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Control Panel - Force Home or Classic View

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Control Panel - Force Home or Classic View
How to Force Control Panel Home or Classic View in Vista
Published by Brink
06-03-2008

How to Force Control Panel Home or Classic View in Vista
Information
  This tutorial will show you how to force the Control Panel to have the Control Panel Home or Classic View for all users on the computer. Users will not be able to change between the two as they could by default.
RELATED LINKS:
EXAMPLE: Default Control Panel View
NOTE: By default in Vista, users can click on either the Control Panel Home or Classic View link to switch between the two at will.
Click the image to open in full size.
EXAMPLE: Force Control Panel Home View
NOTE: Users will only have the Control Panel Home view displayed, and the Classic View link will be removed.
Click the image to open in full size.
EXAMPLE: Force Classic View
NOTE: Users will only have the Classic View displayed, and the Control Panel Home link will be removed.
Click the image to open in full size.



METHOD ONE:
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)
5. In the right pane, right click on Force classic Control Panel view and click Properties.

Name:  Group_Policy.jpg
Views: 221
Size:  141.7 KB

6. To Restore the Default Control Panel View -
A) Dot Not Configured. (See screenshot below step 8)
B) Go to step 9.
7. To Force the Control Panel Classic View -
A) Dot Enabled. (See screenshot below step 8)
B) Go to step 9.
8. To Force the Control Panel Home View -
A) Dot Disabled. (See screenshot below)
Name:  Properties.jpg
Views: 219
Size:  58.1 KB

9. Click OK. (See screenshot above)
10. Close the Local Group Policy Editor window. Your done.



METHOD TWO:
Through the Registry
NOTE
  This method will work for all Vista versions.
Through a Download:
1. To Restore the Default Control Panel View -
A) Click on the download button below to download the
Restore_Default_CP_View.reg file.
B) Go to step 4.


2. To Force the Control Panel Classic View -
A) Click on the download button below to download the
Force_Classic_CP_View.reg file.
B) Go to step 4.


3. To Force the Control Panel Home View -
A) Click on the download button below to download the
Force_CP_Home_View.reg file.


4. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the Desktop.
5. Right click on the .reg file (on Desktop) and click on Merge.
6. Click on the Run button for Security Warning pop-up.
7. Click on Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.
8. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply the changes.
9. When done, you can delete the .reg file (on Desktop).

The Manual Way:
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)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Name:  Reg1.jpg
Views: 223
Size:  77.1 KB

5. In the right pane, right click on a empty area and click on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value. (See screenshot above)
NOTE: If ForceClassicControlPanel is already here, then skip this step and go to step 6.

A) Type ForceClassicControlPanel and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

Name:  Reg2.jpg
Views: 220
Size:  87.7 KB

6. To Force the Control Panel Home View -
A) Right click on ForceClassicControlPanel and click on Modify. (See screenshot above)
B) Type 0 (number zero) and click on OK. (See screenshot below)
Name:  Modify_Home.jpg
Views: 220
Size:  13.7 KB
C) The registry will not look like the screenshot under step 5A.
D) Go to step 9.
7. To Force the Control Panel Classic View -
A) Right click on ForceClassicControlPanel and click on Modify. (See screenshot below step 5A)
B) Type 1 and click on OK. (See screenshot below)
Name:  Modify_Classic.jpg
Views: 219
Size:  32.5 KB
C) The registry will now look like this. (See screenshot below)
Name:  Reg3.jpg
Views: 218
Size:  87.4 KB
D) Go to step 9.
8. To Restore the Default Control Panel View -
A) In the right pane, right click on ForceClassicControlPanel and click on Delete. (See screenshot above)
B) Click Yes to confirm deletion.
C) The registry will not look like the screenshot under step 4.
9. Close regedit.
10. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply the changes.
That's it,
Shawn

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Applies to
All Vista Versions
64 Bit & 32 Bit

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appearance & personalize, control, panel, view

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