1
FindingtheControlPanel
MicrosoftwouldpreferyouuseSettings,sotheControl
Panelis a littleburiedintheStartmenu.Youcanfindit byclicking
Start,andscrollingdowntotheWindowsSystemfolder.Tosave
allofthescrolling,youcanalsojustclicktheStartbuttonand
starttotype“controlpanel”toperforma searchforit – youjust
needtoclickthelinkthatappearsatthetopoflistofresults.
2
Searchforsettings
Therearea hugenumberofoptionsintheControlPanel,
andit canbedifficulttorememberwhereyoushouldlookfor
something– thisis wherethesearchfunctioncomesin.The
ControlPanelfunctionsmuchlikea folderwithinExplorer,soyou
cansearchusingthesearchboxtotheupperright-handcornerof
thewindowandeasilyhomeinonsomething.3 Secretsearchoption
Searchingcanhelpdiscoversettingsyouhadneverheard
of.Trytypingtheletter“e”intothesearchbox– becausethevast
majority,if notall,settingsnamesincludetheletter‘e’– andpress
[Enter].You’llbepresentedwitha massivelistofsettingsgrouped
togetherintocategories.Youjustneedtoclickonetojump
straighttothatControlPanelapplet.
4 Secret game controller applet
If you are a gamer, you might be surprised to learn that
there is a hidden Game Controllers applet. Press [Win] and [R] to
activate the Run dialog, and type “joy.cpl” and [Enter]. Select your
controller from the list and click Properties. On the Test tab you
can check that all of the buttons work, while on the Settings tab
you can access the calibration wizard.Find Control Panel’s secrets
“Microsoftwouldpreferyou touseSettings, but the humble Control Panel
stillhasa greatdealtoofferin Windows 10 – weprobeitsmysteries”n earlier versions of Windows, the
Control Panel was where you
turned to change all manner of
settingsrelating to hardware and the
operating system itself. With Windows 10,
however, Microsoft has replaced this –
largely– withSettings.Wesay‘largely’
because although Settings enables you to
access the vast majority of Windows’
options, there are still some that are locked
away in the Control Panel.
With this in mind, it is all the stranger
that Microsoft has made it increasingly
difficulttoaccess the Control Pane. AsWindows 10 has been updated, this handy
little tool which makes it possible to
change all manner of settings relating to
your computer has gradually faded into
the background. But it is still there, and it is
still immensely useful – and could well
harbour a few secrets.Step-by-step Secrets of the Control Panel
<ʝʦɠʔʦLȫɏ0ʋʁɖ:\ʎL϶ʙɵɖ:ɵOVʝɚVʋ\ɡ/HʋʢɚKʝɦWɛ
I
Explore
The Control Panel’s secrets
May 2020 | |^25