How can I disable distributed link tracking client feature in Windows 7

Hi Marsha,

1. Are you using AVG antivirus program?
2. Have you connected the computer to any domain network before?

If your system is not in a network, you have no need for this service and you can disable it. If you are in a network, but do not habitually browse the network for file shares, you can also disable this service. Disabling it does not stop you from accessing file shares on other computers, it just prevents you from using my network places to browse to them.

This service maintains links to NTFS files that are moved between disks or computers. 

Note: It is not recommended to disable the service. However if you still want to disable, you may follow the steps.

a. Click on Start > type "services.msc" in the search field and press enter.

b. In the "Services" window, look for the following entry:

c. Distributed Link Tracking Client

d. Double click and set the "Startup type" as "Disabled"

e. Click on OK to validate. 

You may refer this article for more information.

Distributed Link Tracking and Object Identifiers

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa363997(v=vs.85).aspx

Hope this information helps.

Not sure what AVG virus protection is, my isp uses f-secure and it is on my computer. Domain network, not sure but probably no as I am a computer novice.

I was interested in this issue as I ran a pc health scan through my security suite and the only issue that came up was the client tracking feature. I thought maybe this was why I was "all of a sudden" having problems with my system being slow and hanging both in my email and in Internet Explorer. I have done several virus scans, deep scans including rootkit and it says no virus or malware is detected.

If there is a hardware issue like a bad hard drive or "brain/CPU" how do I as an amateur check for that? My installed PC health checker from Toshiba says there are no health issues.

Thanks for the reply to my initial query.

Hi Marsha,

Thank you for replying with the status.

You can verify if this service is corrupted or not by disabling as suggested above.

To check the hard disk for errors, you may run the scan as mentioned.

1. Click Start
2. Type: CMD, from the results, right click CMD->Click 'Run as Administrator'
3. At the Command Prompt, type: chkdsk /r

When you restart your system, your computer will be scanned for errors and attempts will be made to correct them.

Note: While performing chkdsk on the hard drive if any bad sectors are found on the hard drive when chkdsk tries to repair that sector if any data available on that might be lost.

Additionally you may refer the following link for more information:

Check a drive for errors

Hope this information helps. Reply with the status so that we could help you further.