How to disable control panel in Windows 7

Sometimes turning off the control panel is a good choice particularly when the Windows 7 PC is used by more than  one user and you do not want anything to be reconfigured.

The trick to disable the control panel in Windows 7 is very easy, just follow these steps:

This first method is for Windows 7 Ultimate and Professional users. Group Policy Editor does not exist lower than these versions of Windows 7. If you are Windows 7 Home (or lower) user, skip this and follow the second method.

Click the Start button , type  gpedit.msc in Start menu search field and hit Enter key from keyboard:

Local Group Policy Editor will open.

In the window that opens click User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel in the  left sided panel:

Now double-click Prohibit access to the Control Panel option in the left hand pane:

Upon double click a Window will open and choose the option Enabled and save the changes:

Control Panel will disappear from everywhere in your Windows 7 PC.
Note: To re-enable access to the control panel you must follow the steps above, but in step 6 again choose Disabled or Not Configured and save the changes.

No restart is required for any steps.

Group Policy Editor does not exist in Windows 7 Home Premium or lower. If you are Windows 7 Home (or lower) user, use this method.

Click the Start button , type regedit in Start menu search field and hit Enter key from keyboard:

Accept the security prompt and Windows Registry Editor will open.

Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Right click on the right handed pane and New > 32 Bit Dword value:

Name it as NoControlPanel and set the Hexadecimal value to 1 after double clicking:

Click OK and Exit Regedit.