This collection catalogs useful legacy components in Windows 11 Pro 24H2 that are hidden (e.g., the classic background chooser), moved (e.g., Folder Options in File Explorer), or hijacked (e.g., Control Panel entries like "Devices and Printers" that redirect to Settings).
Quickly launchable items (e.g., Device Manager via Start search) are excluded. Components on the Start menu are also omitted, though many behave inconsistently depending on launch method (e.g., Administrative Tools ignores dark mode when opened from its Start shortcut (corresponding to control /name Microsoft.AdministrativeTools) but partially honors it when opened via shell:::{D20EA4E1-3957-11d2-A40B-0C5020524153}), illustrating Windows 11's fragmented UI.
The list spans Control Panel applets, MMC snap-ins, executables, shell commands, and control commands:
Desktop background chooser
shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.Personalization\pageWallpaper
Devices and Printers
control /name Microsoft.Printersshell:::{A8A91A66-3A7D-4424-8D24-04E180695C7A}
File Explorer Options
control foldersshell:::{6DFD7C5C-2451-11D3-A299-00C04F8EF6AF}
Local Users and Groups
Network Connections
ncpa.cplcontrol netconnectionsshell:ConnectionsFoldershell:::{7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}
Notification area icons
shell:::{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
Print Management
System Properties
sysdm.cpl
SystemPropertiesComputerName.exeSystemPropertiesHardware.exeSystemPropertiesAdvanced.exeSystemPropertiesProtection.exeSystemPropertiesRemote.exe
Theme selector
shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}
User Accounts
netplwizcontrol userpasswords2shell:::{7A9D77BD-5403-11d2-8785-2E0420524153}
Note
- In a few cases, prepending
explorer to shell: commands or appending .exe to control in the Run menu was required.
Sources / Related
❧ 2025-08-18
Missed the warnings on MAS:
v4.6.5 reverted a change from v4.6.4 due to reports of crashes and kernel panics on some machines. As a result, there will be issues when upgrading to Windows 11 24H2 where the screen will go black. An alternative fix is provided as a driver update. Please update the Windows driver from the CD icon -> Install Windows Guest Tools before updating Windows.
and GitHub:
v4.6.5 reverted a change from v4.6.4 due to reports of crashes and kernel panics on some machines. As a result, there will be issues when upgrading to Windows 11 24H2 where the screen will go black. An alternative fix with an updated driver will be provided as soon as possible, but for now if you plan to upgrade to Windows 11 24H2, it is recommended you do it from v4.6.4 before updating UTM.
Startup sound confirmed the VM was running. Used Alt+F4 then Enter to shut down gracefully (auto-login had been enabled previously).
In Display → Emulated Display Card, switched from virtio-ramfb to virtio-gpu-gl-pci (GPU Supported) as documented by chadlwilson (aidangoettsch adds that installer and SPICE ISOs must be ejected also).
Display returned, but keyboard and mouse required manually capturing input via the top-right Capture input devices icon (Cmd+Opt to release).
Downloaded and installed the latest Windows Guest Tools https://getutm.app/downloads/utm-guest-tools-latest.iso, which hung near completion; after a forced VM restart, input and display worked normally.
❧ 2025-08-18
Windows 11’s default background slideshow (Settings → Personalization → Background → Slideshow) exposes only six rotation frequencies:
- 1 minute
- 10 minutes
- 30 minutes
- 1 hour
- 6 hours
- 1 day
while the legacy background chooser, still accessible via shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.Personalization\pageWallpaper, offers 16:
- 10 seconds
- 30 seconds
- 1 minute
- 3 minutes
- 5 minutes
- 10 minutes
- 15 minutes
- 20 minutes
- 30 minutes
- 1 hour
- 2 hours
- 3 hours
- 4 hours
- 6 hours
- 12 hours
- 1 day
Even finer control may be possible in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Personalization\Desktop Slideshow, though intervals <20s are reportedly unreliable.
