Windows 7: Services - Restore Default Services in Windows 7

   Information

This tutorial provides you with registry downloads that will completely restore any of the default services and their settings you want in Windows 7. This can be handy if a service was deleted by mistake, is missing, or had it's properties set improperly.

You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.

   Note

Services are located in the registry location below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services

   Warning

Do not add a service to a Windows 7 edition that the service was not available in by default. It will not work since it was never included in that edition.

If you did not delete a default service, then you might consider doing a full scan of your system at boot with a program like Windows Defender Offline to help make sure that your system is clean.

1. Click on the Display Name link in the table below of the service that you would like to restore to download it's .reg file.

2. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

3. Right click on the downloaded .reg file and click on Merge.
NOTE: If you wish to see what changes will be made by the REG file, then you can right click on the extracted REG file and click on Edit to see the default registry entries that will be added. REG files are just text files. The "Edit" function just opens them in Notepad.

   Tip

If you do not see a Merge option when you right click on the REG file, then you will need to check in Default Programs to set the reg file extension to have it's Current Default program set as Registry Editor (C:\Windows\regedit.exe). Afterwards, try merging the REG file again.

4. If prompted, click on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK.

5. Repeat all of the above steps if you would like to restore another service.

6. When finished, restart the computer to apply.

7. When finished, you can delete the downloaded .reg file(s) on the desktop if you like.