Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Remove Control Panel Items

This tweak is useful for uncluttering your Control Panel and removing unused functions:

  1. Open Regedit and go to:
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\]
  2. Add a key named Don't Load
  3. Next add String values within the "don't load" Key. You will use one String value for each control panel applet you want removed. For example, if I want to remove the System applet I will make a string value with the name sysdm.cpl and no value set and the System applet will no longer be available under the Control Panel.
  4. To restore a full control Panel to default just delete the "don't load" key.

    Here are the Windows XP Pro Control Panel applets:
    System Properties = sysdm.cpl
    Network Connections = ncpa.cpl
    ODBC Administrator = odbccp32.cpl
    Display Properties = desk.cpl
    Add or remove programs = appwiz.cpl
    Internet Properties = Inetcpl.cpl
    Game Controllers = joy.cpl
    Phone and modem Options = telephon.cpl
    Time and Date Properties = timedate.cpl
    Region and Language Options = intl.cpl
    Power Options = powercfg.cpl
    Mouse Properties = main.cpl
    Accessibility Options = access.cpl
    Add Hardware Wizard = hdwwiz.cpl
    Sound and Audio Devices = mmsys.cpl
    User Accounts = nusrmgr.cpl
    Speech Properties = sapi.cpl