To hide an applet, create a new string value whose name is the file name of the applet you want to hide. For example, to hide the Mouse icon, the string value would be main.cpl. To create a string value, have your cursor on
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft
\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\don't load
then select Edit --> New --> String Value, and for the value, give it the file name of the applet you want to hide.
You'll still be able to run those applets from the command line (and they may also appear in other places, such as XP's Common Tasks list shown on the left side of the Control Panel window) after you hide them; you just won't be able to see their icons in the Control Panel.
Note, though, that you won't be able to hide every single Control Panel applet you find. Underlying the Control Panel is chaos; although many applets are .cpl files, some are links to folders, and others are controlled by .dll files. You'll be able to hide only the applets that are controlled by .cpl files.
Create a separate string value for each applet you want to hide, then exit the Registry. The applets will vanish from the Control Panel. To make a hidden applet appear again, delete its string value from this same Registry key.
To run an applet that you've hidden, type its name in the Run box or command line.
7. Display Control Panel applets in a cascading menu
Maybe you'd like to bypass the Control Panel altogether. If so, you can force Windows to display Control Panel applets in a cascading menu when you choose Control Panel from the Start button, as shown to the right.
To do this in Windows XP, right-click the taskbar and choose Properties --> Start Menu. Choose the Start menu radio button, click the Customize button next to it, and choose the Advanced tab. Under the Control Panel heading, choose Display as a menu. Click OK twice.
In Windows Vista, right-click the taskbar and choose Properties --> Start Menu. Then click the Customize button next to the Start menu item, scroll down to the Control Panel heading, and select Display as a menu. Click OK twice.
8. Animate Vista's network icon
Here's a quick way to see if you're sending or receiving data over your network or the Internet on a Vista PC: Animate the network icon that sits in the system tray.
Right-click the icon and select Turn on activity animation. Whenever data is being sent or received, the icon will subtly light up. To turn off the animation, right-click the icon and select Turn off activity animation.