A recent WinSys virus caused the control panel on an XP system to go missing.
There are two way to try and restore it:
1) Right click on the Start.
2) Click Properties.
3) Select the Start Menu tab.
4) Select Customize.
5) Go through the list. If you’re lucky, you’ll see Control Panel that you can check.
If the above doesn’t work, then try this set of procedures I found on http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/1191368503
1) Click Start, Run and type “regedit.exe” Press {ENTER}
2) Navigate to the following branch:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ExplorÂer
3) Backup the key by exporting it (from the File menu, choose Export) as a REG file.
4) In the right pane of the above key, delete the value named “NoControlPanel” (if found)
5) Repeat the same in this branch:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ExploÂrer
6) Exit the Registry Editor.
The second procedure worked for me.