Windows: This is behind the SSDP search service

What is the SSDP Search Service? This question has certainly been asked by some Windows users who want to share content over a network. We explain what is behind this service and how you can deactivate it.

What is the SSDP Search Service?

• The Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) is a protocol that searches in Windows networks for universal plug-and-play devices (UPNP), for example projectors or media devices. SSDP is a so-called multicast search service that sends audio and video content to several devices in the network at the same time.
• Microsoft explains the role of this service as follows: "Searches for network devices and services that use the SSDP search protocol, such as UPnP devices. Also announces SSDP devices and services that are running on the local computer. If this service is stopped, SSDP-based devices will not be discovered. If this service is deactivated, all services that are explicitly dependent on this service cannot be started. "
• If you want to share audio and video files on your PC, for example for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, the service must be running. Otherwise you can switch it off in just a few steps.

Disable SSDP search service

Switching off the SSDP search service can make sense, since on some systems in conjunction with svchost.exe it causes a noticeably higher CPU load. Under Windows XP, the service is even a security hole without a patch.

Disable service: Windows 8

How to disable the service in Windows 8:

1. Open the control panel. Then click on "System and Security", then on "Administrative Tools" and then on "Services".
2. Find the service "SSDP Search" and open it with a double click.
3. You can stop the service with the "End" button.
4. To prevent the SSDP search service from being reactivated automatically at startup, change the startup type to "Disabled".

You can find more tips for Windows here.