Control Panel - Force Home or Classic View

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.

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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.



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)

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

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



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)



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)

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)

C) The registry will now look like this. (See screenshot below)

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.