How to Disable Access to Specific Control Panel Tools

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.1, 3.11
• Microsoft Windows for Workgroups versions 3.1, 3.11
• Microsoft Windows 95

SUMMARY

This article describes how to disable access to specific tools in Control Panel. You can use the procedure in this article to cause specific tools not to appear in Control Panel.

MORE INFORMATION

To disable access to a specific tool in Control Panel, follow these steps:

1. Use any text editor (such as Notepad) to open the Control.ini file in the Windows folder.

2. Search the file for a [don't load] section. If this section does not exist, add it.

3. Add the following line to the [don't load] section for each tool you want to disable

         <icon>=no
   

   where <icon> is the Control Panel tool you want to disable.

   For Windows and Windows for Workgroups versions 3.1 and 3.11, use the name of the tool as it appears in Control Panel. For example, to disable the Printers tool in Windows for Workgroups 3.11, add the following line to the [don't load] section:

         Printers=no
   

   For Windows 95, use the name of the .cpl file associated with the tool you want to disable. The Windows 95 .cpl files are listed in the table below. For example, to disable the System tool in Windows 95, add the following line to the [don't load] section:

         sysdm.cpl=no
   

4. Save the Control.ini file and then quit the editor.

5. Restart the computer.

   .cpl file      Control Panel tool(s)
   ---------------------------------------------------
   Access.cpl     Accessibility Options
   Appwiz.cpl     Add/Remove Programs
   Desk.cpl       Display
   Intl.cpl       Regional Settings
   Jetadmin.cpl   HP JetAdmin
   Joy.cpl        Joystick
   Main.cpl       Fonts, Keyboard, Mouse, and Printers
   Mlcfg32.cpl    Mail And Fax
   Mmsys.cpl      Multimedia and Sounds
   Modem.cpl      Modems
   Netcpl.cpl     Network
   Password.cpl   Passwords
   Sysdm.cpl      System and Add New Hardware
   Timedate.cpl   Date/Time
   Wgpocpl.cpl    Microsoft Mail Postoffice