Disable Automatic Maintenance in Windows Server 2012 R2

Automatic Maintenance in Windows Server 2012 R2 is very resource intensive process. Even though it might be scheduled to run in the middle of the night, the process may continues running throughout the day. This can severely impact the performance of the system.

The following instructions will disable the Automatic Maintenance in Windows Server 2012 R2. I found the instructions from the post by Lars Jørgensen and this blog.

Disclaimer: Not sure if disabling the Automatic Maintenance will disable Windows Updates too. Apply the steps at YOUR OWN RISK and PERIL.

1. You will need the PsExec command from here.
2. Open a command prompt in Administrator mode.
3. Run this command (if you are on the local server, you can skip the \\SERVERNAME parameter):

psexec \\SERVERNAME -s schtasks /change /tn “\Microsoft\Windows\TaskScheduler\Maintenance Configurator” /DISABLE



4. You will receive a SUCCESS notification from the command ran above if all went well.


5. Check it in your Task Scheduler. It should look like below:
   


6. Done

That should reduce some server performance headache. Good Luck!!!