{Please use with caution}

To clean up the control panel and make it easier to find what you are looking for, the following instructions will help you keep unused icons from loading when the control panel is opened. You will be able to easily undo this operation as well if you ever need to access those items again.

Go first to my computer, view and folder options. Go to file types, scroll to control panel extensions and select edit. Make sure always show extension is checked. Click ok twice and close the my computer window.

Go to start, settings and open the control panel. Make a list of those items you don't use. Close this all out. Go to start, find and open files or folders. Type *.cpl in the named field. Look in C drive. Check include subfolders. Select find now. You should get a list of .cpl files. Right click each, one at a time. Select the option open with control panel. If it's a utility you use, close this window and go on to the next. If not, close it and do the following for .cpl files that are the same as an unwanted item in the control panel. You can make sure what it is by opening it.

Right click the .cpl file for the unwanted item. Left click on rename. Write the full name and extension as is to keep a record of it. Then rename only the extension to something the computer won't recognize like .aaa and write down that full name including the new extension. Hit the enter button on the keyboard to save the name change.

When you are all finished, close the find all files window and open the control panel to see (or not see?) the changes you have made. Because you have recorded the old and new names, you can undo what you have done should you ever need to. Simply search one at a time for the new names with extensions with the same find utility. Rename them to their respective old names.

That's it!

About the author:

David Geer writes for national and international publications like Computerworld, certain IEEE Computer Society publications and dozens more. E-mail him at D avid@GeerCom.com, call him at 440-964-9832 or visit his Web site at www.GeerCom.com.

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