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Display Name (?):

Certificate Services

Short Name (?):

CertSvc

Executable (?):

certsrv.exe

Library (?):

None.

Depends On (?):

None.

Supports (?):

None.

Description (?):

Creates, manages, and removes X.509 certificates for applications such as S/MIME and SSL. If this service is stopped, certificates will not be created. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.

OS (?):

2000 Server, Server 2003, Vista Server

Startup (?):

Default	Home	Workstation	Server	Minimal	Tweaked	Automatic
Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Automatic	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled

Explanation (?):

The certificate services service is used in creating, managing and removing x.509 certificates. This service is only required on a server that is trying to use certificate authenticated features such as secure/multipurpose Internet mail extensions (S/MIME) and the secure sockets layer (SSL) for such things as the secure HTTP protcol. To manage these certificates this service must be started and a 3rd party must sign (authorize) them for them to operate correctly. This service is best left running on a server unless you know you will not need it.