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How to Hide a Control Panel Icon in Vista Information | | This will show you how to hide a icon from being seen in the classic view Control Panel for all user accounts on the computer. |  | NOTE | | If you hide the Administrative Tools icon, it will also hide the Administrative Tools button in the Start menu. |  | RELATED LINKS:EXAMPLE: Default Classic Control Panel Icons 
| METHOD ONE: |
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| Through the Local Group Policy Editor |
NOTE | | This method is only available for the Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions. See Method Two below for the Vista Basic and Home Premium editions. | | 1. Open the Start Menu.
2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
3. Click Continue for the UAC prompt.
4. In the left pane, click on User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Control Panel. (See screenshot below step 5)
5. In the right pane, right click on Hide specified Control Panel items and click Properties.
6. To Show All Control Panel Icons -
NOTE: This will unhide all hidden Control Panel icons and clear the list from step 7 below.A) Dot Disabled or Not Configured and click OK. (See screenshot below step 7B)
B) Go to step 8.
7. To Hide or Unhide a Control Panel Icon - A) Dot Enabled.
B) Click on the Show button.
C) To Add a Icon Name to the List to be Hidden - - Click on the Add button. (See screenshot below step E )
- Type in the name of the Control Panel icon you want hidden. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: For example, Printers. - Click OK.
NOTE: Repeat steps in 7C to add any more Control Panel icons to be hidden.
D) To Remove a Icon Name from the List to be Unhidden - - Click on the Control Panel icon name in the list to highlight it. (See screenshot below)
- Click the Remove button.
E) Click OK.
 F) Click OK. (See screenshot below step 7B)
8. Close the Local Group Policy Editor window when done.
NOTE: If you had the Control Panel open, then you will need to refresh (Press F5) it to see the changes.
| METHOD TWO: |
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| Through the Registry |
NOTE | | This method will work for all Vista versions. | | 1. Open the Start Menu.
2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.
3. Click the Continue button for the UAC prompt.
4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 5)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
NOTE: If you do not have Explorer, then right click on Polices and click on New and Key. Type Explorer and press Enter.
5. In the right pane of Explorer, right click on a empty area and click on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value and type DisallowCpl and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
6. Right click on DisallowCpl and click Modify.
 A) Type 1 and click OK. (See screenshots below)
7. In the left pane, right click on Explorer and click New -> Key, then type DisallowCpl and press Enter. (See screenshow below step 8C)
8. To Hide a Control Panel Icon - A) In the right pane of DisallowCpl, right click on a empty area and click on New and String Value.
B) Type in a number 1 for the first item and press Enter. Repeat this process in NUMERICAL ORDER for as many items as you want hidden.
NOTE: The list order has nothing to do with the icon order in the Control Panel. This is just a registry list when entering a Control Panel icon name. You will start with typing 1 for a first name, then 2 for a second name, 3 for a third name, etc...
WARNING: When entering a name, it must be listed in numerical order in the registry. For example: 1,2,3,4 not 1,7,2,6. You cannot skip a number.
C) Right click on the first number (under Name) and click Modify. Repeat this process for each New String Value number you created in step 8B. (See screenshot below)
 D) Type in the Control Panel icon name you want hidden and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: For example, Printers.
WARNING: You need to type in the name exactly as it appears in the Control Panel.
 E) The registry will now look like this.
9. To Unhide a Control Panel Icon -A) In the right pane of DisallowCPl, right click on the order list number with the control panel icon name and click Delete. (See screenshot below step 8E)
WARNING: You will need to modify the other list order numbers so that they are back in numerical order. They must be in numerical order. For example: 1,2,3,4 not 1,7,2,6. You cannot skip a number. Just right click on the number (String Value Name) and click Rename. Type in the new order number. (See step 8B)
10. To Undo this and Unhide all Control Panel Icons -A) In the right pane of Explorer, right click on DisallowCpl and click Delete. (See screenshot below step 6)
B) Click Yes to confirm the deletion.
C) In the left pane, right click on DisallowCpl and click Delete. (See screenshot below step 8E)
D) Click Yes to confirm the deletion.
11. Close regedit when done.
NOTE: If you had the Control Panel open, then you will need to refresh (Press F5) it to see the changes.
That's it,
Shawn
|  Published by | | | Administrator Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Texas, USA
Posts: 16,735
Rep Power: 150 | |
Tutorial Tools | | |
Applies to | | All Vista Versions | | 64 Bit & 32 Bit | |
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