Does this processor scheduling setting even do anything in Windows?

[Gat Pelsinger]

If I set it to background services, will background services have more CPU bandwidth and thus work faster? Will my main active programs have any effect? Does this even work?

[da na]

Mainly has to do with what stays in RAM and what is put in pagefile AFAIK. I don't think it has to do as much with CPU usage. "Programs" does restrict the amount of CPU that background processes can use, I believe? 

 

But no, don't switch it to background services unless you really like Defender. 

[Eigenvektor]

Switching to background services makes sense for a server, not for a desktop machine. I assume it switches the priority of what stays in memory, as @da na said, and maybe also which processes get a higher priority on the CPU. But that won't make a huge amount difference until you're at 100% CPU load.

 

~edit: Let me try to add a longer explanation. The effect will be mostly noticeable in a CPU bound scenario, when you have multiple processes competing for CPU resources. It will not make background processes faster, it will simply change how available CPU resources are distributed.

 

On a desktop you generally want the program the user is actively using to have the highest priority. So when it is switched to programs that means the foreground program will, on average, receive the most CPU time. Ideally a virus scanner running in the background should have as small an impact on the game you're playing as possible.

 

When you're running a server on the other hand you don't want your web server to stall simply because an admin opens notepad to look at a large log file. That's where you switch it to background services, so that your server processes, on average, receive the most CPU resources, regardless of what a user may be doing on the desktop (ideally nothing, but an admin may have to actively monitor stuff from time to time)