Weekly quickTIP

Vista EXE Deep Dive, Part 3

Listing all the GUI-based wizards and control panels that you can get to quickly in Vista.

• By Greg Shields
• 06/23/2008

But sometimes using the command-line can be painful. For those times, Microsoft has a rich set of GUI-based wizards and control panels. Sometimes, though, finding just the GUI wizard you need can be difficult. Or, if you're already at the command-line, knowing the keyboard shortcut to a GUI wizard will save you a few clicks of the mouse. So, to help you with those situations, I've built a list of the 80 EXEs within Windows Vista's System32 folder that launch various GUI interfaces on the system. For each of these below, I'll give you a short description of what you'll be launching.

ACW.exe -- Enables guided help.
calc.exe -- Launches the calculator.
charmap.exe -- Launches the Character map.
cliconfg.exe -- Launches the SQL client configuration utility.
colorcpl.exe -- Launches the Color management profile loader.
CompMgmtLauncher.exe -- Launches Computer Management.
ComputerDefaults.exe -- Launches Set Program Access and Computer Defaults control panel.
control.exe -- Launches the Control Panel.
credwiz.exe -- Launches the Stored Usernames and Passwords Wizard.
dcomcnfg.exe -- Launches the Component Services control panel.
dfrgui.exe -- Launches the Windows defragmentation GUI.
dialer.exe -- Launches the phone dialer GUI.
DpiScaling.exe -- Launches the DPI Scaling control panel.
drwatson.exe -- Launches the Dr. Watson crash dump analysis utility.
dvdplay.exe -- Launches Windows Media Player.
dxdiag.exe -- Launches the DirectX diagnostics utility.
eudcedit.exe -- Launches the private character editor.
eventvwr.exe -- Launches the Event Viewer.
FirewallControlPanel.exe -- Launches the Windows firewall control panel.
FirewallSettings.exe -- Launches the Windows firewall settings wizard.
fxscover.exe -- Launches the FAX Cover Page Editor.
hdwwiz.exe -- Launches the Add Hardware Wizard.
iexpress.exe -- Launches the iexpress wizard, which is used to create setup files.
iscsicpl.exe -- Launches the iSCSI Control Panel.
lpksetup.exe -- Launches the Install or Uninstall Display Languages control panel.
Magnify.exe -- Launches the Windows Magnifier utility.
mblctr.exe -- Launches the Windows Mobility Center control panel.
MdSched.exe -- Launches the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool.
mmc.exe -- Launches the Microsoft Management Console.
mobsync.exe -- Launches the Sync Center.
mrt.exe -- Launches the malicious software removal tool.
msconfig.exe -- Launches the System Configuration wizard.
msdt.exe -- Launches the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool.
msinfo32.exe -- Launches the System Information Control Panel.
mspaint.exe -- Launches Microsoft Paint.
msra.exe -- Launches Windows Remote Assistance. Command line & GUI.
mstsc.exe -- Launches the Remote Desktop Client. Command line & GUI.
napstat.exe -- Launches the Network Access Protection status window.
Narrator.exe -- Launches the Microsoft Narrator screen reader utility.
Netplwiz.exe -- Launches the local User Accounts wizard.
NetProj.exe -- Launches the Connect to a Network Projector wizard.
notepad.exe -- Launches Notepad.
odbcad32.exe -- Launches the ODBC Data Source Administrator control panel.
OptionalFeatures.exe -- Launches the Windows Features control panel.
osk.exe -- Launches the on-screen keyboard.
perfmon.exe -- Launches the Reliability and Performance Monitor tool.
PresentationSettings.exe -- Launches the Presentation Settings wizard.
PrintBrmUi.exe -- Launches the Printer Migration wizard.
regedt32.exe -- Launches the Registry Editor.
rekeywiz.exe -- Launches the Encrypting File System wizard.
rstrui.exe -- Launches the System Restore control panel.
sdclt.exe -- Launches the Backup Status and Configuration wizard.
shrpubw.exe -- Launches the Create a Shared Folder wizard.
sigverif.exe -- Launches the File Signature Verification wizard.
SndVol.exe -- Launches the Volume Mixer.
SnippingTool.exe -- Launches the Snipping Tool for screen captures.
SoundRecorder.exe -- Launches the Sound Recorder.
StikyNot.exe -- Launches a Sticky Note.
sysedit.exe -- Launches the System Configuration Editor.
syskey.exe -- Launches the Securing the Windows Account Database wizard.
SystemPropertiesAdvanced.exe -- Launches the System Properties tool with the Advanced tab showing.
SystemPropertiesComputerName.exe -- Launches the System Properties tool with the Computer Name tab showing.
SystemPropertiesDataExecutionPrevention.exe -- Launches the System Properties tool with the DEP screen showing.
SystemPropertiesHardware.exe -- Launches the System Properties tool with the Hardware tab showing.
SystemPropertiesPerformance.exe -- Launches the System Properties tool with the Performance Options screen showing.
SystemPropertiesProtection.exe -- Launches the System Properties tool with the System Protection tab showing.
SystemPropertiesRemote.exe -- Launches the System Properties tool with the Remote tab showing.
tabcal.exe -- Launches the Digitizer Calibration Tool.
taskmgr.exe -- Launches the Task Manager.
TpmInit.exe -- Initializes TPM security hardware.
userinit.exe -- Launches Windows Explorer.
Utilman.exe -- Launches the Ease of Access Center.
verifier.exe -- Analyzes and verifies drivers. Command line & GUI.
wercon.exe -- Launches the Problem Reports and Solutions control panel.
WFS.exe -- Launches Windows Fax and Scan.
wiaacmgr.exe -- Launches the scanner wizard.
WindowsAnytimeUpgrade.exe -- Launches the Windows Anytime Upgrade wizard.
winver.exe -- Launches the About Windows wizard.
write.exe -- Launches WordPad.
wuapp.exe -- Launches the Windows Update control panel.

And that completes our series. As the OS changes, updates to these tools are likely to change also. But, this series brings together many hours of research and work in finding information about each of these EXEs and how they can assist your administrative burden.