Control Panel is a collection of tools that allow users to organise and adjust the settings of their Windows system, such as installing software, changing network settings, and so on.
Many Windows customers have recently complained that when they attempted to access the Control Panel window on the system, it would not open. They’re not sure what they can do at this stage because there are no errors or warning indicators.
Some of the things that might be causing this issue are described below.
- Corrupted system files
- Virus attack on the system
- Changes in the file association for control panel files
- Windows error reporting service might be interfering
So in this post, we have compiled a few solutions keeping in mind all the factors mentioned above that will assist the user in quickly solving the problem on their system.
Fix 1 – Check the Services responsible for this problem
Windows Error Reporting service when enabled can cause such types of problems mentioned above, where it will interfere in launching the application or tools on the windows system. Also, there is another service called Software protection, which can also be responsible for this issue when disabled.
So, we recommend our users that make sure to stop the Windows Error Reporting service and start the Software Protection service via the Services window.
Follow these steps below on how to do it.
Step 1: Open the Run command box by pressing Windows + R keys together.
Step 2: Type services.msc in the Run box and press Enter key to open the Services window.
Step 3: In the Services window, search for Windows Error Reporting service and double-click on it to open it.
Step 4: In theWindows Error Reporting service’s properties window, make sure Service status is Stopped. Otherwise, click Stop and then click OK to reflect changes and close the properties window.
Step 5: After it is done, look for the Software protection service and open it by double-clicking on it.
Step 6: If the Service status of the Software protection service is stopped, please click the Start button to start this service.
Step 7: Once it starts, click OK to close the properties window.
Step 8: Then, close the Services window.
Now check if the problem got resolved or not.
Fix 2 – Modify / Edit the Registry File using Registry Editor
NOTE: Before you begin, please export the registry file so that the user may restore it later if anything changes that could cause the system to crash.
A system’s speed and user experience can be improved by making modifications to the registry file. As a result, we investigated what adjustments are necessary to resolve the issue of the control panel not opening.
Let’s have a look at how to achieve this with the registry editor in the steps below.
Step 1: Press Windows key and type registry editor.
Step 2: Then, select Registry Editor app from the search results as shown below.
NOTE: Click Yes to continue on the user access control prompt.
Step 3: Next, copy and paste the below path in the address bar of registry editor and hit Enter key to reach the Shell registry key as shown in the below screenshot.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell
Step 4: Then, right-click on the BagMRU registry key under Shell and select Delete from the context menu as shown below.
Step 5: Click Yes on the confirm delete window to delete selected the registry key.
Step 6: Also, delete the Bags registry key under Shell in a similar way explained above.
Step 7:Once everything is done, close the registry editor window.
Step 8: After closing, restart your system once.
Step 9: Once the system boots up, check if the control panel is opening properly.
Fix 3 – Make changes in Local Group Policy via Gpedit
NOTE: Proceed with this method if the user has the Windows pro version installed on their system.
Group policy is used as in for hierarchical structure where a change in settings can be reflected in many systems at once. So there is a high chance that some policy might have been altered which resulted in the control panel, not opening.
So we will show you how to revert it in group policy using gpedit on the system.
Step 1: Press Windows + R keys together on the keyboard to open the Run box.
Step 2: Type gpedit.msc in the Run box and press Enter key to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
Step 3: After it opens, double click on User Configuration on the left side to expand it.
Step 4: Then, expand Administrative Templates by double-clicking on it.
Step 5: Click Control Panel to see the options on the right side of the editor window.
Step 6: Next, double click on Prohibit access to Control Panel and PC settings option to open its window.
Step 7: In the window, select the Not Configured radio button and click Apply and OK to make changes.
Step 8: Once done, close the group policy editor window and restart the system once.
After that, check if the control panel is opening normally or not.
Fix 4 – Perform Full System Scan via Windows Security
When there are any virus attacks or any harmful software installed on the system from third-party unreliable resources, these types of problems arise. Therefore, it is recommended to perform a full system scan through the windows security app on the windows system.
Let us see how to do a quick scan via the windows security app.
Step 1: Press the Windows key on the keyboard and type windows security.
Step 2: Select the Windows security app from the search results as shown below.
Step 3: In the Windows Security app window, click Virus & threat protection on the left menu as shown below.
Step 4: On the right side of the window, click Quick scan under Current threats at the top as shown below.
Step 5: It immediately starts scanning and it might take some time so please wait till it finishes completely.
Step 6: Once it is done, it displays all the threats. Otherwise, it will say “No current threats”.
Step 7: If there are any current threats, please remove those virus-infected files.
Step 8: After that, close the windows security app window.
Now check if the control panel is opening on the system.
Fix 5 – Perform System File Checker Scan and DISM Health Restore
Any corrupted files on the system can be detected by performing the system file checker scan on the system and then if any found, should be replaced or deleted. Also the system health should be restored by the DISM tool. This is suggested to be performed on the system if you are facing control panel not opening issue.
We have explained how to do this in a simple steps below.
Step 1: Press Windows + R keys together to open the Run command box.
Step 2: Type cmd in the Run box and press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER keys together to open Command Prompt as admin.
Step 3: Accept the UAC prompt by clicking Yes to continue.
Step 4: Type sfc /scannow and hit Enter key to start performing the system file checker.
Step 5: Wait till it finishes.
Step 6: Once done, if there are any corrupted files detected, then please replace or delete them.
Step 7: After that, execute the below command as shown below.
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Step 8: This will restore the system health using DISM tool.
Step 9: Close the command prompt window.
Now check if the issue got fixed.
That’s all.