Control Panel stops responding in Windows XP

Control Panel stops responding in Windows XP

I’m running a Dell XPS with Win XP-Pro, SP-2, IE7 and all current updates.
At some point after the installation of MS updates in December 2007, the
Control Panel associated with non-administrative user accounts stopped
responding whenever trying to select any of the control elements (i.e.,
mouse, sound & power options, etc.). The Control Panel works correctly for
the Administrative account.

Supposedly, MS has developed a hotfix for the problem – see Microsoft
Article ID: 843551 (Last Review December 1, 2007 Revision: 3.1
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/843551).

However, in my case the hotfix fails to install and instead displays the
following message:

"Setup has detected that the Service Pack version of this system is newer
than the update you are applying. There is no need to install this update"

Solution: My workaround for this issue was to set up any/all User Accounts
to display the Control panel as a "Menu" instead of a Link. In this
configuration, the control panel works without errors or hangs. How??

Simply right click <Start>, <Properties>, <Customize>, <Advanced Tab>, and
select Control Panel – "Display as menu.”

Hope this helps.