How to Disable WIA Service in Windows?

Want to turn off or disable WIA in your PC? Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) is a still image acquisition platform found in Microsoft Windows operating systems. WIA enables imaging applications to communicate with imaging hardware such as digital camera and scanner. It was first introduced in Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me) and is available in all later versions of Windows. In this article, you’ll find step-by-step instructions on how to disable WIA in a computer.

Many imaging devices (scanners, printers, digital cameras,  all-in-one copiers etc.) requires WIA service. But there are imaging devices which don’t require WIA. In fact, in order to properly install certain imaging software or driver, you need to turn off or disable WIA service in Windows. Also, if you don’t use digital imaging devices with your computer, you can keep WIA service disabled. Read the following instructions to learn how to disable WIA.

Disable WIA in Windows XP:

1. Press Windows Start button and click the Control Panel link.
2. The Windows Control Panel will open. Double click on the Administrative Tools icon. The Administrative Tools window will open. Double-click the Services icon.
3. The Windows Services window will open. Look towards the end and locate Windows Image Acquisition (WIA).
4. Double click on Windows Image Acquisition link. The Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) Properties (Local Computer) window will appear.
5. In the General tab, look in the Start-up Type option and select Disabled from the drop-down menu.
6. In the Service status section, press Stop button (if the service is already running). Windows will stop the service.
7. Now press the Apply button and then press OK.

Disable WIA in Windows 7:

1. Go to search in Windows 7 and type services.msc. Open Services link.
2. The Services window will appear. Find Windows Image Acquisition from the list and double click to open it.
3. The Windows Image Acquisition properties window will appear. Select Disabled for the option Start-up type.
4. Press the Stop button in status section of the same window.
5. Once WIA service is stopped, press Apply button. Then press OK button.