The worries and woes of Vista is knows to all of its users. Even Microsoft has agreed to the fact that Vista was not one of their best launch in terms of performance. But even now this operating system comes bundled with almost all the manufacturers who prefer Windows.
One of the biggest problems of Vista is the number of services and processes run by the operating system. A standard Vista installation has many services turned on and running that may not have any use, yet consuming CPU and memory that potentially slows down system. There are many applications available to enhance system performance by removing these unwanted services. Some of the paid ones are Tune Up- 2009, Ashampoo WinOptimizer etc. A lot of freewares are also available. The very best of them all in keeping every aspect of an application in mind is Vista Services Optimizer.
Vista Services Optimizer is an optimal tool for both naive as well as advanced users. Power users can find a lot of settings to tweak with and the profile to configure, manual settings to set. One toggle various services, falling under three major category performance, security and network, on and off. There is an automatic mode of optimization which is suited for basic users. The automatic mode performs optimization according to the profile set at the first run of the application.
Profile is formulated on basis of some questions in which the user is queried for specific system usages such as whether he wants to use windows glass effect or not or whether he uses printer or not, etc. Once the profile is formulated the service settings are automatically modified according to the answers in profile. For example if you choose that you don’t use printer, it will shut down Print Spooler service, making it very effective tool even in hands of a newbie. 
Another important feature of this application is Rescue center. One can save a system snapshot at any point of time and from that snapshot the system can be reverted back to the same state as it was before. It is also a boon for gamers as it shuts down all of its unwanted services and leaves the computer with the bare bones required to run a game and hence improves gaming performance tremendously.
Though this application is an alpha build and can’t be completely relied. But surely its worth a try.
Download Vista Service Optimizer from here.
VSO is actually a great utility. But I perefer gamebooster. Instead of permanently disabling services and stuff I just stop them before running a game.