Shortcuts to Device Manager and Services in Control Panel, How?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Poster Matt
  • Start date Start date
P

Poster Matt

Hi,

Control Panel is a convenient and sensible place for Windows (XP, SP2)
to store the various system utilities and dialogs.

BUT 2 of the things I use most regulary, 'Device Manager' and
'Services', are started from either a secondary folder (Admin. Tools) or
from the 'System' dialog's 'Hardware' tab -- how inconvenient !!

Today after living with this inconvenience for many years I finally got
around to creating 2 shortcuts in Control Panel, one for Device Manager
and one for Services, only to find Control Panel won't let me add
shortcuts. I've added shortcuts to them on my desktop which work fine,
but I can neither add a shortcut nor copy one to Control Panel. On the
desktop in fine in the short-term but can someone tell me how to add
these shortcuts to Control Panel, which is, after all, their natural home.

Many thanks.

PS. In case anyone wants to know, use these file names from the
run/command prompt/create shortcut to directly open Device Manager and
Services respectively: devmgmt.msc and services.msc

A list of file names for similar system dialogs/apps (EG. Disk
Management, Event Viewer, etc.) can be found here:

http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/mmc.htm

HTH.
 
Perhaps you can add them to the Tools tab on the system configuration
utility (msconfig) and a shortcut to msconfig any where you want, including
the Quick Launch bar. As I recall the device manager is a snap in on the
MMC so perhaps that's why you cannot create the shortcut. I can do it in
Vista, but not in XP Pro SP2. For adding the Tool tab and adding new tools
to it, see:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906569
 
Colin said:
Perhaps you can add them to the Tools tab on the system configuration
utility (msconfig) and a shortcut to msconfig any where you want,
including the Quick Launch bar. As I recall the device manager is a
snap in on the MMC so perhaps that's why you cannot create the
shortcut. I can do it in Vista, but not in XP Pro SP2. For adding the
Tool tab and adding new tools to it, see:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906569
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion Colin, that's an alternative I'll consider if
getting them into Control Panel fails.

I'd still like them in Control Panel, surely it's possible to add them,
after all 3rd part apps manage it, EG. Java, Quicktime.

Anyone know how?

Thanks and good night, getting late in my TZ.
 
I still think the dependency on MMC is at the root of your problem doing it.
 
As an alternative to adding it to control panel, you can add device manager
to the right click context menu of My Computer icon with a simple registry
edit. Copy/paste into Notepad the following lines, save as .reg file. Double
click on the .reg file to merge its contents

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell]
@="none"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\DevMgr]
@=hex(2):40,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,\
00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,65,00,76,00,6d,00,67,00,\
72,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,34,00,00,00
"SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\DevMgr\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,\
00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,\
65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,65,00,\
76,00,6d,00,67,00,6d,00,74,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,63,00,00,00
 
To add services to contest menu:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Services]
@=hex(2):40,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,\
00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,72,00,73,00,76,00,63,00,\
2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,34,00,00,00
"SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Services\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,\
00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,\
65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,65,00,\
72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,63,00,00,00

Jean Rosenfeld said:
As an alternative to adding it to control panel, you can add device
manager to the right click context menu of My Computer icon with a simple
registry edit. Copy/paste into Notepad the following lines, save as .reg
file. Double click on the .reg file to merge its contents

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell]
@="none"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\DevMgr]
@=hex(2):40,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,\

00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,65,00,76,00,6d,00,67,00,\
72,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,34,00,00,00
"SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\DevMgr\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,\

00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,\

65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,\

00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,65,00,\
76,00,6d,00,67,00,6d,00,74,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,63,00,00,00




Poster Matt said:
Hi,

Control Panel is a convenient and sensible place for Windows (XP, SP2) to
store the various system utilities and dialogs.

BUT 2 of the things I use most regulary, 'Device Manager' and 'Services',
are started from either a secondary folder (Admin. Tools) or from the
'System' dialog's 'Hardware' tab -- how inconvenient !!

Today after living with this inconvenience for many years I finally got
around to creating 2 shortcuts in Control Panel, one for Device Manager
and one for Services, only to find Control Panel won't let me add
shortcuts. I've added shortcuts to them on my desktop which work fine,
but I can neither add a shortcut nor copy one to Control Panel. On the
desktop in fine in the short-term but can someone tell me how to add
these shortcuts to Control Panel, which is, after all, their natural
home.

