Can anyone else use your computer besides you? Then you should think about protection operating system and protect it from changes in settings in the panel Windows management 7. This is often necessary if the computer is located in a public place, such as an office or educational classroom.
You should also not neglect this if the computer is at home and inexperienced household members have access to it. And if you have children, then you also need to think about installing parental controls. This is the only way you can keep Windows working, as well as your nerves (when you realize that someone got into the control panel and changed your settings). Below we will look at how to protect control PanelWindows 7 from outside access.
To block the Windows 7 control panel, you need to make some settings in the registry. Before you start working with the registry, we strongly advise you to familiarize yourself with the “safety rules for working with the registry”, since changing the registry if not carefully will lead to damage to the operating system.
And so we begin:
1. On your keyboard, press “Win + R”, write “regedit” and click Ok.
You write in the instructions: “open the control panel, select Programs and Features,” after which it turns out that not all users know how to open the control panel, and this item is not always present. Let's fill in the gap.
This guide contains 5 ways to enter the Control Panel in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1, some of which also work in Windows 7. And at the same time there is a video demonstrating these methods at the end.
Update 2017: Windows 10 1703 Creators Update The Control Panel item has disappeared from the Win+X menu, but it can be returned: .
In Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, you can get to the Control Panel in just one or two clicks. For this:
However, in Windows 7 this can be done no less quickly - the desired item is present in the regular Start menu by default.
One of the smartest ways to launch something that you don't know how to open in Windows is to use the built-in search functions.
In Windows 10, the search field is placed on the taskbar by default. In Windows 8.1, you can press the Win+S keys or just start typing while on home screen(with application tiles). And in Windows 7, such a field is present at the bottom of the Start menu.
If you just start typing “Control Panel”, you will quickly see the item you need in the search results and can launch it with just a click.
Additionally, when using this method in Windows 8.1 and 10, you can click right click mouse over the found control panel and select “Pin to taskbar” to quickly launch it in the future.
I note that in some preliminary Windows builds, as well as in some other cases (for example, after self-installation language pack), the control panel is located only by entering “Control Panel”.
If you frequently need to access Control Panel, you can simply create a shortcut to launch it manually. To do this, right-click on the desktop (or in any folder), select “New” - “Shortcut”.
After that, in the “Specify the location of the object” field, enter one of the following options:
By default, Windows does not provide a hotkey combination to open the Control Panel, but you can create one, even without using additional programs.
To do this, follow these steps:
Done, now when you press the combination you have chosen, the control panel will launch (just do not delete the shortcut).
And finally, a video instruction on launching the control panel, which shows all the methods listed above.
I hope this information was useful for novice users, and at the same time helped to see that almost everything in Windows can be done in more than one way.
Note: B this method the local group policy editor is used, which is not available in the Home editions of Windows 7. If you have just such an operating system, immediately proceed to the method of editing the registry.
First, click on the Start button, type gpedit.msc in the search field and press Enter.
After opening the local editor group policy, go to User Configuration -> Administrative Templates and select Control Panel. Double-click Deny access to the control panel.
This setting prevents the launch of the Control.exe program, which is responsible for the operation of the Control Panel. As a result, users cannot open the Control Panel window or launch any of the Control Panel items.
This option also removes the Control Panel command from the Start button menu and the Control Panel folder from the Explorer tree.
In the next window, select Enable, click OK and then close the Local Group Policy Editor.
Now, if the user tries to select the Control Panel command in the Properties item context menu, a message appears stating that the operation was canceled due to restrictions on the computer and asking you to contact the administrator.
You can also use registry editing to disable Control Panel. This method will work on all versions of Windows 7, Vista and XP.
In any case, before making any changes to the registry, you should do backup copy registry
Click on the Start button, type regedit in the search field and press Enter.
In the left pane of the Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. If there is no Explorer section, then you need to create it.
Then in the right panel of the editor, right-click in an empty space and create new parameter DWORD (32-bit).
Name the new parameter NoControlPanel. Then right-click on it and select Edit...
In the Value field, enter the number 1 and click OK. Then close the Registry Editor and restart your computer to complete the process.
Once the computer boots up, users will no longer see the Control Panel.
If you yourself want to return the control panel, then simply go to the registry editor again, change the value of the NoControlPanel parameter you created yourself to 0 and restart the computer.
