Turn Windows Vista Features On or Off

I have said this before and I am going to say it again. Windows Vista gives the user an unprecedented level of control, compared to older versions of the Windows platform. This despite minor setbacks from Patch Guard, Kernel Mode Code Signing and the User Account Control. And "Turn Windows features on or off" is just such an example. I managed to come across this functionality when my Windows Vista Business operating system installed by default without the games that ship with the operating system.

Initially I blamed the operating system and the limitations associated with a modest Windows Experience Score. Since my graphic card is mediocre to say the least, but just enough to run Windows Aero, and on this machine I do not need more, I thought that there was a connection between the lack of horsepower and Vista settings which did not allow me access to the default games of the operating system. Nothing could be further from the truth, after all the games also ship with Windows Vista Home Basic, and this version of the operating system is created to run on low end system configurations.

In my efforts to trouble shoot the problem, I came across "Turn Windows features on or off." You can access a screenshot at the bottom of this article, and the utility via Control Panel, Uninstall or Change a Program, and in the left hand side menu, "Turn Windows features on or off." You will get an UAC prompt and that's about it.

"In earlier versions of Windows, to turn a feature off you had to uninstall it completely from your computer. In this version of Windows, the features remain stored on your hard disk, so you can turn them back on if you want to. Turning off a feature does not uninstall the feature, and it does not reduce the amount of hard disk space used by Windows features," reads a short description from Microsoft.

Via the dialog box you will be permitted access to the Windows Vista features that you can switch on or off to your liking. From the ActiveX Installer Service, to the Games, to the Indexing Service, Internet Information Service, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0, Microsoft Message Queue Server, Print Services, Remote Differential Compression, Removable Storage Management, RIP Listener, Simple TCPIP Services, SNP Feature, Tablet PC Optional Components, Telnet Client, Telnet Server, TFTP Client, Windows DFS Replications Service, Windows Fax and Scan, Windows Meeting Place and Windows Process Activation Service.