Vista - Sync Center - Disable Mobsync.exe

**Placehold**

How to Disable Sync Center Mobsync.exe in Vista

Information

We all at some stage have asked the question ‘What the hell is mobsync and how do i disable it?’ and been left scratching your head, especially if your the proud owner of Windows Vista.

Well to be straight with you it annoys me when people give definite answers on how to disable the feature when clearly its not the same as XP, Speculation has lead people to believe its a networking tool for your Internet connection, well almost right but not quite. Then that its windows media player, again its almost there but not quite and finally that its an Microsoft tool for reporting which is a bit stupid to be honest …

Thankfully there is a simpler explanation to the question and an even simpler resolution and it is as follows below.

Note

What is Mobsync and how can i disable it?

Mobsync is a Microsoft owned tool which enforces group policy for removable mass-storage devices.

It simply enables applications such as Windows Media Player and Image Import Wizard to transfer and synchronize content using removable mass-storage devices. thus allowing you to plug in a USB, External hard drive or even a wireless media center for PS3 or Xbox Elite.

This will stop mobsync from running at startup and as you have set this service to run manually it will only be used when you actually sync devices on your PC or Laptop.

Here's How:

1. Open Services.

2. Scroll down the page until you locate a service called Portable Device Enumerator Service, then double click on it.

3. In the General tab (You should be on this already) half way down the page, change the ‘Startup Type' to Manual.

4. Click on the Stop button, then click on OK.

5. If prompted by UAC, select Continue.

So there you have it in a simple nut shell. Regards,

Craig

**JimJoe** · 05-21-2011

Doesn't work for me. It is on manual, but it Sync Center still runs.

edit:

If the 'what do you want to do with this device' popup shows, and I don't select syn center, but the one that displays my SanDisk Clip+ as a drive, it doesn't sync.

**FreeMXrus** · 06-03-2011

Realy usefull. Thank you!

**MilesAhead** · 06-03-2011

In Windows7 I was able to kill it off completely. In Vista I believe I still had to use an automatic program killer to kill off mobsync.exe every time something tried to start it. I think it's also used by Window Media Player to scan all your files looking for media files. I believe some flavors of Windows you can prevent it with the policy editor. But Home Premium I think you have to resort to a process killer monitor type utility.

**JimJoe** · 06-03-2011

Yeah, I got a warning about Media Player using it when I tried the tutorial to kill it.

**MilesAhead** · 06-04-2011

On Vista WMP is one of the apps on my auto kill list. On W7 it's a bit easier to control. I turned off all the indexing and indexing services. If I have a video I want to check out in WMP 12 I can do it without it taking over the machine.

For file search I use Everything Search instead of indexing.
I also turned off indexing in Vista 64 bit and use Everything instead.

**Placehold** · 08-29-2011

Hey guys,

Apologies for the delay in replies etc

I done a little research into the errors & issues you guys have had with these steps, it appears that in SP2 there was an connectivity update for storage devices which prevents Mobsync from being completely disabled in Vista however with the steps above should only activate when it detects a storage device or changes to the group policy.

Not sure why they changed this in SP2 but the good news is that yes you can completely disable this in Vista premium via group policy and in Win 7.

Regards

Craig

05-21-2011
JimJoe Vista Home Premium 32bit 1,027 posts	Re: Sync Center - Disable Mobsync.exe Doesn't work for me. It is on manual, but it Sync Center still runs. edit: If the 'what do you want to do with this device' popup shows, and I don't select syn center, but the one that displays my SanDisk Clip+ as a drive, it doesn't sync. Last edited by JimJoe; 05-21-2011 at 09:46 AM.. Reason: more info
My System Specs

06-03-2011
FreeMXrus Windows Vista 32bit 1 posts	Re: Sync Center - Disable Mobsync.exe Realy usefull. Thank you!
My System Specs

06-03-2011
MilesAhead Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP1 1,742 posts	Re: Sync Center - Disable Mobsync.exe In Windows7 I was able to kill it off completely. In Vista I believe I still had to use an automatic program killer to kill off mobsync.exe every time something tried to start it. I think it's also used by Window Media Player to scan all your files looking for media files. I believe some flavors of Windows you can prevent it with the policy editor. But Home Premium I think you have to resort to a process killer monitor type utility.
My System Specs

06-03-2011
JimJoe Vista Home Premium 32bit 1,027 posts	Re: Sync Center - Disable Mobsync.exe Yeah, I got a warning about Media Player using it when I tried the tutorial to kill it.
My System Specs

06-04-2011
MilesAhead Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP1 1,742 posts	Re: Sync Center - Disable Mobsync.exe On Vista WMP is one of the apps on my auto kill list. On W7 it's a bit easier to control. I turned off all the indexing and indexing services. If I have a video I want to check out in WMP 12 I can do it without it taking over the machine. For file search I use Everything Search instead of indexing. I also turned off indexing in Vista 64 bit and use Everything instead.
My System Specs

08-29-2011
Placehold Windows Vista Home Premium 22 posts	Re: Sync Center - Disable Mobsync.exe Hey guys, Apologies for the delay in replies etc I done a little research into the errors & issues you guys have had with these steps, it appears that in SP2 there was an connectivity update for storage devices which prevents Mobsync from being completely disabled in Vista however with the steps above should only activate when it detects a storage device or changes to the group policy. Not sure why they changed this in SP2 but the good news is that yes you can completely disable this in Vista premium via group policy and in Win 7. Regards Craig
My System Specs

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