i found this at kellys-korner http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm Control Panel Applets
This tweak does not prevent the control panel applets from running, they just do not show up in control panel any more.
Start/Run/gpedit.msc. User Configuration/Administrative Templates Folder/Control Panel Folder. Select Show only specified Control Panel Applets (right pane) properties. Select the enable button/click the Show button.
A new window will pop up that will display control panel objects that are OK to show. Items not on this list will not be displayed in control panel when this feature is enabled. Here are the Windows XP Pro Control Panel applets:
System Properties = sysdm.cpl
Network Connections = ncpa.cpl
ODBC Administrator = odbccp32.cpl
Display Properties = desk.cpl
Add or remove programs = appwiz.cpl
Internet Properties = Inetcpl.cpl
Game Controllers = joy.cpl
Phone and modem Options = telephon.cpl
Time and Date Properties = timedate.cpl
Region and Language Options = intl.cpl
Power Options = powercfg.cpl
Mouse Properties = main.cpl
Accessibility Options = access.cpl
Add Hardware Wizard = hdwwiz.cpl
Sound and Audio Devices = mmsys.cpl
User Accounts = nusrmgr.cpl
Speech Properties = sapi.cpl
Control Panel - Display
This setting specifies the visual style of the Control Panel. Allowing you to either force the use of the new XP style, classic style or allow the user to select the preferred style. Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value, called ‘ForceClassicControlPanel’ and edit the value according to the settings (0 = force new, 1 = force classic). Exit your registry, you may need to restart or log out of Windows for the change to take effect.
Control Panel - Icons Missing
Click Start, Run and enter REGEDIT
Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\don’t load
Look in the right pane and you’ll see the Control Panel Icons that have been disabled. You can either right click on the “don’t load” subkey and select Delete to restore all disabled icons, or you can right click on each of the items in the right pane and select Delete to selectively restore them. Scroll up to Control Panel Applets for a listing of what each one is.
The change will be seen the next time you open Control Panel.
