Trusted root certificates that are required by Windows Server 2008 R2, by Windows 7, by Windows Server 2008, by Windows Vista, by Windows Server 2003, by Windows XP, and by Windows 2000

Applies to: Windows 7 EnterpriseWindows 7 Enterprise NWindows 7 Home Basic

INTRODUCTION

As part of a public key infrastructure (PKI) trust management procedure, some administrators may decide to remove trusted root certificates from a Windows-based domain, a Windows-based server, or a Windows-based client. However, the root certificates that are listed in the "More Information" section in this article are required for the operating system to operate correctly. Because removal of the following certificates may limit functionality of the operating system or may cause the computer to fail, you should not remove them.

More Information

Necessary and trusted root certificates

The following certificates are necessary and trusted in Windows 7, in Windows Vista, in Windows Server 2008 R2, and in Windows Server 2008:
Issued toIssued bySerial numberExpiration dateIntended purposesFriendly nameStatus
Microsoft Root AuthorityMicrosoft Root Authority00c1008b3c3c8811d13ef663ecdf4012/31/2020AllMicrosoft Root AuthorityR
Thawte Timestamping CAThawte Timestamping CA0012/31/2020Time StampingThawte Timestamping CAR
Microsoft Root Certificate AuthorityMicrosoft Root Certificate Authority79ad16a14aa0a5ad4c7358f407132e655/9/2021AllMicrosoft Root Certificate AuthorityR

The follow certificates are necessary and trusted in Windows XP and in Windows Server 2003:
Issued toIssued bySerial numberExpiration dateIntended purposesFriendly nameStatus
Copyright (c) 1997 Microsoft Corp.Copyright (c) 1997 Microsoft Corp.0112/30/1999Time StampingMicrosoft Timestamp RootR
Microsoft Authenticode(tm) Root AuthorityMicrosoft Authenticode(tm) Root Authority0112/31/1999Secure E-mail, Code Signing Microsoft Authenticode(tm) RootR
Microsoft Root AuthorityMicrosoft Root Authority00c1008b3c3c8811d13ef663ecdf4012/31/2020AllMicrosoft Root AuthorityR
NO LIABILITY ACCEPTED, (c)97 VeriSign, Inc.NO LIABILITY ACCEPTED, (c)97 VeriSign, Inc.4a19d2388c82591ca55d735f155ddca31/7/2004Time StampingVeriSign Time Stamping CAR
VeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CAVeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CA03c78f37db9228df3cbb1aad82fa67101/7/2004Secure E-mail, Code SigningVeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CAR
Thawte Timestamping CAThawte Timestamping CA0012/31/2020Time StampingThawte Timestamping CAR
Microsoft Root Certificate AuthorityMicrosoft Root Certificate Authority79ad16a14aa0a5ad4c7358f407132e655/9/2021AllMicrosoft Root Certificate AuthorityR
The follow certificates are necessary and trusted in Microsoft Windows 2000:
Issued toIssued bySerial numberExpiration dateIntended purposesFriendly nameStatus
Copyright (c) 1997 Microsoft Corp.Copyright (c) 1997 Microsoft Corp.0112/30/1999Time StampingMicrosoft Timestamp RootR
Microsoft Authenticode(tm) Root AuthorityMicrosoft Authenticode(tm) Root Authority0112/31/1999Secure E-mail, Code Signing Microsoft Authenticode(tm) RootR
Microsoft Root AuthorityMicrosoft Root Authority00c1008b3c3c8811d13ef663ecdf4012/31/2020AllMicrosoft Root AuthorityR
NO LIABILITY ACCEPTED, (c)97 VeriSign, Inc.NO LIABILITY ACCEPTED, (c)97 VeriSign, Inc.4a19d2388c82591ca55d735f155ddca31/7/2004Time StampingVeriSign Time Stamping CAR
VeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CAVeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CA03c78f37db9228df3cbb1aad82fa67101/7/2004Secure E-mail, Code SigningVeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CAR
Thawte Timestamping CAThawte Timestamping CA0012/31/2020Time StampingThawte Timestamping CAR
Some certificates that are listed in the previous tables have expired. However, these certificates are necessary for backward compatibility. Even if there is an expired trusted root certificate, anything that was signed by using that certificate before the expiration date requires that the trusted root certificate be validated. As long as expired certificates are not revoked, they can be used to validate anything that was signed before their expiration.

For more information about how to remove root certificates from the store, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

293819 How to remove a root certificate from the Trusted Root Store