View Full Version : windoze control panel items
rans6andrew
8th Apr 2014, 15:45
Hi,
can somebody please help me to understand the items in the control panel and how they connect/relate/action? The reason I ask is that some of the control panel items, in my windoze vista machine, have "gone missing" ie vanished, disparu.
I assume that the items usually in the control panel are just shortcuts to the actual application code hidden away somewhere.
I just went to use the add or remove programmes thingy because my java installation is driving me around the bend and I want to uninstall it. Gone.
My java update is stuck in an endless loop. Every day it tells me it has a new version to install, it goes through the machinations, runs a test of java and tells me that the java is out of date, please update. In the meantime, links in emails are hit and miss whether they will work and mostly don't. I have been getting around this by forwarding the failing emails to an account I can read on another machine (running Linux Mint) where they do work.
Ta,
Rans6....
Yes, they are shortcuts and with luck the real stuff is still there. I don't know what the "Programs and Features" app is called, so I can't help you with that bit.
Someone else may know. I'd guess it ends with .msc
Saab Dastard
8th Apr 2014, 18:01
Try how to recover missing control panel icons ? - Microsoft Community (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/how-to-recover-missing-control-panel-icons/f3f51d22-ecb8-4626-9d88-d9182c40830a) as a starter.
SD
rans6andrew
9th Apr 2014, 09:22
Ta for the pointer to how to recover missing control panel icons ? - Microsoft Community (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/how-to-recover-missing-control-panel-icons/f3f51d22-ecb8-4626-9d88-d9182c40830a)
I followed the suggestion all of the way to the second paragraph where it says " Right Click on it and rename it using cpZ as the extension" whereupon I failed miserably as I don't have permissions to mess with the files in Win32 directory. Aaaarrrrgh. I have had the machine from new but doubt that I ever knew the super user password.
A number of the .cpl files fail to work when clicked, namely all of those connected to the nVidia display driver and also the update manager.
The add or remove programme does function though so I have used it to remove the Java, which is where I started this from.
Rans6........
rans6andrew
9th Apr 2014, 10:44
interesting, my user account has more privileges than most in the sytem32 folder! I don't have the necessary privileges to change the permissions on most of the files in the folder but I have managed to rename the nvidia driver.....
running the sfc scan now.
Rans6.....
piemanpete
12th Apr 2014, 10:52
Sometimes the range of tools you can see and use in control panel is affected by your user rights. If you are not logged into your pc as administrator or as a user with full admin rights, some key CP functions that could allow you to mess up the system through inexperience or ignorance are disabled. You might check this. Windows tries to encourage you not to use your pc routinely with full admin rights as this makes it more vulnerable to intruders and malware. Trouble is, it can be a pain in the botty just when you don't need it.
This is more often the case for pcs on corporate networks, which have a specially modified profile loaded from a central server, usually with all of the interesting stuff disabled or missing to prevent tinkering and, some cynics might say, reduce tempting distractions from your *work*!
Hope this is helpful, anyway.
rans6andrew
12th Apr 2014, 20:05
Thanks to those that have helped or just thought about this for me.
I have sussed the admin rights and have access to everything I need now, thanks. I still don't know why many of the icons don't show in the control panel or why some of those in the system32 directory fail to work. I can find and use, directly, the remaining utilities when I need to.
The machine hardware is as it always has been, the machine was bought new from Dell. I can't even begin to guess why the video drivers may be wrong or broken.
I have a number of PCs about the place, none of the others run Vista. Would I mess up the vista machine further if I copy some of the system32 .cpl files from other machines to replace the faulty ones currently in the Vista machine? I can get from win XP, win 7 or win 8.
Rans6......
Saab Dastard
12th Apr 2014, 21:18
You would need to find the .cpl files from the same version of Windows, and the correct 32 / 64 bit.
SD
rans6andrew
12th Apr 2014, 21:43
the only way I can see to get the files from the same version would be to attempt to restore/reload the whole OS from the backup which I think is on the partition/D drive.
Will this mess up all of my stuff on the C drive?
'twould be a real pain to have to copy all my c*&p off and then get it back after.
Rans6......