Control Panel (Windows) - Wikipedia. The Control Panel is a part of the Microsoft Windows, in older versions, which allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls via applets, such as adding hardware, adding and removing software, controlling user accounts, and changing accessibility options.

Control Panel (Windows) - Wikipedia. The Control Panel is a part of the Microsoft Windows, in older versions, which allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls via applets, such as adding hardware, adding and removing software, controlling user accounts, and changing accessibility options.

Additional applets can be provided by third party software. The Control Panel has been an inherent part of the Microsoft Windows operating system since Windows 2. Beginning with Windows 9.

Control Panel is implemented as a special folder, i. Physically, these applets are stored as . For example, the Add or Remove Programs applet is stored under the name appwiz. SYSTEM3. 2 folder.

In recent versions of Windows, the Control Panel has two views, Classic View and Category View, and it is possible to switch between these through an option that appears on either the left side or top of the window. Many of the individual Control Panel applets can be accessed in other ways. For instance, Display Properties can be accessed by right- clicking on an empty area of the desktop and choosing Properties. The classic view consists of shortcuts to the various control panel applets, usually without any description (other than the name). The categories are seen if the user use . In Windows Vista, the category used applets below the name of the category.

The Control Panel can be accessed quickly by typing control in the Run dialog box (. Some functions, particularly the ability to add and remove user accounts, were moved exclusively to this app on Windows 8 and cannot be performed from Control Panel. Each applet is stored individually as a separate file (usually a .

DLL, the locations of which are stored in the registry under the following keys: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Control Panel\Cpls. This contains the string format locations of all . HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\Control. Panel\Namespace. This contains the location of the CLSID variables for all the panels not included as cpl files.

These are commonly folders or shell applets, though Windows Vista allows physical programs themselves to be registered as well. The CLSID then allows items such as the icon, infobox and category to be set and gives the location of the file to be used. The control panel then uses these lists to locate the applets and load them into the control panel program (control. In addition to using the control panel, a user can also invoke the applets manually via the command processor. For instance, the syntax . While both syntax examples are accepted on Windows Vista, only the former one is accepted on Windows XP. It comprises various settings primarily aimed at users with disabilities or hardware problems.

This can be done by selecting from a list of devices or by specifying the location of the driver installation files. Add or Remove Programs (appwiz. Renamed . These are links to various configurations of the Microsoft Management Console such as the local services list and the Event Viewer.

Automatic Updates (wuaucpl. This is used to specify how the Automatic Updates client (wuauclt. Microsoft Update Website, by default this is set to download and install daily, however this can be changed to a more suitable frequency.

This also allows the user to specify whether to ask permission before downloading and/or installing updates or to simply switch off Automatic Updates altogether. Date and Time (timedate. Allows user to change the date and time stored in the machine's BIOS, change the time zone and specify whether to synchronize the date and time with an Internet Time Server and which server to use. Display (control desktop) (desk. Allows the user to change the display characteristics of their computer. Allows users to change the desktop background (wallpaper) to a picture of their choice and specifies how it should be shown.

Allows the user to change or disable the screensaver, and specify how long it takes to activate and whether to ask for a password on resume. Allows the user to specify the color styles of all elements within the system, primarily whether to use the Windows XP / Vista styles (blue by default in XP) or to use the classic Windows 9. Me styles, this also allows the user to change the My Computer and Recycle Bin icons. Allows the user to change the screen resolution and colour quality, and provides trouble shooting advice for displays. Folder Options (control folders)(rundll.

Options. More specifically it allows the user to specify general settings like whether folders open in a new window or the existing window and whether the common tasks pane is shown, as well as more advanced tasks such as whether windows should hide critical system files and whether to show file extensions. It is also used to modify file type associations in Windows; i. Fonts (control fonts)Displays all fonts installed on the computer. Users can remove fonts, install new fonts or search for fonts using font characteristics. And connect to other type of game controllers. Keyboard (control keyboard)(main.

Lets the user change and test keyboard settings, including cursor blink rate and key repeat rate. Mail (mlcfg. 32. cpl)(mlcfg. Mail allows for configuration of the mail client in Windows, usually Microsoft Outlook.

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Microsoft Outlook Express cannot be configured with this item; it is configured through its own interface. This also allows the user to specify the pointer appearance for each task, such as resize and busy. Network Connections (control netconnections) (ncpa. Displays and allows the user to edit or create network connections such as Local Area Networks (LAN) and internet connections. It also offers troubleshooting functions in case the computer has to be reconnected to the network. Phone and Modem Options (telephon. Manages telephone and modem connections.

Power Options (powercfg. Includes options to manage energy consumption such as. Specify how long it takes to switch off the display and hard drives and how long it takes for the system to enter standby, if at all.

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To decide what to do when the computer's on/off button is pressed, such as whether to shut down or to enter standby. Whether to allow Hibernation (some systems become unstable when restarting). Allows the user to configure UPS (if available). Printers and Faxes (. It includes access to Windows Update, where users can specify whether the computer should check for updates regularly (also available through the Windows Update panel), and options for managing internet security settings.

It also includes links to internet articles about PC security and current virus threats and notifies the user when the PC's security is compromised. Sounds and Audio Devices (mmsys.

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This panel contains various audio- related functions. Change the speaker volume and type and specify whether to show the volume icon in the notification area. Change the sounds played for the system or specific programs when a certain event occurs, i. Windows Startup or Critical Stop.

Change default devices for music playback, recording, voice recognition, MIDI etc. Change the Sound card settings and whether to use Hardware acceleration. Display the audio devices installed on the computer, and allows them to be configured. Speech (Sapi. cpl)This applet has two main functions, the first is specify settings for Speech synthesis, allowing the user to select the voice the computer should use to narrate text and how fast it should read. The second is to specify settings for Speech recognition, allowing the user to set up different profiles detailing how the computer should deal with an individual's dialect, for instance. The amount of grammatical errors in a person's voice (punctuality sensitivity). The speed at which the person speaks, and the time delay between words.

This also allows the user to access the voice recognition training wizard, in which an individual 'teaches' the computer to recognize a person voice interactively using the microphone. System (Sysdm. cpl)This is used to view and change core system settings, a user can for instance. Display general information on the user's machine such as the amount of RAM, CPU speed and type, the version of Windows the system is using and the manufacturer. Edit the computer name in a network workgroup.

Manage and Configure hardware devices, and view information such as the manufacturer, user access and driver version of any hardware device installed on the system via Device Manager. Enable/Disable system features such as automatic updates and System restore monitoring. Specify advanced features such as performance logs, virtual memory settings and roaming profiles. Taskbar and Start Menu (rundll. Options. They can change their username and password, their picture (if enabled) and their .

If the current user has an administrators account they can also add, delete and modify other user accounts as well as make changes to core system settings. This panel also specifies whether the guest account should be active and whether to use the Welcome screen while Windows loads. Peripheral devices. They do not actually offer a direct interface to control these devices, but rather offer basic tasks such as removal procedures and links to wizards (Printers & faxes is the exception). Such applets include: Scanners and Cameras. Game Controllers.

Portable Media Devices. Other Microsoft- distributed applets. By default this applet is not installed, however it can be installed for free from the Microsoft Website.

Infrared (irprops. Similar to the Bluetooth applet, this is used to configure how the computer manages any wireless infrared ports installed, including options such as connectivity and security. CSNW (nwc. cpl)The Client Service for Net.

Ware applet is used to select a default tree and context in a Novell Directory Services (NDS) environment, or the Net. Ware server used most frequently in a non- NDS environment. Although it is impossible to mention all of them, some of them are listed here: Icon.

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