Hide hidden Windows XP Components

Author: Li dongbo

When adding or deleting components in Windows XP, we generally use "Add/delete Windows Components" in the control panel, because Windows will list most components that can be added or deleted in the "Windows component wizard. However, some Windows components, such as "Terminal Services" and "Windows Messenger", are hard to find in the component list, it does not seem easy to add or delete such Windows Components. Next, let's take a look at how to find hidden system components.

Figure 1 use "Add/delete Windows Components"

After opening the "add or delete programs" dialog box from the control panel, click "Add/delete Windows Components" in figure 1 to open the "Windows component wizard" dialog box, the list lists the components that can be added or deleted, as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2 default component list

In fact, some items are not displayed in the component list in the "Windows component wizard" dialog box, and they are hidden! It is not difficult to "pull" them out. You only need to follow the steps described below to make them invisible. These guys marked with red lines are hidden by Windows!

Figure 3 components that have been merged

Procedure

1. Open the resource manager and navigate to "C: WindowsInf". If your Windows is installed in another folder, such as "D: winxp", then you can browse "D: winxpInf ". If you cannot see the "Inf" folder, select "Tools | Folder Options" in resource manager, and click the "View" tab in the "Folder Options" dialog box, then, deselect the "Hide protected operating system files" and "Hide extensions of known file types" check boxes and select "show all files and folders ".

Figure 4 modify viewing options

2. Find the file "Sysoc. inf ", select it, press Ctrl + C to copy it, and then press Ctrl + V to paste it. In this way, a" Replica Sysoc. inf. If you want to change back to the original settings, you can delete the modified "Sysoc. inf" and change the name of the "Restore Sysoc. inf" to "Sysoc. inf ".

3. Double-click "Sysoc. inf" to open it. It is opened using notepad by default. You can also right-click the file, select "open mode", find "Notepad", and then open the file.

Figure 5 open the "Sysoc. inf" File

4. Select "Edit | Replace" (or press Ctrl + H) in the menu, enter "search content" as ", hide,", and "Replace with" in the input box as ", ", click" replace all ".

Figure 6 search and replace

5. Press Ctrl + S to save the file.

Now, if you open the "Windows component wizard" dialog box, you will see the hidden components shown in 3. If you want to delete a component, cancel the selection. If you want to install it, select it. After the selection is complete, click "Next" in the dialog box to perform the add or delete operation.

However, it should be noted that if you do not know what you are doing, it is recommended that you do not delete a component at will. Otherwise, if your Windows XP suddenly strikes, it will be less fun. So the backup mentioned above must be done well. If you want to change back to the original one, you need to use the backup file.