Put Anything you want into the Control Panel

Martin Brinkmann
Jan 31, 2008
Updated • Aug 16, 2017
Software
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4

YourCPL is a free software program for Microsoft Windows devices to add custom program links to the Windows Control Panel.

Sometimes applications add icons to the Windows control panel. This happens usually during installation of a new software program on a Windows machine, but may also happen during software updates.

Ever wondered how they do it? Wonder no more because you can now do the same with Your CPL, a small utility compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP, 2000, ME and Windows 98.

The download package contains two files that have to be moved to the system directory of the Windows installation.

In the case of Windows XP it would mean that both files, YourCPL.cpl and YourCPLconfig.txt need to be moved to the system32 directory.

YourCPL

The YourCPLconfig.txt lists the applications that are added to the Windows Control Panel by the program.

By default, a link to the Registry is added. The format for adding new entries is always the same. It begins with the path to the executable, a name for the application, a description and possible command line options. Each application has be to added on a separate line.

The line for adding Regedit to the Control Panel looks like this: c:\windows\regedit.exe Regedit Registry editor. You also need to make sure that you press TAB after each parameter, if you do not do this you will receive a CPL error showing up in the Control Panel.

As you can see it is relatively easy to add new applications to the Control Panel. Possible applications that I think are useful to add are Autoruns, Process Explorer, True Crypt and another uninstaller (Revo Uninstaller for instance).

Note that I have not tested it under newer versions of Windows. I suggest you create a system restore point and maybe even a full system backup before you use the software on your system. While it should be easy enough to undo the changes manually, by simply moving the files out of the Windows directory again, it is better to be on the safe side of things.

The author states that the program is not compatible with Windows 8 or newer versions of Windows, but should run fine on Windows 7 and older versions.

Summary
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Software Name
YourCPL
Operating System
Windows
Software Category
Administration
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