❧ 2025-08-16
THERE sat two glasses, filled to the brim,
On a rich man's table, rim to rim.
One was ruddy and red as blood,
And one was as clear as the crystal flood.
Said the glass of wine to his paler brother:
"Let us tell tales of the past to each other.
I can tell of banquet, and revel, and mirth,
Where I was king, for I ruled in might;
And the proudest and grandest souls on earth
Fell under my touch, as though struck with blight.
From the heads of kings I have torn the crown;
From the heights of fame I have hurled men down;
I have blasted many an honored name;
I have taken virtue and given shame;
I have tempted the youth, with a sip, a taste,
That has made his future a barren waste.
Far greater than any king am I,
Or than any army under the sky.
I have made the arm of the driver fail,
And sent the train from its iron rail.
I have made good ships go down at sea,
And the shrieks of the lost were sweet to me.
Fame, strength, wealth, genius, before me fall,
And my might and power are over all.
Ho! ho! pale brother," laughed the wine,
"Can you boast of deeds as great as mine?"
Said the glass of water: "I cannot boast
Of a king dethroned or a murdered host;
But I can tell of hearts that were sad,
By my crystal drops made light and glad.
Of thirsts I have quenched, and brows I have laved,
Of hands I have cooled and souls I have saved.
I have leaped through the valley and dashed down the mountain;
Slept in the sunshine and dripped from the fountain.
I have burst my cloud-fetters and dropped from the sky,
And everywhere gladdened the landscape and eye.
I have eased the hot forehead of fever and pain;
I have made the parched meadows grow fertile with grain;
I can tell of the powerful wheel o' the mill,
That ground out the flour and turned at my will,
I can tell of manhood, debased by you,
That I have uplifted and crowned anew.
I cheer, I help, I strengthen and aid,
I gladden the heart of man and maid;
I set the chained wine-captive free,
And all are better for knowing me."
These are the tales they told each other,
The glass of wine, and its paler brother,
As they sat together, filled to the brim,
On the rich man's table, rim to rim.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox, in Kingdom of Love: And, How Salvator Won (Chicago: W. B. Conkey Company, 1901), p. 90
❧ 2025-08-16
I gave all my Apple wealth away because wealth and power are not what I live for. I have a lot of fun and happiness. I funded a lot of important museums and arts groups in San Jose, the city of my birth, and they named a street after me for being good. I now speak publicly and have risen to the top. I have no idea how much I have but after speaking for 20 years it might be $10M plus a couple of homes. I never look for any type of tax dodge. I earn money from my labor and pay something like 55% combined tax on it. I am the happiest person ever. Life to me was never about accomplishment, but about Happiness, which is Smiles minus Frowns. I developed these philosophies when I was 18-20 years old and I never sold out.
—Steve Wozniak in a reply to registrations_suck's comment ("Sold his stock: Smart man. Great engineer. Bad decision. Happens to all of us. Had I not sold some of my Apple stock when I did, I'd be worth some $50M right now. Difference between me and Woz? I'm not a smart man. I'm not a good engineer.") on Slashdot. (H/T)
❧ 2025-08-15
We saw treasures heaped upon the victors, but even as the riches increased the faces upon the screen became more animal and more cruel. Down, down they sank from one generation to another. We were shown signs of lascivious dissipation or moral degeneracy, of the accretion of matter and decline of spirit. Brutal sports at the expense of others had taken the place of the manly exercises of old. There was no longer the quiet and simple family life, nor the cultivation of the mind, but we had a glimpse of a people who were restless and shallow, rushing from one pursuit to another, grasping ever at pleasure, forever missing it, and yet imagining always that in some more complex and unnatural form it might still be found. There had arisen on the one hand an over-rich class who sought only sensual gratification, and on the other hand an over-poor residue whose whole function in life was to minister to the wants of their masters, however evil those wants might be.
—Arthur Conan Doyle, The Maracot Deep
❧ 2025-08-14
