What is the purpose of Desk.cpl, when all the parts I see are in different files to this.

Control panel is explorer.exe Display properties (title) is a shell32 string The window is probably drawn from user32 The 5 tabs are in themeui and shell32.

I know that the cpl file is hosted by rundll32.exe and if it is deleted the display properties window will not appear at all, but I cannot work out what the purpose of the cpl file is.

1 Answer

According to the Microsoft Knowledge Base, a .cpl file is a tool in the Control Panel:

Each tool in Control Panel is represented by a .cpl file in the Windows\ System folder. The .cpl files in the Windows\System folder are loaded automatically when you start Control Panel.

File name Purpose
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Access.cpl Accessibility properties
Appwiz.cpl Add/Remove Programs properties
Desk.cpl Display properties
FindFast.cpl FindFast (included with Microsoft Office for Windows 95)
Inetcpl.cpl Internet properties
Intl.cpl Regional Settings properties
Joy.cpl Joystick properties
Main.cpl Mouse, Fonts, Keyboard, and Printers properties
Mlcfg32.cpl Microsoft Exchange or Windows Messaging properties
Mmsys.cpl Multimedia properties
Modem.cpl Modem properties
Netcpl.cpl Network properties
Odbccp32.cpl Data Sources (32-bit ODBC, included w/ Microsoft Office)
Password.cpl Password properties
Sticpl.cpl Scanners and Cameras properties
Sysdm.cpl System properties and Add New Hardware wizard
Themes.cpl Desktop Themes
TimeDate.cpl Date/Time properties
Wgpocpl.cpl Microsoft Mail Post Office

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