Strange control panel items

[Mike Williams]

Nice idea, Mike. However, the Find Target launches Control Panel again.

Yes. That's why I made the 2nd suggestion to look at the Change Icon
dialog. Find Target only seems to work for some third-party CP applets.

 

[Guest]

I've got two items in my control panel which have the "unknown application"
icon and no title. I'm unable to open them and I'm not sure how to delete
them. Would someone advise on how to remove them? Thanks

 

[Mike Williams]

I've got two items in my control panel which have the "unknown application"
icon and no title. I'm unable to open them and I'm not sure how to delete
them. Would someone advise on how to remove them? Thanks

Assuming you've done a thorough spyware check, I'd look over the
Add/Remove programs list for anything unfamiliar.

You could also supply a list of all files in your Windows folder (and
subfolders thereof) with extension .CPL for review.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Locate the .CPL files in the System32 folder.

See also:

How to remove an invalid icon in the Control Panel?:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/cpicon.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I've got two items in my control panel which have the "unknown application"
icon and no title. I'm unable to open them and I'm not sure how to delete
them. Would someone advise on how to remove them? Thanks

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply. I frequently update and run Spybot - Search & Destroy
to weed out spyware. With the exception of the untitled CP items in
question, I don't feel there are any suspect items.

I did a search of *.cpl files on my computer. Here's the list:

- cpl files in c:\windows\system32:

access.cpl
appwiz.cpl
BCMWLCPL.CPL
bthprops.cpl
desk.cpl
firewall.cpl
hdwwiz.cpl
inetcpl.cpl
intl.cpl
irprops.cpl
joy.cpl
jpicpl32.cpl
main.cpl
mmsys.cpl
mobpre.cpl
ncpa.cpl
netsetup.cpl
nusrmgr.cpl
nvtuicpl.cpl
nwc.cpl
odbccp32.cpl
powercfg.cpl
QuickTime.cpl
SMSCPL32.cpl
smsrc.cpl
stac97.cpl
sysdm.cpl
telephon.cpl
timedate.cpl
wscui.cpl
wuaucpl.cpl

- cpl files in all other folders:

mobpre.cpl (c:\program files\m-audio mobilepre\install)
stac97.cpl (c:\program files\sigmatel\sigmatel ac97 audio drivers)
s32lucp1.cpl (c:\program files\symantec\liveupdate)
wuaucpl.cpl (c:\windows\softwaredistribution\websetup)
stac97.cpl (c:\dell\d810 drivers\audio\onboard)
stac97.cpl (c:\dell\drivers\r99254\wdm)
adobe gamma.cpl (c:\program files\common files\adobe\calibration)
sapi.cpl (c:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\speech)
jpicpl32.cpl (c:\program files\java\j2re1.4.2_01\bin)
jpicpl32.cpl (c:\program files\java\jre1.5.0_04\bin)
stac97.cpl (c:\program files\sigmatel\c-major audio\wdm)
mlcfg32.cpl (c:\program files\common files\system\mapi\1033)
stac97.cpl (c:\windows\system32\reinstallbackups\0026\driverfiles)
jpicpl32.cpl (bin)

Here's the link to a gif image of the CP: http://stang99.w1.com/cp/cp.gif

Thanks very much!

 

[Guest]

Ramesh, I tried the suggestions at the website you suggested but it still
didn't resolve anything for me. After installing and running the
ShellObjectEditor, I couldn't find anything that seemed out of the ordinary
in the registry. Same with the cpl files I found on my computer... I looked
at the properties for non-Windows-default files and everything looked
familiar (Nvidia, Symantec, audio, java, etc.)

If there's one thing that's suspect in my mind, it's the number of copies of
the same cpl files. For example, jpicpl32.cpl, mobpre.cpl, stac97.cpl, and
wuaucpl.cpl have multiple copies in different locations.

Here's a screenshot of my CP which may help explain why I'm unable to find
out how to remove them: http://stang99.w1.com/cp/cp.gif

Any more ideas?

 

[Mike Williams]

Ramesh, I tried the suggestions at the website you suggested but it still
didn't resolve anything for me. After installing and running the
ShellObjectEditor, I couldn't find anything that seemed out of the ordinary
in the registry. Same with the cpl files I found on my computer... I looked
at the properties for non-Windows-default files and everything looked
familiar (Nvidia, Symantec, audio, java, etc.)

If there's one thing that's suspect in my mind, it's the number of copies of
the same cpl files. For example, jpicpl32.cpl, mobpre.cpl, stac97.cpl, and
wuaucpl.cpl have multiple copies in different locations.

Here's a screenshot of my CP which may help explain why I'm unable to find
out how to remove them: http://stang99.w1.com/cp/cp.gif

Right-click on one of the foreign icons, and create a shortcut on the
desktop. Right-click on the new shortcut icon, and from the Properties
dialog, try "Find Target". If that doesn't work, try "Change Icon" and
see which CPL file it tries to find an icon in.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Nice idea, Mike. However, the Find Target launches Control Panel again.

The user can open the shortcut in Notepad, and search for the .CPL string.
The CPL file name is viewable as a text. It may look similar to this:

Oÿÿÿ + G:\WINDOWS\system32\gsi.cpl SMC DishnetDSL Configure

gsi.cpl.

HTH

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com

Ramesh, I tried the suggestions at the website you suggested but it still
didn't resolve anything for me. After installing and running the
ShellObjectEditor, I couldn't find anything that seemed out of the
ordinary
in the registry. Same with the cpl files I found on my computer... I
looked
at the properties for non-Windows-default files and everything looked
familiar (Nvidia, Symantec, audio, java, etc.)

If there's one thing that's suspect in my mind, it's the number of copies
of
the same cpl files. For example, jpicpl32.cpl, mobpre.cpl, stac97.cpl,
and
wuaucpl.cpl have multiple copies in different locations.

Here's a screenshot of my CP which may help explain why I'm unable to find
out how to remove them: http://stang99.w1.com/cp/cp.gif

Right-click on one of the foreign icons, and create a shortcut on the
desktop. Right-click on the new shortcut icon, and from the Properties
dialog, try "Find Target". If that doesn't work, try "Change Icon" and
see which CPL file it tries to find an icon in.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Hi,

Please see my reply to Mike.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Ramesh, I tried the suggestions at the website you suggested but it still
didn't resolve anything for me. After installing and running the
ShellObjectEditor, I couldn't find anything that seemed out of the ordinary
in the registry. Same with the cpl files I found on my computer... I
looked
at the properties for non-Windows-default files and everything looked
familiar (Nvidia, Symantec, audio, java, etc.)

If there's one thing that's suspect in my mind, it's the number of copies of
the same cpl files. For example, jpicpl32.cpl, mobpre.cpl, stac97.cpl, and
wuaucpl.cpl have multiple copies in different locations.

Here's a screenshot of my CP which may help explain why I'm unable to find
out how to remove them: http://stang99.w1.com/cp/cp.gif

Any more ideas?

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Excellent!

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com

Nice idea, Mike. However, the Find Target launches Control Panel again.

Yes. That's why I made the 2nd suggestion to look at the Change Icon
dialog. Find Target only seems to work for some third-party CP applets.