Windows 8 Bible

Turning Windows Features On and Off

Windows 8 comes with many programs and features built right in. How many depends on which edition of Windows 8 you purchased. Regardless of the edition you bought, there may be some features you want to use and some you don’t.

Note

Unlike Add/Remove Windows Programs in Windows XP, program features in Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 allow you to turn features on and off without the hassles of installing and uninstalling

To turn Windows Features on or off, open the Programs And Features Control Panel applet discussed earlier in this chapter. Then click Turn Windows Features On Or Off in the left pane. A list of available Windows Features opens, as in Figure 40.4. Items that are selected are currently installed and working. Unselected features are not active. A filled check box represents a feature that’s active but that also has additional subfeatures. Click the + sign next to a feature to see what subfeatures it offers.

FIGURE 40.4 Windows features

Note

Turn off only those program features that you are certain you don’t need. If you don’t know what a feature is or does, better to err in favor of keeping it active than to find out, the hard way, that you shouldn’t have disabled it!

The rest is easy. To disable a feature or subfeature, clear its check box. To enable a disabled feature, click its empty check box to select ...