To uninstall a certification authority

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs and then click Add/Remove Windows Components.
3. In the Windows Components wizard, clear the Certificate Services check box, and then click Next.
4. If the World Wide Web Publishing Service is running, the system will request that you stop the service before proceeding with the uninstall process. Click OK.

Notes

• You should back up the entire server before uninstalling the certification authority (CA).
• When you uninstall a CA, the following information is left on the server:
  • The CA's database
  • The CA's public and private keys
  • The CA's certificates in the Personal store
  • The CA's certificates in the shared folder (if a shared folder was specified during Certificate Services setup)
  • The CA chain's root certificate in the Trusted Root Certification Authorities store
  • The CA chain's intermediate certificates in the Intermediate Certification Authorities store
  • The CA's certificate revocation list (CRL)

  This information is kept on the server by default in case you are uninstalling and then reinstalling the CA. You might uninstall and reinstall if you wanted to change a stand-alone CA to an enterprise CA.

• Certain Windows components require configuration before thay can be used. If you installed one or more of these components, but did not configure them, when you click Add/Remove Windows Components, a list of components that need to be configured is displayed. To start the Windows Components wizard, click Components.