Many thanks.

PS. In case anyone wants to know, use these file names from the
run/command prompt/create shortcut to directly open Device Manager and
Services respectively: devmgmt.msc and services.msc

A list of file names for similar system dialogs/apps (EG. Disk
Management, Event Viewer, etc.) can be found here:

http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/mmc.htm

HTH.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Many thanks for those 2 .reg files Jean - that'll do me - didn't know
you could do that. Can 'Control Panel' be added to the same right-click
context menu?


Jean said:
To add services to contest menu:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Services]
@=hex(2):40,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,\
00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,72,00,73,00,76,00,63,00,\
2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,34,00,00,00
"SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Services\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,\
00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,\
65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,65,00,\
72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,63,00,00,00

Jean Rosenfeld said:
As an alternative to adding it to control panel, you can add device
manager to the right click context menu of My Computer icon with a simple
registry edit. Copy/paste into Notepad the following lines, save as .reg
file. Double click on the .reg file to merge its contents

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell]
@="none"


[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\DevMgr]
@=hex(2):40,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,\

00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,65,00,76,00,6d,00,67,00,\
72,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,34,00,00,00
"SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\DevMgr\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,\

00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,\

65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,\

00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,65,00,\
76,00,6d,00,67,00,6d,00,74,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,63,00,00,00




Poster Matt said:
Hi,

Control Panel is a convenient and sensible place for Windows (XP, SP2) to
store the various system utilities and dialogs.

BUT 2 of the things I use most regulary, 'Device Manager' and 'Services',
are started from either a secondary folder (Admin. Tools) or from the
'System' dialog's 'Hardware' tab -- how inconvenient !!

Today after living with this inconvenience for many years I finally got
around to creating 2 shortcuts in Control Panel, one for Device Manager
and one for Services, only to find Control Panel won't let me add
shortcuts. I've added shortcuts to them on my desktop which work fine,
but I can neither add a shortcut nor copy one to Control Panel. On the
desktop in fine in the short-term but can someone tell me how to add
these shortcuts to Control Panel, which is, after all, their natural
home.

Many thanks.

PS. In case anyone wants to know, use these file names from the
run/command prompt/create shortcut to directly open Device Manager and
Services respectively: devmgmt.msc and services.msc

A list of file names for similar system dialogs/apps (EG. Disk
Management, Event Viewer, etc.) can be found here:

http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/mmc.htm

HTH.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Poster said:
Many thanks for those 2 .reg files Jean - that'll do me - didn't know
you could do that. Can 'Control Panel' be added to the same right-click
context menu?
Click to expand...

Forget that - I found it and a load more.

Here's a rar file link to several .reg files I've made to add the
following items to the right-click context menu of My Computer:

Add+Remove Programs, Control Panel, Device Manager, Log-Off, Re-Boot,
Services, Shudown. [A web search will reveal even more if you want
something else as well.]

Notes:

1) Each item has its own .reg file so you can add just the ones you want.

2) The Log-Off, Re-Boot, and Shutdown items when clicked on in the
context menu, do NOT bring up a confirmation dialog, once clicked they
issue a warning but there is no way to cancel.

3) All the .reg files worked fine for me in XP SP2 - I would not use
them with any other version of Windows, and it would be sensible to back
up your registry before installing just-in-case.

The RAR is called, links below:

Adding_Items_To_My_Computer_Right-Click_Context_Menu_Reg_Files.rar

TinyURL link to rapidshare download:
http://tinyurl.com/3xlzn6

TinyURL Preview link to rapidshare download:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3xlzn6

Direct link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/9643240...mputer_Right-Click_Context_Menu_Reg_Files.rar

HTH.
 
Am I correct in thinking to remove one of the .reg entries I just need
to add a '-' to the key?

EG. This .reg file adds Reboot to the context menu of My Computer:

----------------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\[Reboot]\command]
@="shutdown -r -f -t 5"
 
and finally...

I'm not sure if I like the lack of confirmation with LogOff, Shutdown,
and Re-Boot. Is there a method of invoking the 'Shutdown' dialog which
you get when clicking 'Turn Off Computer' from (ironically) the Start Menu?

I tried using 'Shutdown -i' but that just invokes the remote shutdown
dialog.

Thanks.
 
Personally, I just go into the registry and delete the keys manually. Can't
remember whether the - should be to the right or the left of the [
 
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