Windows 7 - Features On/Off

Attached below is a screen shot of Windows Features that can be turned on/off easily in Windows 7. I turned off the Windows Gadgets mainly because I never use any of 'em. But what about IE8? I never use it either except when I update, but even then I don't really use IE, I simply use the Win7 updating tool. If I disable IE8 in the Features list, will this have an adverse impact on my Windows Updates? What about some of the stuff in the Features list? Some of the items listed are pretty freakin' obvious, but others are somewhat ambiguous. What can we safely disable?

Thanks!

(BTW- you can access this menu in Windows 7 by going to the Control Panel > Programs > Programs & Features/Turn Windows features on or off)

 

Well it may be useful for a basic user to manipulate services via the cpl gui but I would have thought more advanced users would prefer the finer control afforded by the management console.

 

I have only IE8 checked in that list, it should have no bearing on security or stability, if Windows requires some aspect of IE8 to be used eg. when updating or using the Help system, it will use it transparently anyhow.

For detailed info on Services and tweaking study Blackviper's pages well; as studiot suggested, the MMC is the best tool for this work.

 

I totally agree about using the MMC for stuff like this, and I basically posted this for some of the less "advanced" users of Win7.... kind of bringing it to their attention, so to speak. I've been a disciple of BV's page for some time and used it extensively for info about tweaking XP services when I still ran XP. Since I'm getting a balloon saying that new Win7 updates are available, I think I'll disable IE and see if it has any impact on my ability to get updates....


Thanks!