How To Make Shortcuts to Control Panel Pages in Vista
Many windows are buried several levels deep in Vista's Control Panel, so it can be a bit of a pain to make your way around the program. If you find yourself returning to the same spot often, there are several ways to make shortcuts and save yourself some time in the future.
The easiest way to make a shortcut is with drag-drop. If you're using the Control Panel Home (category) view, drag any link onto the desktop to make a shortcut, but don’t be surprised if the shortcut doesn’t take you as far as you wanted to go. For instance, drag the Change desktop background link, and you’ll get a shortcut to the Appearance and Personalization page only.
You can get a little more control in the Classic View of Control Panel; just drag an icon to the desktop to make a shortcut.
But if you want to get to a specific page or tab more directly, you can use any of the available command-line alternatives to open Control Panel pages and windows from shortcuts, the Start menu, or even from the Start → Run dialog. For example, you can open the Advanced tab in the Advanced System Properties window with this old-school syntax (around since the days of Windows 3.x in the 1980s, if you can believe it):
control.exe sysdm.cpl ,3
Or, you can use this new standalone executable to accomplish the same thing:
SystemPropertiesAdvanced.exe
For a complete list of these shortcuts, see this table:
| Control Panel | Command line |
|---|---|
| Add Hardware Wizard | hdwwiz.cpl |
| Administrative Tools | control admintools |
| Advanced System Properties → Advanced tab |
SystemPropertiesAdvanced.exe |
| Advanced System Properties → Computer Name tab |
sysdm.cpl or SystemPropertiesComputerName.exe |
| Advanced System Properties → Advanced tab → Performance Options → Data Execution Prevention tab |
SystemPropertiesDataExecutionPrevention.exe |
| Advanced System Properties → Hardware tab |
SystemPropertiesHardware.exe |
| Advanced System Properties→ Advanced tab → Performance Options |
SystemPropertiesPerformance.exe |
| Advanced System Properties → System Protection tab |
SystemPropertiesProtection.exe |
| Advanced System Properties → Remote tab |
SystemPropertiesRemote.exe |
| AutoPlay | control /name Microsoft.AutoPlay |
| Backup and Restore Center | control /name Microsoft.BackupAndRestoreCenter |
| Backup and Restore Center → Backup Status and Configuration |
sdclt.exe |
| BitLocker Drive Encryption | control /name Microsoft.BitLockerDriveEncryption |
| Bluetooth Devices | bthprops.cpl |
| Date And Time | timedate.cpl or control date/time |
| Display Settings | desk.cpl |
| Default Programs | control /name Microsoft.DefaultPrograms |
| Device Manager | devmgmt.msc |
| Disk Manager | diskmgmt.msc |
| Ease of Access Center | access.cpl or Utilman.exe |
| Folder Options | control folders |
| Fonts | control fonts |
| Game Controllers | joy.cpl |
| Indexing Options | control /name Microsoft.IndexingOptions |
| Internet Options | inetcpl.cpl |
| Keyboard Properties | control keyboard |
| Mouse Properties | main.cpl or control mouse |
| Network and Sharing Center | control /name Microsoft.NetworkandSharingCenter |
| Network Connections | ncpa.cpl or control netconnections |
| Offline Files | control /name Microsoft.OfflineFiles |
| Parental Controls | control /name Microsoft.ParentalControls |
| Pen and Input Devices | TabletPC.cpl |
| People Near Me | collab.cpl or p2phost.exe |
| Performance Information and Tools |
control /name Microsoft. PerformanceInformationandTools |
| Personalization | control desktop |
| Personalization → Window Color and Appearance → Classic Appearance Settings |
Control Color |
| Phone and Modem Options | telephon.cpl or control telephony |
| Power Options | powercfg.cpl |
| Printers | control printers |
| Problem Reports and Solutions | wercon.exe |
| Programs and Features | appwiz.cpl |
| Programs and Features → Turn Windows features on or off |
OptionalFeatures.exe |
| Regional and Language Options | intl.cpl or control international |
| Scanners and Cameras | sticpl.cpl |
| Secure Online Key Backup | control /name Microsoft.SecureKeyBackup |
| Security Center | wscui.cpl |
| Sound | mmsys.cpl |
| Speech Recognition Options | control /name Microsoft.SpeechRecognitionOptions |
| Sync Center | mobsync.exe |
| System | control /name Microsoft.System |
| Tablet PC Settings | control /name Microsoft.TabletPCSettings |
| Task Scheduler | control schedtasks |
| Text to Speech | sapi.cpl or control speech |
| User Accounts | nusrmgr.cpl or Netplwiz.exe or control userpasswords |
| User Accounts (advanced) | control userpasswords2 |
| Volume Mixer | SndVol.exe |
| Welcome Center | control.exe /name Microsoft.WelcomeCenter |
| Windows Defender | MsAsCui.exe |
| Windows Firewall | Firewall.cpl or FirewallControlPanel.exe |
| Windows Firewall Settings | FirewallSettings.exe |
| Windows Sidebar Properties | control.exe /name Microsoft.WindowsSidebarProperties |
| Windows SideShow | control.exe /name Microsoft.WindowsSideshow |
| Windows Update | control.exe /name Microsoft.WindowsUpdate |
Tags: bitlocker,bluetooth,firewall,modem,network,slideshow,sync
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