionality.

Giovanni wrote:On another Access Connections note, I noticed that when I installed it I could no longer disable my Wireless Adapter from within Windows at all. I also wasn't able to use the "Repair" feature because it returned an error saying that it was unable to disable the card. I uninstalled Access Connections and reinstalled the driver for the Wireless and now everything works as I like it to, I have no intention of reinstalling AC when it even goes so far as to break basic Windows functionality.

That may be a problem with your machine, and by all means, don't use AC if you don't wish to. But it is hardly an endemic problem, and it most assuredly is not true on my machines or any that I look after. ... JDH

That's one thing you gotta love about computers, everyone has their own unique set of bugs with their specific machine.

Hello all,

although this is a quite old thread, unfortunately it is still up to date! I mean, with the Access Connections Service on you get a long boot time but with the service off you get an ever longer boot time! Clearly something waits there to timeout (no disk or CPU activity).

What would be great is the ability to start Access Connections after boot and on demand. For example if I want to turn on my laptop but not connect to any LAN/WLAN I shouldn't have to wait for the AC service. But if I disable it then I'll have to wait even longer!

Btw I have an R50e which originally came with IBM Access Connections 3.70. I would stick to that version and forget all about Thinkvantage Access Connections but there's a known bug in my default wireless driver (losses connectivity at random times when WEP/WPA with Pre-Shared Key is used). So I have to update my drivers and as a result get the Thinkvantage version because the old Access Connections won't work with the new drivers.

I just hope Lenovo comes up with a solution to this in a future version.


@Modetrator: Could this thread be moved to a more general, software-related, category? It's not just about the T6x series but all Thinkvantage Access Connections users. Thanks


Update: Decided that the wait and trouble weren't worth it so I uninstalled the Access Connections. Besides the ability to switch from one location to another I was unable to connect to a WPA WiFi Network using the Windows XP SP2 WLAN Software. It turns out there is a special patch (not included in the Windows Update site) to enable WPA support. Just letting you know in case anyone else is wondering.