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 to | Issued by | Serial number | Expiration date | Intended purposes | Friendly name | Status |
| Microsoft Root Authority | Microsoft Root Authority | 00c1008b3c3c8811d13ef663ecdf40 | 12/31/2020 | All | Microsoft Root Authority | R |
| Thawte Timestamping CA | Thawte Timestamping CA | 00 | 12/31/2020 | Time Stamping | Thawte Timestamping CA | R |
| Microsoft Root Certificate Authority | Microsoft Root Certificate Authority | 79ad16a14aa0a5ad4c7358f407132e65 | 5/9/2021 | All | Microsoft Root Certificate Authority | R |
The follow certificates are necessary and trusted in Windows XP and in Windows Server 2003:
| Issued to | Issued by | Serial number | Expiration date | Intended purposes | Friendly name | Status |
| Copyright (c) 1997 Microsoft Corp. | Copyright (c) 1997 Microsoft Corp. | 01 | 12/30/1999 | Time Stamping | Microsoft Timestamp Root | R |
| Microsoft Authenticode(tm) Root Authority | Microsoft Authenticode(tm) Root Authority | 01 | 12/31/1999 | Secure E-mail, Code Signing | Microsoft Authenticode(tm) Root | R |
| Microsoft Root Authority | Microsoft Root Authority | 00c1008b3c3c8811d13ef663ecdf40 | 12/31/2020 | All | Microsoft Root Authority | R |
| NO LIABILITY ACCEPTED, (c)97 VeriSign, Inc. | NO LIABILITY ACCEPTED, (c)97 VeriSign, Inc. | 4a19d2388c82591ca55d735f155ddca3 | 1/7/2004 | Time Stamping | VeriSign Time Stamping CA | R |
| VeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CA | VeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CA | 03c78f37db9228df3cbb1aad82fa6710 | 1/7/2004 | Secure E-mail, Code Signing | VeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CA | R |
| Thawte Timestamping CA | Thawte Timestamping CA | 00 | 12/31/2020 | Time Stamping | Thawte Timestamping CA | R |
| Microsoft Root Certificate Authority | Microsoft Root Certificate Authority | 79ad16a14aa0a5ad4c7358f407132e65 | 5/9/2021 | All | Microsoft Root Certificate Authority | R |
| Issued to | Issued by | Serial number | Expiration date | Intended purposes | Friendly name | Status |
| Copyright (c) 1997 Microsoft Corp. | Copyright (c) 1997 Microsoft Corp. | 01 | 12/30/1999 | Time Stamping | Microsoft Timestamp Root | R |
| Microsoft Authenticode(tm) Root Authority | Microsoft Authenticode(tm) Root Authority | 01 | 12/31/1999 | Secure E-mail, Code Signing | Microsoft Authenticode(tm) Root | R |
| Microsoft Root Authority | Microsoft Root Authority | 00c1008b3c3c8811d13ef663ecdf40 | 12/31/2020 | All | Microsoft Root Authority | R |
| NO LIABILITY ACCEPTED, (c)97 VeriSign, Inc. | NO LIABILITY ACCEPTED, (c)97 VeriSign, Inc. | 4a19d2388c82591ca55d735f155ddca3 | 1/7/2004 | Time Stamping | VeriSign Time Stamping CA | R |
| VeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CA | VeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CA | 03c78f37db9228df3cbb1aad82fa6710 | 1/7/2004 | Secure E-mail, Code Signing | VeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CA | R |
| Thawte Timestamping CA | Thawte Timestamping CA | 00 | 12/31/2020 | Time Stamping | Thawte Timestamping CA | R |
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: