Hello, I use the Winstep Nexus Dock application. While sorting through all my installed programs, I found the Winstep Xtreme Service (WsxService.exe) as a startup service and its running in the background.

What's the purpose of Winstep Xtreme Service (WsxService.exe)?

The description of the program reads "Winstep Helper Service".

Can anyone explain to me what this program is doing, exactly?

Will my Nexus Dock work if I disable this program from starting?


Thank you. :)

If you open the Windows Services applet (C:\Windows\system32\services.msc), the 'Description' field for the Winstep Xtreme Service says:

"Used by all Winstep applications for operations that require admin privileges: install theme fonts, fast boot, adjust the time, etc..."

If you disable it, ANY ACTION that requires elevated privileges to perform will fail, as the full description implies.

So, do not disable it.

The service is required because the main application MUST run with non-admin privileges, otherwise it would be a HUGE security risk - especially for a program launcher like Nexus, given that everything launched from an elevated application runs itself with elevated privileges.

So, whenever the main Winstep application needs to do something that DOES require elevation, it asks the service to do that for it. The service uses insignificant system resources and zero CPU when not in use by the main Winstep application.