Enable or disable Windows features. User guide

Almost any edition of Windows comes with a certain set of features, applications, programs that are already installed in the system. Unnecessary features the user can remove or turn off, and besides, add those that are required to perform the necessary work, but by default are not installed. After removing unnecessary features on the system drive, there will be more free space, which often is not enough for users of tablets working under Windows.

Running the utility

Not every user knows where the Windows components are on or off.

The list of components can be opened in the Control Panel "Programs and Features" (look for the link in the left block). But the easiest way to start this tool is by typing the "Start" menu in the search bar with the phrase "enable or disable Windows components."

In the operating system version 8.1 there is a similar method, but before entering you need to press the combination "Win + S" on the keyboard.

Uninstall or install

The components window is presented as a list with all the functions, applications, programs available for a certain release of the OS. If the checkbox is ticked in the list next to the component name, then it is already installed and is available. A gray tick indicates that the component consists of several packages. To view them, click on the "+" icon. To see the description of each component, simply hover over and hold the cursor over its name.

You can enable or disable Windows components by checking or unchecking the box in the checkbox. To complete the operation, click on the "OK" button. Only after clicking this button will the processes of installation or removal be applied.

If you clear the check box, Windows can warn that disabling this application can change the operation of other components. For more detailed information, the operating system will offer a link, clicking on which will open the page on the Internet with a detailed description.

Turning on or off Windows components is sometimes slow enough, because the system has to make many changes and automatic settings. Many functions can be disabled without restarting the computer, however, if a restart is still required, Windows will warn the user about this and will be able to save all working documents.

Reboot after performing all the procedures will take a longer time than usual. This is due to the use of additional settings and registration of components.

Additional requirements of some packages

During the installation, the OS can display a window asking you to access the Windows Update site. If you do not have Internet access at that time, then you will not be able to install the component located on Microsoft servers. Sometimes Windows requests the disk from which it was installed, if there is no such disk, you will have to download the distribution kit or try to get the components in a different way. Usually they can be found on the official Microsoft website, while all software products from the list of components can be downloaded for free.

The tool "Turning on or off Windows components" gives the user the opportunity to flexibly configure the system, but if you do not know the purpose of a particular component installed by default, you should not delete it. It is possible that some of the necessary functions that you use every day will become impossible after that.

Empty list

If the empty list does not allow you to perform the necessary actions when you start the utility "Turning on or off Windows 7 components", you will have to do some simple manipulations to solve the problem.

Go to the registry by opening the Start menu and entering the word "regedit" in the search box. In the displayed results, find the "regedit32" item and click on the icon. In the registry, go to the path "HKEYLM \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Windows" and change the value of the "CSDVersion" parameter to 0.