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Windows 7 has a special feature that allows you to congregate all its control panels in a single place. Microsoft says the hack, nicknamed "God Mode" by some bloggers, isn't a true "god mode" and shouldn't be relied upon for any purpose.  (Source: Neowin.net)
Newly discovered feature makes administration much easier

One irritation with Windows – even the well-designed Windows 7 – is that various control panels (Autoplay, Action Center, Administrative Tools, etc.), tend to be spread around the OS in multiple locations, making management more time consuming.

Some may have known this already, but a new tweak is just now gaining public attention, which allows all of these control panels to be congregated in a single folder.  To get access to this "God-Mode" super folder, all you have to do is create a new folder named:

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Once you've completed the (re)name the folder's icon will switch to a control panel.  You'll then be free to start performing all the administration tasks you've been putting off.

Microsoft has released an unofficial statement, via Microsoft blogger Brandon Paddock, explaining the feature.  Microsoft points out that you can change the text from "GodMode" to anything -- so the "GodMode" is really just a power feature.  However, it's not intended for use and should not be relied upon, according to Microsoft.

Writes Mr. Paddock:

The second thing you’ve discovered is the “All Tasks” folder.  This is a special shell folder which is used as the source of the “Control Panel” search results seen in the Start menu.  This folder was not designed to be browsed to directly, as the normal Control Panel folder (accessible via Start -> Control Panel) contains all the same items but with a custom view designed to be easier to navigate.  The “All Tasks” folder has no custom view, so you just see the standard Explorer list view and little else.
The existence of this folder and its CLSID are implementation details and should not be relied upon by anybody for any purpose.
God Mode?  Hardly.

Despite Mr. Paddock's attempt to dissuade users from taking advantage of this trick, many will find it a handy tool in their power-user arsenal.

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By CurseTheSky on 1/5/2010 9:15:49 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
This folder was not designed to be browsed to directly, as the normal Control Panel folder (accessible via Start -> Control Panel) contains all the same items but with a custom view designed to be easier to navigate.


Ok, so Control Panel isn't the worst GUI / organizational tool in the world, but it's far from the best. I personally have no problems with it, but there's nothing like telling someone very quickly that they can change their mouse pointer's appearance, speed, double-click speed, etc. from Control Panel only to get the same question two days later. Why? To the less tech-savvy, Control Panel is very daunting. I know a number of people that won't even click on the "Hardware and Sound" item simply because they're afraid they'll press the wrong thing and screw up the computer. And I sympathize, too; I used to be in their shoes many years ago.

So now someone finds a neat trick to link to the All Tasks folder, which displays a simple list of alphabetically sorted linked text labels to nearly all of the "administration" options the average user will ever need (and humorously names calls the resulting folder "GodMode"), and a Microsoft representative insists that it should not be relied upon like it's some kind of detrimental exploit? Please. Take a hint and allow users to switch folders with "easier to navigate" GUIs to a simple list-of-text view. Switching Control panel to the "classic view" in Windows Xp SP2+ doesn't count. Hey, this would even make a great use for the seemingly pointless "View by" drop-down at the top right of Windows 7's control panel. Why give me the option if I can ONLY select category view (the default)?

Actually, I have a better idea. Maybe you're not into GodMode cheats, but try "breathe deep." I heard that one might help you lighten up a bit (or go early mutas...).




By Spivonious on 1/5/2010 9:35:31 AM , Rating: 5
I think he meant "not rely on" as the CLSID might change in a future update, therefore breaking the folder.

It's not like it gives you anything that you couldn't get to anyway.


By Spivonious on 1/7/2010 9:25:06 AM , Rating: 3
Why would you need to mess with the local group policy on a home machine? Do they even apply if you're not part of a domain?


By cyberguyz on 1/7/2010 9:58:08 AM , Rating: 1
Think outside the box man.

Assuming all home users are not savvy enough to assign some family members restricted privileges is short-sighted. While overkill for most families, it is not unheard of. I've personally known a few people that have put local policies in place for the 'normal' users of their household to do things like restrict internet access during certain hours, Keep kids from installing stuff, etc. Heavy-handed, yes, but sometimes necessary.


By afkrotch on 1/7/2010 7:12:44 PM , Rating: 2
I've had multiple times I've had to play with local policies. I use to use Win2k Pro on my file server, but went to XP Pro on it. Needless to say, it's a lot more cumbersome to share files on the OS. I had to go into gpedit to allow users to access the folders without requiring a local password or account on the box.

For the life of me, simply right-clicking the folder, sharing, then setting the security that way did not work. I tried making accounts on the box, making accounts for both boxes the same, etc. Changing the local policies was the only way I got it to work.


By afkrotch on 1/7/2010 7:07:53 PM , Rating: 2
Does gpedit.msc not work?


By bighairycamel on 1/5/2010 10:37:25 AM , Rating: 3
Well for people like you and I that want to navigate to every feature the OS has to offer, I agree the control panel is pretty cumbersome. However, I just want to point out the ease of the search function, which removes any need for a "god mode" folder because it essentially does the same thing, except now you don't have to manually search through listings.