In general, disabling the control panel will be very useful if you have inexperienced users (or, conversely, too experienced) on your computer and you do not want them to make any changes to the system settings. Good luck to you!
The Control Panel is present in all versions of Windows by default and allows you to manage a large number of settings, programs and processes occurring on your computer. You can open it in several ways, and for convenience, it is possible to change the appearance and interface.
There are several ways to get to the Control Panel in Windows 7. Some actions in the Control Panel will require administrator rights, so open it from the main account to have full access to all features.
Change appearance control panel, you can select another option in the “View” line, located in the upper right corner of the window. The smaller the icon format you choose, the more sections you will have to fit on home page control panels. There are three options: categories, default, small icons, and large icons.
Change the appearance of the control panel by choosing a different icon format Usually the administration panel disappears along with the desktop and quick access panel. This is due to the fact that the explorer process, which is responsible for system access to computer files, for some reason stopped working. To start it again, you need to do the following:
Press the combination Ctrl+Alt+Delete
Go to the task manager
Expand the “File” menu
Select the “New task” function
Create a task explorer.exe
Close the explorer.exe processThe easiest way to quickly access the panel is to use the button from the Start menu, but this button may not appear or disappear. To return or replace it, follow these steps:
If, when you try to open the panel, nothing happens or an error appears, then most likely one of the broken files is preventing it from starting, causing an error and stopping the process.
If you encounter problems while launching the panel, and you have Windows “Professional” or “Ultimate” installed, then the problem lies in the Group Policy Editor:
Expand the “Run” window
Execute the command gpedit.mscWindows Control Panel is an administrative interface that is an integral part of latest versions Windows. The panel allows you to manage various components of the operating system, perform configuration and maintenance. The control panel provides quick access to settings for equipment, audio devices, firewalls, and user accounts.
Microsoft began phasing out the Control Panel back in Windows 8, when it introduced the new PC Settings control center. The company continued to develop this concept, and now we are dealing with the “Settings” application.
U Windows users There are several ways to open Control Panel, but they may vary depending on your different versions operating system.
However, over time, one method remains the same - running applets directly (although many applets have been removed).
| Applet name | File name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Programs and components | appwiz.cpl | Used to remove installed programs and adding or removing Windows components |
| date and time | timedate.cpl | Allows you to set the time and date, change the time zone, add additional clocks and synchronize time with servers on the Internet |
| device Manager | hdwwiz.cpl | Shows all hardware components of the computer. Used to install and remove devices, install drivers, and perform other hardware tasks |
| Screen | desk.cpl | Shows screen settings, color profile, scaling options. In Windows 10, opens the corresponding page of the Settings application. |
| Windows Firewall | firewall.cpl | Allows you to enable or disable the firewall, open the advanced settings window to block or allow connections |
| Infrared communication | irprops.cpl | Allows you to control devices with infrared port |
| Properties: Internet | inetcpl.cpl | Opens the web browser properties window and allows you to configure settings Internet Explorer, which can also be used by other browsers |
| Gaming devices | joy.cpl | Allows you to configure gamepads and other game controllers connected to the system |
| Properties: Keyboard | main.cpl keyboard | Provides access to various keyboard parameters: delay, cursor blink speed and allows you to check installed keyboards |
| Language | control input.dll | Allows you to add, remove and change the priority of language packs |
| Properties: Mouse | main.cpl | Provides access to various mouse settings: cursor shape and color, button behavior, and mouse wheel behavior. |
| Network connections | ncpa.cpl | Managing network connections |
| Power supply | powercfg.cpl | Opens power settings. You can configure the power supply scheme in detail |
| Region | intl.cpl | Allows you to change date and time formats as well as your location |
| Screensaver | control desk.cpl | Opens the screen saver settings dialog box. In Windows 10, opens the corresponding page of the Settings application. |
| Sound | mmsys.cpl | Displays a list of settings for playback and recording devices. You can customize sounds and voice communication |
| Properties of the system | sysdm.cpl | Displays device information and configuration links individual components systems |
| Tablet and pen options | tabletpc.cpl | Options are only available in tablet mode |
| Location information | telephon.cpl | You can customize the index telephone code for modem services |
| wscui.cpl | Manage Windows Security Settings | |
| Accounts users | control userpasswords | Managing accounts in the system |
The command “control /name Canonical name” allows you to launch additional control panel applets if .cpl files are not available for them.
Please note that some commands do not work in certain versions Windows.
