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Display Name (?):

Volume Snapshot

Short Name (?):

Executable (?):

Library (?):

Depends On (?):

Supports (?):

None.

Description (?):

None.

OS (?):

NT4 Server, 2000 Server, Server 2003, Vista Server

Startup (?):

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

Explanation (?):

The volume snapshot service provides a central and native backup provider to Microsoft products as well as 3rd party applications. This means this service is used by programs to perform data backup that wish to take advantage of Microsoft's insight into their own product. 3rd parties, nor Microsoft, are required to use this service as a backup provider, but the features exist and can be used if needed.

This service is most likely not needed if you do not know what it is. In fact, this service is most likely only needed in corporate environments as I doubt many consumer level products will take advantage of this. If you do not use any special products to automatically take backups then this service shouldn't be needed. This service should only be found on server versions of Windows anyway, so you most likely only need to worry about this service if you run a server. Set this service to automatic if you take backups, and set it to manual if not.