The Control Panel in Windows XP includes a Category view that divides specific tasks and Control Panel tools into different categories. This article describes how to add a Control Panel tool to a specific category.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
A Control Panel tool can be included in a particular category by adding a registry DWORD entry for the tool in the following registry key: The allowed values of category IDs are as follows:

• 0x00000000 : Other Control Panel Options (any tool that does not specify a category ID is placed in this category)
• 0x00000001 : Appearance and Themes
• 0x00000002 : Printers and Other Hardware
• 0x00000003 : Network and Internet Connections
• 0x00000004 : Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices
• 0x00000005 : Performance and Maintenance
• 0x00000006 : Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options
• 0x00000007 : Accessibility Options
• 0xFFFFFFFF : Do not put the tool in any category (for special tools such as Add/Remove Programs which only start directly)

For example, this is how the Accessibility tool would be registered: For tools that are implemented as shell namespace extensions (for example, Fonts and Scheduled Tasks), the category ID is specified in the registry under the CLSID entry. For example, the registry entry for the Administrative Tools folder is: NOTE: There is no method for creating a new category or adding a task to a category.