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Vic's Registry RoundUp and DOS Den
~~Vic Ferri, WinTips and Tricks

Adding the Windows 2000 User Accounts To Your Windows XP Control Panel

In Windows XP, you have available to you, both the new pretty face style User Account and the standard Windows 2000 style User Account.

They both have the same functions, except that, aside from the different interfaces, the Windows 2000 style User Account is not in your Control Panel. There is no icon for it, nor is there a cpl file to open it.  By default, the only way to access the 2K style User Account is via the command line, by entering the following command:

CONTROL.EXE USER ACCOUNTS 2 in your Run box or at the Dos prompt.

However, with a little reg editing, it is possible to add an icon for it in your Control Panel. You may especially want to do this, if you find you don't have access to the Advanced tab in the XP User Accounts. Depending on your network setup you may or may not have the Advanced tab in XP.

The Windows XP User Accounts window will look something like this by default:

Whereas the 2K User Accounts window looks like this:

Notice that the 2K window has an Advanced tab at the top that lets you access the features shown below. Without this tab, you cannot get to some of these features via User Accounts:

I made a reg file that you can simply double-click to add the new icon to your Control Panel. (you can download it by clicking here.  Just extract it out of this zip file onto your desktop and double click it to import it into your registry)

But for those of you who have some experience or comfort working with the registry and would like to know how it is done manually, here are the instructions. This will also allow you to do some customizing. If there is anything in the following instructions you do not understand, you really should not be messing with the registry and I advise you use the premade reg file. 

Click Start>Run and type REGEDIT.
Click Ok, and go to this key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID

Right click the clsid key and choose New>Key.
Now you must name this new key with a new clsid value. The purpose here is to create a unique identity that will be recognized and detected by Windows.
Clsid stands for Class Library Shell IDentifiers and are written in the form of 32 numbers and letters in a 8-4-4-4-12 order, enclosed in curly brackets. Example:

{59245250-7A2F-11D0-9482-00A0C91110ED}

You must name your key in the same format. It doesn't matter what numbers or letters you use but you must follow the same pattern and it must be a unique clsid. For this example, we will use the following clsid value:

{18646F66-8C25-0000-BEE4-C2CE1298969D}

Copy and paste it as the new name for the clsid key you created.
Keep it in your clipboard as you will need to use it again later.

You now have a new clsid key with this path:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{18646F66-8C25-0000-BEE4-C2CE1298969D}

In the right hand pane, right click an empty area, choose New>String value and name it (Standard)
(include the brackets)
Double click (Standard) and enter:
"User Accounts 2" (without the quotes) as the value.

Optionally, create a new String value and name it "InfoTip" (without the quotes) and enter a description for the value such as Win 2K Style User Account, but it really can be anything you prefer. Whatever you enter here will be what will appear if you hover your mouse over the icon we will be adding to the Control Panel. However, whether or not you see the info tip will depend on whether or not you have "Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items" enabled or disabled (open any folder, click Tools>Folder Options>View to see your setting, if you're not sure what your setting is).

You must now create 4 new subkeys to your new key.
They will be named:
1. DefaultIcon
2. Shell
3. Open
4. Command

The Open and Command keys will be subkeys for the Shell.

1. First right click your new key and choose New >Key and name it DefaultIcon. In the right hand pane, double click Default and enter this for the value:

%SystemRoot%\System32\nusrmgr.cpl,1

The above assigns the only other icon available in nusmgr.cpl (which is the XP User Account) It doesn't have to be this icon. You can assign any other icon you prefer but you must know the path and position of the icon (first is 0, second is 1, third is 2, etc). Follow the same method as in the example.

2. Right click your new key again and create another subkey named Shell.
3. Now right click the Shell key and create another subkey named Open.
4. Right click Open and create another subkey called Command.
5. In the right hand pane for the Command key, double click Default and enter this command:
Control.exe Userpasswords2

We have now created an identifier for the Windows 2000 style User Account but it won't display in the Control Panel, until we create a Name Space for it.

To do that, go to the Name Space key here:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\ControlPanel\NameSpace

Right click the Name Space key and choose New>Key and name it with the same clsid value:

{18646F66-8C25-0000-BEE4-C2CE1298969D}

Double click "Default" in the right hand pane and enter a description such as: "Win 2K Style User Accounts" (without the quotes)

You are now done. Exit the registry and check your Control Panel (you may need to refresh by hitting F5).  An icon named User Accounts 2 should now be there.

Note you can also use a regular shortcut to access the Windows 2000 style User Account. Simply enter the same line:
Control.exe Userpasswords2
as the command line for your shortcut.

Vic Ferri owns the very popular WinTips and Tricks and Registry Answers. Subscribe to either and receive free Windows and Registry Tips. He is also in charge of the Printing Tips pages at Linda's Computer Stop. Vic has also created a program which allows you to Lock & Hide desktop folders in Windows 9X/ME. Read more and get the free demo here. And, he now offers a service to convert PowerPoint presentations to .exe files which can be viewed on computers which do not have PowerPoint installed.