1) Which services do I disable?
Already mentioned Black Viper is a good guide:
Black Viper’s Windows 8.1 Service Configurations
But obviously, depending on on your needs, there might be services you need or do not.
Look at my screen bellow, it shows the only services, I am running, the rest is stopped.
2) How do I best optimize the ram?
Disable Superfetch, which preloads junk and
www.pcwintech.com/cleanmem
Note that Superfetch might be useful, disable, restart and see the effects.
3) How do I minimize as much as possible the start up time?
Clean up junk and disable startup items with CCleaner, then update drivers, defragment HDD.
www.eightforums.com/tutorials/44351-winsxs-folder-component-store-clean-up-windows-8-1-a.html
www.wisecleaner.com/wise-care-365.html contains Boot assistant among others, which measures you boot time and advice you about changes, but do not forget to disable it afterwards, it also slows down boot.
There are also many scheduled tasks by Microsoft, disabling them might get you a little CPU/RAM back.
I delete those, delete because when disabled, some re-enable later. But disable for testing at first.
Code:
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\.NET Framework[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\AppID[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Autochk[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Customer Experience Improvement[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Defrag[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\DiskCleanup[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\DiskFootprint[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Feedback[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\File Classification Infrastructure[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\FileHistory[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\IME[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Location[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Maintenance[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Maps[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Mobile Broadband Accounts[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\MUI[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Multimedia[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\NetCfg[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\NetTrace[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\NetworkDriverPlatform[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Offline Files[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\PerfTrack[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Power Efficiency Diagnostics[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\RAc[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Ras[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\RemoteAssistance[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\SettingSync[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Shell - FamilySafetyRefresh / IndexerAutomaticMaintenance[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\SpacePort[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\TextServicesFramework[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Time Zone[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\TPM[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\User Data Service[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\User Profile Service[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\WDI[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Defender[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Filtering Platform[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Media Sharing[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Wininet[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"][COLOR=#000000]\Microsoft\Windows\Workplace Join[/COLOR][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]