Reference number: CH000875
Information and help with the Windows
control.ini file.
Question:
Information and help with the Windows control.ini file.
Answer:
What is the Windows control.ini
file?
The Windows control.ini file is a file associated with the
Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, and XP
Control Panel. This file is
used to customize and change how the Control Panel operates and
what is seen in the Control Panel.
Earlier versions of Microsoft Windows (Windows 95, 98, and ME)
also used this file as a configuration file for how windows
displays icons and other visual settings, screen saver settings,
passwords, and other OS settings. New versions of Windows such as
Windows 2000 and Windows XP still create this file for backwards
compatibility however apart from hiding Control Panel icons this
file is no longer used.
Depending on your version of Windows the control.ini file will
be located in either the c:\windows or c:\winnt directory and may
or may not have any data within it.
How to hide a Control Panel icon
using the control.ini file.
Users who wish to not delete an associated Control Panel icon
but want to hide it so other users such as young family members or
school children can't run certain settings through the Control
Panel can edit the control.ini file and add "[don't load]" followed
by the name of the icon file they wish to not show in Control Panel
at the beginning of the file.
In the below example adding the below two lines would cause the
Passwords icon in Windows 95, 98, and ME to not be displayed in the
Control Panel.
[don't load]
password.cpl=no
You can find a listing of related Control Panel files and each
of the related versions of the Windows in document CH000136. Once you've modified the control.ini file
you must reboot the computer before the changes will take effect.
The control.ini file re-appears
after I delete it.
This file is re-created by Windows when Control Panel is opened
/ Windows is restarted.
Additional information:
- See document CH000136 for additional
information about adding and removing Control Panel icons.
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