In tip 3274 » Can I hide selected Control Panel applets, I explained how to hide selected Control Panel applets using Group Policy. I also explained how Group Policy stored your selection in the Registry.
To hide applets from the Control Panel display:
1. Use the Registry Editor to navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\don't load. If the don't load sub-key is missing, add it.
2. To hide an applet, add a Value Name that is the applet <filename>.cpl as a string (REG_SZ) data type. While technically, it doesn't matter if you set the data value, I like to set mine to No.
3. You must logoff and logon for these settings to become effective.
NOTE: You may find that the following two applets are already configured:
ncpa.cpl
odbccp32.cpl
If you remove the odbccp32.cpl Value Name, Data Sources (ODBC) is displayed in Control Panel.
If you remove the ncpa.cpl Value Name, a second Network Connections icon is displayed, the new one requiring a double-click to see the configurable objects.
Here is a list of some common Control Panel applets:
| File name | Applet Description |
| Access.cpl | Accessibility properties |
| Appwiz.cpl | Add/Remove Programs properties |
| Desk.cpl | Display properties |
| Hdwwiz.cpl | Add Hardware properties |
| Inetcpl.cpl | Internet properties |
| Intl.cpl | Regional Settings properties |
| Irprops.cpl | Infrared Port properties (located in %SystemRoot%\Driver cache\I386\Driver.cab until you install an infrared device) |
| Joy.cpl | Joystick properties |
| Main.cpl | Mouse properties |
| Mmsys.cpl | Multimedia properties |
| Ncpa.cpl | Network Connections properties |
| Nusrmgr.cpl | User Accounts properties |
| Nwc.cpl | Gateway Services for NetWare properties |
| Odbccp32.cpl | Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) Data Source Administrator properties |
| Powercfg.cpl | Power Options properties |
| Sapi.cpl | Speech Properties (located in "%CommonProgramFiles%\Microsoft Shared\Speech") |
| Sysdm.cpl | System properties |
| Telephon.cpl | Phone and Modem Options properties |
| Timedate.cpl | Time and Date properties |
I have scripted HideApplet.bat to add and delete applets.
The syntax for using HideApplet.bat is:
HideApplet Applet A|D
Where A adds the applet and D deletes the applet.
Example
To add the tablet.cpl applet to the don't load list:hideapplet tablet.cpl a
To delete the odbccp32.cpl from the don't load list:
hideapplet odbccp32.cpl d
HideApplet.bat contains:
setlocal
if \{%2\}<h1><a name="_goto_error_loop_if_2_">\{\} goto error
:loop
if \{%2\}</a></h1>\{\} endlocal&goto :EOF
set applet=%1
set AddRem=%2
shift
shift
if /i "%AddRem%" EQU "A" goto Add
if /i "%AddRem%" EQU "D" goto Del
@echo Syntax: HideApplet Applet A^|D
@echo Syntax: HideApplet %applet% %AddRem%
goto loop
:error
@echo Syntax: HideApplet Applet A^|D
endlocal
goto :EOF
:Add
@echo REG ADD "HKCU\Control Panel\don't load" /V %Applet% /T REG_SZ /F /D "No"
REG ADD "HKCU\Control Panel\don't load" /V %Applet% /T REG_SZ /F /D "No"
@echo.
goto loop
:Del
@echo REG DELETE "HKCU\Control Panel\don't load" /V %Applet% /F
REG DELETE "HKCU\Control Panel\don't load" /V %Applet% /F
@echo.
goto loop
