Bonjour Service Removal

[BrokenAI]

I was amazed when I realized it was actually the Bonjour service that was making my Windows Vista experience as painful as it was. Who would write such a "malware" I thought...

Then I started with all those conspiracy theories in my head as why there are so extreme amounts of security flaws caused by Axxxx and Axxxx software on Windows and could this possibly be made on purpose... I don't mean for you to take that part seriously, it was just a thought I had.

Anyway after removing this piece of "malware" I started enjoying Vista again and decided not to downgrade to XP.

I'm not saying this service is entirely bad, it just had bad conflict with my machine and I had no idea what was causing my machine to act so sluggish! And I wonder how many people have experienced it as well but just believed in all the anti-Vista rants and thought it was normal.

Edited July 13, 2008 by BrokenAI

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Are you sure it wasn't something else, or a bad install?

Bonjour by itself is very light weight (It's a small DNS server)

[BrokenAI]

I don't know what it was, but my PC started to act fast again when I disabled the service.

It was definitely not working the way it was intended or perhaps it had been altered by something else entirely, at least I find it scary.

[Baleno_E]

I don't even know what it's for....

Now I can delete it without any worry...

Thanks....

[jpmad4it]

Hi everyone,

I read a guide similar to this, but they did not point out that I had to look for the specific dll in the registry. It merely said delete the registry entry with number 00000000005 (see below for registry location). So being a total fool, and believing everything I read on the net, away I went and did that.

I also did the same for the same entry, but it was for the 64 bit entry in the registry.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinSock2\Parameters\NameSpace_Catalog5\Catalog_Entries\000000000005

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinSock2\Parameters\NameSpace_Catalog5\Catalog_Entries64\000000000005

So then I find my internet dies, critical services are not starting, and my PC is more or less dead.

So I have obviously deleted the incorrect registry entry, one that was very important.

Is a windowsr re-install the only way to correct this? Any help would be amazing.

I tried an LSP fix, but it didn't seem to work.

kind regards

jonathan

[nWqzSENw]

You can even remove this service from the command line:

cd C:\Program Files\Bonjour

mDNSResponder.exe -remove

[Umbrello]

It's using a whopping 548K. I really can't be bothered.

[Randolph]

It's using a whopping 548K. I really can't be bothered.

But you're bothered to post that you aren't bothered? :huh:

[kyller]

Anyone confirms if Bonjour comes with Adobe CS4 too? (i know it comes bundled in CS3)

[meoitu]

Worked like a charm! Mine was also in 0x007.

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

I removed it, thanks for the guide! The dumb thing keeps loading on startup, and using a resource for no reason

[ikonizer]

Does anyone else find it ironic that the French are typically made fun of lot, and now we have an undesirable service getting installed against our wishes which just so happens to be named after a french word?

Excellent guide, btw.

[williamj]

Hello,

I've suffered a few nasty experiences when trying to remove the Bonjour Service which is installed by Adobe/Apple products. Unlike a lot of services, the Bonjour Service has many nasty tentacles buried into critical system/registry settings and removing it without following the below instructions can do a few things like:

1. Disabling your network connection fatally (can only be resolved with a WinSock fix and only under certain circumstances)

2. Prevent the start-up of many important Windows Services like Event Viewer or System Event Notification. This has a drastic impact on your start-up/shut-down times.

Basically, removing the Bonjour Service can be an utter nightmare and the below instructions are the only ones that work 100% for me.

To remove the Bonjour Service:

• Stop Bonjour Service by opening a command prompt (remember to open the command prompt with Administrator privileges in Vista) and type:
  sc stop ?bonjour service?
  
• Once that is done, in the same command prompt typsc delete ?bonjour service?e?
  
• Now we need to disable the Bonjour socket driver.
  
• Start regedit.exe (with Administrator privileges in Vista) and go to tHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinSock2\Parameters\NameSpace_Catalog5\Catalog_Entries\000000000004ze (please note: the final digit in this key may vary depending on your circumstances - look through all the entries under Catalog_Entries - the key you're dealing with shoulLibraryPath = C:\Program Files\Bonjour\mdnsNSP.dll)P.dll)l)
  
• Within that key find the entry:
  Enabled=REG_DWORD:00000001 - change it from 1 to 0.
  
