List of Control Panel Applets in Windows

The Software Explorers Control Panel applet starts the Windows Defender antimalware tool which you can use to manually scan your computer or change Windows Defender settings.

Execute msascui from C:\Program Files\Windows Defender from the Command Prompt to access Software Explorers directly.

Software Explorers was replaced by Windows Defender beginning in Windows Vista.

Software Explorers is available in Windows XP.

Note: Software Explorers is not a default Control Panel applet in Windows XP but Windows Defender can be downloaded here. Once installed, the Software Explorers Control Panel applet will appear.

The Sound Control Panel applet is used to manage playback and recording devices, as well as the sounds applied to program events in Windows.

Execute control /name Microsoft.Sound from the Command Prompt to access Sound directly. In Windows Vista, execute control /name Microsoft.AudioDevicesAndSoundThemes instead.

Sound replaced Sounds and Audio Devices beginning in Windows Vista.

Sound is available in Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista.

The Sounds and Audio Devices Control Panel applet is used to manage sound, voice, and other audio settings in Windows.

Execute control mmsys.cpl from the Command Prompt to access Sounds and Audio Devices directly.

Sounds and Audio Devices was replaced by Sound beginning in Windows Vista.

Sounds and Audio Devices is available in Windows XP

The Speech Recognition Options Control Panel applet is used to manage the various speech recognition settings in Windows.

Execute control /name Microsoft.SpeechRecognitionOptions from the Command Prompt to access Speech Recognition Options directly.

Speech Recognition Options was replaced by Speech Recognition beginning in Windows 7.

Speech Recognition Options is available in Windows Vista.

The Speech Recognition Control Panel applet is used to manage all aspects of the speech recognition abilities in Windows.

Execute control /name Microsoft.SpeechRecognition from the Command Prompt to access Speech Recognition directly.

Speech Recognition replaced Speech Recognition Options beginning in Windows 7.

Speech Recognition is available in Windows 8 and Windows 7.

The Speech Control Panel applet is used to manage text-to-speech settings in Windows.

Execute sapi.cpl from C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Speech from the Command Prompt to access Speech directly.

Speech was replaced by Text to Speech beginning in Windows Vista.

Speech is available in Windows XP.

The Storage Spaces Control Panel applet is used to either combine more than one drive into a single virtual drive, or to setup mirroring across two or more drives for redundancy.

Execute control /name Microsoft.StorageSpaces from the Command Prompt to access Storage Spaces directly.

Storage Spaces is available in Windows 8.

The Sync Center Control Panel applet is used to manage synchronization activity between your local computer and another location.

Execute control /name Microsoft.SyncCenter from the Command Prompt to access Sync Center directly.

Sync Center is available in Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista.

The System Control Panel applet is used to view basic information about your computer like the operating system version, current service pack, basic hardware statistics like CPU speed and amount of RAM, and more.

Execute control /name Microsoft.System from the Command Prompt to access System directly. In Windows XP, execute control sysdm.cpl instead.

System is available in Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.

The Tablet PC Settings Control Panel applet is used to configure settings applicable to tablet computers like handedness, handwriting recognition, and more.

Execute control /name Microsoft.TabletPCSettings from the Command Prompt to access Tablet PC Settings directly.

Tablet PC Settings is available in Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista but is usually only accessible on tablet computers.