Regardless of which version of Windows you are using, the system comes with a lot of features by default, many of which you will probably never use. Turning off Windows features you are not using can optimize your system, make it faster, and save precious hard drive space.
This article shows you how to enable and disable features in Windows 7/8/10, Vista and XP.
Windows Vista, 7/8/10
To enable or disable Windows features from Windows Vista in Windows 10, click Control Panel from the Start menu. You can also click “Start” and then type in Control Panel.
Click the Programs link.
NOTE. If you are in classic view, the link reads Programs and Features.
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Under the Programs and Features heading, click the Turn Windows features on or off link.
NOTE. If you’re in Classic View, the Turn Windows Features On or Off link is in the left pane.
When the feature list is loaded, the Windows Features dialog box displays a “Please wait ” message.
When a list of functions is displayed, you can hover your mouse over one of the functions and view a description of that function.
For each feature that you want to disable, select the checkbox to the left of the feature so that there is NO checkbox in the box. For example, since we are not using a tablet, we decided to disable the Tablet PC Components feature, as well as some other features that we do not use. After making your changes, click OK to close the Windows Features dialog box.
A dialog box appears showing the progress of the changes being made to your Windows system.
You must restart your computer for the changes to take effect. Click Restart Now if you are ready to restart your computer. If you want to wait for the computer to restart, click Restart Later.
The following message is displayed during shutdown and startup of the computer. Make sure you do not turn off your computer while configuring features.
Windows XP
To enable Windows features in Windows XP, click Control Panel on the Start menu.
Click the Add or Remove Programs link (or icon in Classic View) in the Control Panel window.
In the Add / Remove Programs dialog box, click Add / Remove Windows Components in the left pane.
A dialog box appears asking you to wait while the Windows feature list is generated.
The Windows Components Wizard opens with a list of components. If the checkbox to the left of a component has a gray background, there are subcomponents inside that component. Click Details to view the components of this core component.
For example, the following dialog box shows the components available in the main network services component. You can turn any of these components on or off and click OK to accept the changes and return to the Windows Components Wizard.
For each feature that you want to disable, select the checkbox to the left of the feature so that there is NO checkbox in the box. For example, we do not use MSN Explorer or Outlook Express, besides some other features. After making your changes, click Next.
The Configure Components screen displays the progress of changes being made to your system.
When the changes are made, the Completing the Windows Components Wizard dialog box appears. Click Finish.
You must restart your computer for the changes to take effect. Click Yes if you are ready to restart your computer now. If you want to wait for your computer to restart, click No.
If you want, you can re-enable any of the Windows features by simply following these procedures and checking the boxes for the desired features so that each box is checked. Enjoy!
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