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c#windows-7windows-xpcontrol-panel

How to open "Network Connections" window programmatically


How to open "Network Connections" window programmatically using C# in Win7, XP??


Solution

  • Start a new process using shell execute, and run NCPA.cpl. Like so:

    ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("NCPA.cpl");
    startInfo.UseShellExecute = true;
    
    Process.Start(startInfo);
    

    As an extra reference, wikipedia has a pretty comprehensive list of the applets available to you that you can start in this way: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Control_Panel_applets.

    Edit: As a small addition, it may be more sensible to invoke the required control panel applet using the string "control appletname". This is because while most applets can be started with their .cpl name alone, some of them, such as the Administrative Tools, don't have a .cpl name, so you need to use "control admintools" instead.

    Edit 2: As an additional reference, check out this knowledge base article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/192806.