power users’ clinic
The Story of God Mode It started on a blog called jkontherun.com: the crazy rumor that Microsoft had created a secret Control Panel view called God Mode, and that only power users could access it.
Here are a few of the folders you can create. In each case, you can type anything you want before the period, as long as the hexadecimal code that follows is correct.
Crazy thing is, it’s true. “God Mode” is a simple folder that brings all aspects of Windows 7 control—Control Panel functions, interface customization, accessibility options—to a single location.
AutoPlay. {9C60DE1E-E5FC-40f4-A487-460851A8D915}
To create this all-powerful Control Panel folder, start by creating an empty folder anywhere. Give it this name: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} One typo, and you’re toast. But if you type it correctly, the folder transforms into a strange little icon called GodMode. Open it, and you get the super-cool Control Panel view shown here, with major headings and minor ones in a tidy alphabetical list—and even a “Search GodMode” box at the top. Fantastic! Convenient! Slick! Secret! Or not. As it turned out, the bloggers had gotten just about everything about God Mode wrong. It isn’t unique to Windows 7, it isn’t unique to the Control Panel, and it isn’t actually called God Mode. Turns out it was in Vista, too. And “God Mode” is a name the bloggers came up with; in fact, you can type any folder name you want before the first period. Call it Master Control Panel, or All Tasks, or whatever. And it turns out, finally, that this Control Panel thing isn’t secret; it’s a documented shortcut for programmers. Actually, “God Mode” is only one of a dozen summary folders you can create. You can also create folders that offer lists of what’s in the Action Center, desktop gadgets, the Devices and Printers window, and so on.
DateandTime. {E2E7934B-DCE5-43C4-9576-7FE4F75E7480} FolderOptions. {6DFD7C5C-2451-11d3-A299-00C04F8EF6AF} Fonts. {93412589-74D4-4E4E-AD0E-E0CB621440FD} Homegroup. {67CA7650-96E6-4FDD-BB43-A8E774F73A57} InternetOptions. {A3DD4F92-658A410F-84FD-6FBBBEF2FFFE} NetworkandSharingCenter. {8E908FC9-BECC-40f6-915BF4CA0E70D03D} PowerOptions. {025A5937-A6BE4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D} Sound. {F2DDFC82-8F12-4CDDB7DC-D4FE1425AA4D} SpeechRecognition. {58E3C745D971-4081-9034-86E34B30836A} Troubleshooting.{C58C4893-3BE04B45-ABB5-A63E4B8C8651} Mobility Center. {5ea4f148-308c46d7-98a9-49041b1dd468} There are many more, as a quick Google search will tell you. Not all of them work in Windows 7 (sometimes, the folder you’re renaming with the magic name simply doesn’t change its icon and adopt its new personality). And of course, there’s not a whole lot of point in going to this trouble; if you really want direct access to a certain Control Panel applet, you can simply drag it to your desktop right from the Control Panel window! But even if it’s not that secret, not that special, and not that new, it’s still cool.