Opening an explorer window on the Control Panel

[Pyt]

How can I open a Windows Explorer window to display the
control panel from the command line. I can do this on
any "normal" directory with the /root switch, but what of
system directories ?

Thanks,
Pyt.

 

[Torgeir Bakken \(MVP\)]

How can I open a Windows Explorer window to display the
control panel from the command line. I can do this on
any "normal" directory with the /root switch, but what of
system directories ?

Hi

rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

 

[Jerold Schulman]

How can I open a Windows Explorer window to display the
control panel from the command line. I can do this on
any "normal" directory with the /root switch, but what of
system directories ?

Thanks,
Pyt.

You can display the Control Panel from the command-line using
usinging contro.exe or rundll32.exe.

See tips 2905 and 2667 in the 'Tips & Tricks' at http://www.jsiinc.com

Jerold Schulman
Windows: General MVP
JSI, Inc.
http://www.jsiinc.com

 

[David Candy]

explorer /e,/root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\::{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

or

Start shell:ControlPanelFolder

 

[Barney]

As far as I can tell, all of the responses so far do the
same thing as simply typing CONTROL at a command prompt.

 

[Alexander Suhovey]

As far as I can tell, all of the responses so far do the
same thing as simply typing CONTROL at a command prompt.

ROFL
How nice...
KISS principle in action.

Al.

 

[David Candy]

Well you are wrong. Look at my first one. And now there ARE two.

Plus put this into a text file and name it ExploreWhatever.vbs. &h mean it is in hex so &h20=32. It could have been written wshshell.Explore 32. Replace explore with Open to open a folder.

Set wshshell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
wshshell.Explore &h20

ssfALTSTARTUP
File system directory that corresponds to the user's nonlocalized Startup program group. (value = 29)
ssfAPPDATA
Version 4.71. File system directory that serves as a common repository for application-specific data. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data. (value = 26)
ssfBITBUCKET
Virtual folder containing the objects in the user's Recycle Bin. (value = 15)
ssfCOMMONALTSTARTUP
File system directory that corresponds to the nonlocalized Startup program group for all users. Valid only for Windows NT® systems. (value = 30)
ssfCOMMONAPPDATA
Version 5.0. Application data for all users. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data. (value = 35)
ssfCOMMONDESKTOPDIR
File system directory that contains files and folders that appear on the desktop for all users. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop. Valid only for Windows NT® systems. (value = 25)
ssfCOMMONFAVORITES
File system directory that serves as a common repository for all users' favorite items. Valid only for Windows NT® systems.(value = 31)
ssfCOMMONPROGRAMS
File system directory that contains the directories for the common program groups that appear on the Start menu for all users. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs. Valid only for Windows NT® systems. (value = 23)
ssfCOMMONSTARTMENU
File system directory that contains the programs and folders that appear on the Start menu for all users. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu. Valid only for Windows NT® systems. (value = 22)
ssfCOMMONSTARTUP
File system directory that contains the programs that appear in the Startup folder for all users. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup. Valid only for Windows NT® systems. (value = 24)
ssfCONTROLS
Virtual folder containing icons for the Control Panel applications. (value = 3)
ssfCOOKIES
File system directory that serves as a common repository for Internet cookies. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Cookies. (value = 33)
ssfDESKTOP
Windows Desktop-virtual folder that is the root of the namespace. (value = 0)
ssfDESKTOPDIRECTORY
File system directory used to physically store the file objects that are displayed on the desktop. It is not to be confused with the desktop folder itself, which is a virtual folder. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Desktop (value = 16)
ssfDRIVES
My Computer-virtual folder containing everything on the local computer: storage devices, printers, and Control Panel. This folder may also contain mapped network drives. (value = 17)
ssfFAVORITES
File system directory that serves as a common repository for the user's favorite items. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Favorites. (value = 6)
ssfFONTS
Virtual folder containing installed fonts. A typical path is C:\WINNT\Fonts. (value = 20)
ssfHISTORY
File system directory that serves as a common repository for Internet history items. (value = 34)
ssfINTERNETCACHE
File system directory that serves as a common repository for temporary Internet files. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Temporary Internet Files. (value = 32)
ssfLOCALAPPDATA
Version 5.0. File system directory that serves as a data repository for local (non-roaming) applications. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data. (value = 28)
ssfMYPICTURES
My Pictures folder. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Pictures. (value = 39)
ssfNETHOOD
A file system folder containing the link objects that may exist in the My Network Places virtual folder. It is not the same as ssfNETWORK, which represents the network namespace root. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\NetHood. (value = 19)
ssfNETWORK
Network Neighborhood-virtual folder representing the root of the network namespace hierarchy. (value = 18)
ssfPERSONAL
File system directory that serves as a common repository for a user's documents. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents. (value = 5)
ssfPRINTERS
Virtual folder containing installed printers. (value = 4)
ssfPRINTHOOD
File system directory that contains the link objects that may exist in the Printers virtual folder. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\PrintHood. (value = 27)
ssfPROFILE
Version 5.0. User's profile folder. (value = 40)
ssfPROGRAMFILES
Version 5.0. Program Files folder. A typical path is C:\Program Files. (value = 38)
ssfPROGRAMS
File system directory that contains the user's program groups (which are also file system directories). A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Start Menu\Programs. (value = 2)
ssfRECENT
File system directory that contains the user's most recently used documents. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Recent. (value = 8)
ssfSENDTO
File system directory that contains Send To menu items. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo. (value = 9)
ssfSTARTMENU
File system directory containing Start menu items. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Start Menu. (value = 11)
ssfSTARTUP
File system directory that corresponds to the user's Startup program group. The system starts these programs whenever any user logs onto Windows NT® or starts Windows® 95. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup. (value = 7)
ssfSYSTEM
Version 5.0. System folder. A typical path is C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32. (value = 37)
ssfTEMPLATES
File system directory that serves as a common repository for document templates. (value = 21)
ssfWINDOWS
Version 5.0. Windows directory or SYSROOT. This corresponds to the %windir% or %SYSTEMROOT% environment variables. A typical path is C:\WINNT. (value = 36)

 

[Al Dunbar [MS-MVP]]

You can display the Control Panel from the command-line using
usinging contro.exe or rundll32.exe.

Umm, that would be controL.exe

/Al ;-)

 

[Matthias Tacke]

Umm, that would be controL.exe

Oh gee, and I was singing all the time an "u"

 

[Al Dunbar [MS-MVP]]

Oh gee, and I was singing all the time an "u"

What, are you a controalto? Or just a contra rebel?

/Al