• Exit out of the command prompt and reboot your PC.
  
• Once you have logged back in, delete the C:\Program Files\Bonjour (with the files mDNSResponder.exe and mdnsNSP.dll).
  

There you have it - these instructions will work for Windows XP and Vista.

[williamj]

Windows Tech support is aware of this problem but will not post it on their site. They suggested that it be disabled via "msconfig"

Run "MSCONFIG" from command line as administrator.

Click the "Hide all Microsoft services at bottom of table

In "Service" tab unselect "##Id_string1.6844f930... it'll have a manufacture of "Apple Computer, Inc"

As a fail safe you can start task Manager and see that under the "services Tab" "Bonjour Service" has a discription of "##Id_string1.6844f930...

Save and reboot, computer will startup without Bonjour Service and Task Manager will show it as stopped and... no more Unidentified Network

[lt8480]

Someone should make a Bonjour removal tool .... may I perhaps suggest it be named "Au Revoir"?

And just for laughs include a pre ticked "remove Safari" option.

[Elliott]

Just out of curiosity, do you all disable UPnP in Windows as well? Because it's just a different implementation of the same thing.

[Eric Veteran]

Why does Bonjour even exist? AFAIK UPnP is the same thing and it's already cross-platform.

[timster]

this is why I use Winamp to control my iPod, i don't want another service running in the back taking resources that could be of more use elsewhere.

that, and I don't want iTunes/Quicktime on my computer

[Raa]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

There is no real need to remove the service, and doing so causes problems with iTunes it seems. Best to leave it alone unless you know you're having trouble with it.

... Or don't install iTunes ;)

[Vice]

Dunno why anyone would want to remove Bonjour its quite useful. I keep all my music on my Macintosh but sometimes I might be on my PC and Bonjour allows both iTunes to see each other for instant sharing of music so I can play it wherever I am within my home. Even if you don't use Bonjour removing it wont speed your computer up at all, its just pointless to remove.

[Elliott]

Why does Bonjour even exist? AFAIK UPnP is the same thing and it's already cross-platform.

http://www.zeroconf.org/ZeroconfAndUPnP.html

On the surface, UPnP seems the same, but Zeroconf/Bonjour is far more suited for completely replacing a conventional DNS server. UPnP and Bonjour don't collide (like a lot of people seem to think), and Bonjour will actually pick up on many UPnP applications.

UPnP also has its own uses that Bonjour isn't geared towards. In the end, supporting both is actually the best way to go, but if you have to support one, Bonjour will get the job done quite nicely for what UPnP is usually used for.

[Eric Veteran]

http://www.zeroconf.org/ZeroconfAndUPnP.html

On the surface, UPnP seems the same, but Zeroconf/Bonjour is far more suited for completely replacing a conventional DNS server.

I don't see how. I can see all my UPnP devices automatically already and access them without configuring anything. OSX supports UPnP as well, doesn't it? Why reinvent the wheel if the new wheel is the same material and still round? ;) If Apple wanted UPnP to do something that wasn't in the specification all they needed to do was extend it.

[Elliott]

I don't see how. I can see all my UPnP devices automatically already and access them without configuring anything. OSX supports UPnP as well, doesn't it? Why reinvent the wheel if the new wheel is the same material and still round? ;) If Apple wanted UPnP to do something that wasn't in the specification all they needed to do was extend it.

UPnP and Zeroconf have actually been in coexistence for a long time. The major difference is that UPnP won't work for replacing a DNS server. Zeroconf will broadcast services on your computer under a hostname (like Elliott-Computer.local). Any application can then use that hostname (so I can SSH into my box by using Elliott-Computer.local). UPnP doesn't allow for that.

[Subject Delta]

Good guide, worked well Thanks.

And disabling Bonjour for me is a simple matter of not needing it, my desktop is the only machine that I run iTunes on, so I don't need its sharing features, and I can see the issue for some users is merely the fact that this stuff is installed along with other software without the user's consent.

[infamous84]

wow good guide noticed a diff immediately after restarting the pc

thanks