Back in the Windows XP days, you could easily add Control Panel to My Computer with a simple checkbox in the folder view settings. Windows 7 and Vista don’t make this quite as easy, but there’s still a way to get it back.
To make this tweak, we’ll be doing a quick registry hack, but there’s a downloadable version provided as well.
Manual Registry Tweak to Add Control Panel
Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace
Now that you’re there, you’ll need to right-click and create a new key…
If you want to add the regular Control Panel view, with the categories, you’ll need to use one GUID as the name of the key. If you want the icon view instead, you can use the other key. Here they are:
Category View: {26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}
Icon View: {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Once you’re done, it should look like this:
Now over in the Computer view, just hit the F5 key to refresh the panel, and you should see the new icon pop up in the list:
Now when you click on the icon you’ll be taken to Control Panel. If you didn’t know how to change the view before, you can use the drop-down box on the right-hand side to switch between Category and icon view.
Downloadable Registry Hack
Rather than deal with manual registry editing, you can simply download the file, extract it, and then either double-click on the AddCategoryControlPanel.reg to add the Category view icon, or AddIconControlPanel.reg to add the other icon. There’s an uninstall script provided for each.
Download ControlPanelMyComputer Registry Hack from howtogeek.com
Similar Articles
Productive Geek Tips
Disable User Account Control (UAC) the Easy Way on Win 7 or VistaHow To Figure Out Your PC’s Host Name From the Command PromptRestore Missing Desktop Icons in Windows 7 or VistaNew Vista Syntax for Opening Control Panel Items from the Command-lineAdd Registry Editor to Control Panel
TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey
The Icy Undertow Desktop
Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN
The Clear & Clean Desktop
Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums
Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window
Latest Software Reviews
Tinyhacker Random Tips
DVDFab 6
Revo Uninstaller Pro
Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows
PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010
Have Fun Editing Photo Editing with Citrify
Outlook Connector Upgrade Error
Gadfly is a cool Twitter/Silverlight app
Enable DreamScene in Windows 7
Microsoft’s “How Do I ?” Videos
Home Networks – How do they look like & the problems they cause