How To How to Hide Selected Control Panel Tools in Windows 2000 (261241)

SUMMARY

This article describes how to hide specific configuration tools in Control Panel using Group Policy. The Group Policy settings that you create are contained in a Group Policy Object (GPO), which is in turn associated with selected Active Directory containers, such as sites, domains, or organizational units (OUs). You can also implement Group Policy at the local computer level. The following are two ways to achieve the masking of Control Panel Applets using Group Policy settings.

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Hide Specified Control Panel Applets

1. Click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.
2. Click Action, and then click Add/Remove Snap-ins.
3. Click Add, click Group Policy, click Add, click Group Policy or Local Policy, and then click Finish.
4. Click Close, and then click OK.
5. Expand User Configuration, and then expand Administrative Template.
6. Click Control Panel.
7. On the right pane of the Policy menu, double-click Hide specified control panel applets policy.
8. Click Enable, click Show, click Add, type the corresponding tool name to deny access, click OK, and then click OK.
9. Repeat step 8 for every tool you want to hide.
10. Click Apply, and then click OK.

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Show Only Specified Control Panel Applets

1. Click Start, point to Programs, Administrative Tools, and then click Group Policy.
2. In the console tree, navigate to User Configuration\Administrative Templates and then click to select Control Panel.
3. In the display pane, right click Show only specified control panel applets and then click Properties.
4. Click to select Enabled.
5. This will hide everything in the Control Panel. To add viewable applets click Show, and then click Add.
6. In the Enter the item to be added text box, type the name of the applet you want available for view and then click OK. Repeat the two previous step for all applets that you want available for view.
7. Click Ok.

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.CPL Files

The following list shows the .cpl file that corresponds to each Control Panel tool.

   .cpl File       Control Panel Tools
   ------------------------------------------------
   Access.cpl      Accessibility
   Appwiz.cpl      Add/Remove Program
   Desk.cpl        Display
   Desk.cpl        Printers       
   Fax.cpl         Fax wizard
   Hdwwiz.cpl      Add/Remove Hardware
   Intl.cpl        International
   Joy.cpl         Game controller
   Liccpa.cpl      Licensing
   Main.cpl        Mouse
   Mlcfg.cpl       Mail 
   Mmsys.cpl       Sound and multimedia
   Modem.cpl       Phone and Modem
   Ncpa.cpl        Network and connectivity
   Netcpl.cpl      Network and Dial-up Connectivity
   Nwc.cpl         Netware client connectivity
   Odbccp32.cpl    Open database connectivity
   Powercfg.cpl    Power management
   Sticpl.cpl      Scanner and camera
   Sysdm.cpl       System
   Telephon.cpl    Dialing rule and modem
   Timedate. cpl   Date Time and Time zone
   Wspcpl.cpl      WSP Client
   Wspcpl32.cpl    WSP Client
				

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Troubleshooting

Controlling of Control Panel Applets can also be done using TweakUI. If you are troubleshooting a problem dealing with Control Panel Applets and the Group Policy settings for this have not been modified you may want to look to any modification made using TweakUI.

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