Knowledge Base

How to Troubleshoot Control Panel Issues in Windows

Article ID: 299923

Article Last Modified on 1/31/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows 95
Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release 95

This article was previously published under Q299923

SUMMARY

When you attempt to open Control Panel (click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel), it does not open as you expect. One or more of the following may occur:

You receive an error message similar to the following:

Program has performed an illegal operation...

-or-

Error opening c:\Windows\System\filename
The computer stops responding (hangs).
The computer attempts to connect to the Internet.

MORE INFORMATION

Each item in Control Panel has an associated ".cpl" file. These files, along with the Control Panel initialization file, "Control.ini", are loaded into memory when Control Panel is opened.

In the default Windows installation, these files are stored in the following folders:

File          Folder
----          ------

Control.ini   C:\WINDOWS
*.cpl         C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM

To troubleshoot errors caused by Control Panel files, use the following methods:

Method 1: Test for a Corrupt Control Panel File

To test for corrupt Control Panel files, follow these steps:

Find all files that have the ".cpl" file extension. To do this, follow the steps for your operating system.

Windows Millennium Edition
1. On the taskbar, click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
2. In the Search for files or folders named box, type *.cpl.
3. In the Look in list, click My Computer, and then click Search Now.
  
  All Control Panel item ".cpl" files appear in the Search Results pane.
Windows 98 or Windows 95
1. On the taskbar, click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
2. In the Named box, type *.cpl. In the Look in list, click My Computer, and then click Find Now.
  
  All Control Panel item ".cpl" files appear in the list of found files.
In the list of found files, double-click a ".cpl" file under Name.

The corresponding Control Panel item opens. For example, when you double-click Inetcpl.cpl, the Internet Properties dialog box appears. In addition, when you double-click a file such as Inetcpl.cpl, the symptoms described in the "Symptoms" section of this article may occur.
If the symptom does not occur, close the Control Panel item.
Follow steps 2 and 3 for each ".cpl" file in the file list until the symptoms occur, or until you have opened each Control Panel item.

NOTE: If the symptom does not occur with any of the Control Panel items, continue to Method 2 of this article.
Record the name of the file that caused the symptom to occur, and then close any open Control Panel items.
Rename the file that you recorded in step 5 to give it a file extension other than ".cpl".
1. Right-click the file that you want to rename, and then click Rename on the shortcut menu that appears.
2. In the name box, type filename.old (where filename is the name of the file that you recorded in step 5), and then press ENTER.
Restart the computer.
Open Control Panel. If the symptom occurs, proceed to Method 2 of this article.
If Control Panel opens normally, obtain a new copy of the file that you renamed in step 6.
- If the file is related to a Windows Control Panel item, extract a new copy of the file from your Windows CD to the Windows\System folder. For additional information about extracting Windows files, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  
  129605 How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files
  
  265371 How to Extract and Replace a Protected File in Windows Me
- If the file is related to a third-party Control Panel item, reinstall the item or contact the manufacturer for a new copy of the file.
For information about how to contact computer hardware and software vendors, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

65416 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, A-K

60781 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, L-P

60782 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, Q-Z

Method 2: Rename Control Panel Initialization File

If the symptom still occurs after you successfully test all of the Control Panel ".cpl" files, rename the Control.ini file. To do this, follow these steps:

Search for the Control.ini file. To do this, follow the steps appropriate for your operating system.

Windows Millennium Edition
1. On the taskbar, click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
2. In the Search for files or folders named box, type Control.ini.
3. In the Look in list, click My Computer, and then click Search Now.
  
  Control.ini appears in the Search Results pane.
Windows 98 or Windows 95
1. On the taskbar, click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
2. In the Named box, type Control.ini, then in the Look in list, click My Computer, and then click Find Now.
  
  Control.ini appears in the list of found files.
Right-click Control.ini, and then click Rename on the shortcut menu that appears.
In the name box type Control.old, then press ENTER, and then click Yes to confirm the filename extension change.
Restart the computer.
Open Control Panel.

If the issue is not resolved, restart the computer in Safe mode and determine if the symptom occurs. If the behavior does not occur when the computer is running in Safe mode, see the following Knowledge Base articles for further troubleshooting steps:

267288 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows Millennium Edition

192926 How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98

243039 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 95

For additional information about Control Panel items, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

192806 How to Run Control Panel Tools by Typing a Command

Keywords: kberrmsg kbhowto kbtshoot KB299923

Microsoft KB Archive/299923

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