How to Disable the Proxy Socks Service by Modifying the Registry

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WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT to correct them. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.

You can disable the service by modifying the registry using the following steps:

1. Start Registry Editor, and locate the following Registry subkey in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree:

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Services/W3Proxy/ 
      Parameters/Socks
   						

2. Locate the value SocksServiceEnabled.
3. Change the default data of 1 to 0.
4. Click OK and quit the Registry Editor.

This will completely disable the Socks service. You will not be able to start or stop the service using the Internet Service Manager (ISM). To refresh the ISM and show the Socks service state as Stopped, the system must be rebooted.

If you want to enable the Socks Service again, follow the same steps above and set the SocksServiceEnabled value back to 1. The system does not need to be rebooted to refresh the ISM state to Running.