Extending System Control Panel Items

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Some of the system items found in the Control Panel are extensible. To install a Control Panel extension, register your Shell extension as follows, where name is the predefined name of the system item (see table below).

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   Software
      Microsoft
         Windows
            CurrentVersion
               Controls Folder
                  name
                     shellex
                        PropertySheetHandlers

This is similar to the way you would register an extension for a predefined Shell object. Because the only Shell extensions supported by Control Panel items are property sheets, the registration must be under the shellex\PropertySheetHandlers subkey.

Control Panel item name Remarks
Display Desk Also supports replacement of the Desktop page. Note  This is no longer supported under Windows Vista.
 
Display Settings Advanced Device Nonhardware-specific advanced properties. Note  This is no longer supported under Windows Vista.
 
Display Settings Advanced Display Hardware-specific advanced properties. Note  This is no longer supported under Windows Vista.
 
Internet Options Internet The maximum number of extension pages is 18.
Keyboard Keyboard The maximum number of extension pages is 30.
Mouse Mouse Also supports replacement of standard pages. The maximum number of extension pages is 8.
Power Options Power The maximum number of pages, including standard pages, is 18.
System System The maximum number of extension pages is 8. Note  This is no longer supported under Windows Vista.
 

 

The Add or Remove Programs item in the Windows XP Control Panel is not a property sheet and therefore cannot be extended by the methods discussed here. Instead, its content is obtained from application publishers. For more information on adding content to Add or Remove Programs, see IAppPublisher, IEnumPublishedApps, and IPublishedApp.

Control Panel Items

User Experience Guidelines

Registering Control Panel Items

Using CPLApplet

Control Panel Message Processing

Executing Control Panel Items

Assigning Control Panel Categories

Creating Searchable Task Links for a Control Panel Item

Accessing the Control Panel in Safe Mode under Windows Vista