To quickly visit the Control Panel from any folder window

The Control Panel is just to handy a place to be so obscured in Windows XP. To quickly visit the Control Panel from any folder window, follow these steps.

1.     Press F4.
2.     Type “Control Panel” in the Address Bar.
3.     Press Enter.

There’s the Control Panel. By the way, I prefer the Classic View, as it requires fewer steps to get to the important icons. Also, having the Control Panel appear as a menu on the Start panel can be a real timesaver:

1.     Right-click the Start button.
2.     Choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
3.     Click the Customize button.
4.     Click the Advanced tab.
5.     Choose “Display as menu” beneath the Control Panel item in the scrolling list.

Now each icon on the Control Panel can be quickly accessed via the Start panel.

6. Close various dialog boxes: Click OK, OK.