Whenever I teach an average user how to access anything in the control panel I assume they are accessing it for a reason. So I can tell them to ignore the icons and just type in what they're looking for. Want to change the screen saver? Type in "change screen saver". Need to set a user password or change it? Type in "user password". Even more advanced options I've toyed with such as homegroup folder sharing preferences I've been able to navigate to via the search function. The "god mode" folder seems redundant to me since I can find what I'm looking for in the search.


By superkdogg on 1/5/2010 10:53:59 AM , Rating: 5
A reliable search something a lot of us are still adjusting to. Having grown up on various Win2K flavors and moving to XP, the Control Panel (classic, baby) is what I'm used to using to access those settings. Win7 made it more complicated to do things the old way. Some people will want to update their practices to use the newer features, others will want to change the system to fit their practices-neither is wrong if they both do the job.

I think the MS guy is just miffed that somebody else called this Godmode. If they had called it Gatesmode he'd be praising the ingeniuty!


By SavagePotato on 1/5/2010 12:30:32 PM , Rating: 5
Because Apple doesn't have that attitude at all.

And Apples existence alone doesn't make the concept of Microsoft as a monopoly just fanboi nonsense right?

Has it ever occurred to you that you cannot please 100% of the customers? If you have a gui that is that generic and customizable you get a complete mess like KDE. Say goodbye to user friendliness as a mainstream OS.


By afkrotch on 1/7/2010 7:18:27 PM , Rating: 3
Have you see how many background tasks run for search, when you're not searching anything? Then on top of all that indexing, it still takes time for the search to complete.

I'd rather just have my folder with a list of what I need/want.


By blargsoup on 1/13/2010 3:11:43 PM , Rating: 2
Natural language search is not enabled by default, but it is also very handy when it comes to performing quick searches for specific information.

Organize -> Folder and search options -> Look in the search tab check the box


By tangoactual on 1/6/2010 9:03:40 AM , Rating: 3
This discovery is interesting but not much else. The key part of the quote from Brandon Paddock is this…

quote:
The second thing you’ve discovered is the “All Tasks” folder. This is a special shell folder which is used as the source of the “Control Panel” search results seen in the Start menu.


The way users use the OS has changed but the users maybe aren’t yet aware. It actually changed in Vista but is refined in 7. If in the example given a user needs to adjust mouse settings they do not need to navigate through Start> Control Panel> etc… they simply type “mouse” into the Search field on the Start menu and everything to do with the word mouse is displayed in the Start menu. In my case when I type “mouse” into the search field I get first my Logitech utility under the heading Programs then a list of 18 things under the heading Control Panel that have to do with the mouse or other input devices. If I click that heading I get a filtered Control Panel that only shows me those 18 specific functions. So when I searched for “mouse” the OS pulled all the items relating to mice and input device out of this special shell folder and presented them to me in the Start menu. It really is effortless. Do you want to turn on BitLocker? Type BitLocker into the search field and you are on your way with no hunting through the recesses of the OS.

This “GodMode” thing just puts what would have been searched in front of you in one folder.


Folder View
By teohhanhui on 1/5/2010 9:56:36 AM , Rating: 2
They could've made the Control Panel view more customizable (like a normal folder). I don't understand why but some people just don't like to search.




RE: Folder View
By therealnickdanger on 1/5/2010 10:03:19 AM , Rating: 5
I'm still reeling over changing "Add/Remove Programs" to "Programs and Features". I spend 3 seconds looking for it at the top of list before remembering it changed...


RE: Folder View
By jabber on 1/5/2010 10:24:11 AM , Rating: 2
Me too.

Especially as the "new" option is pretty much.....just deleting applications


RE: Folder View
By NARC4457 on 1/5/2010 10:36:14 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah, me to. Every time it gets me.


RE: Folder View
By leexgx on 1/5/2010 7:10:54 PM , Rating: 2
i agree as well it was always 3 from the top left you did not even have to Think there

when Vista and Win7 is in small or large icon mode you have to think and look a lot harder for it (Not helped by the fact that windows V and 7 loads the icons as you open the windows where as XP would load the icons with txt with no pictures on them but would load moments later on (7 does tend to load them faster thought) but depending on the screen size or the window size, Programs and Features can be in deferent place

Category mode is nice but yo then have to go throw 2-5 menus to find what you are looking for (defeating the idea of Category mode) as to why i norm put it onto small icons


RE: Folder View
By Flunk on 1/5/2010 12:17:33 PM , Rating: 2
They don't do that because users are stupid. I would hate to have to support a system where the user has decided to rename all the control panel extensions randomly. How am I supposed to know that "Steven" is Remove Programs?

Consistency for the purpose of support is very important.


RE: Folder View
By geekman1024 on 1/5/2010 9:17:07 PM , Rating: 2
yeah, users are stupid.

I can imagine in the near future, when MS decided to change the folder ID, people are gonna call MS customer service and ask why their God Mode folder isn't working any more.

MS should change to use the Konami code to activate God Mode.


thank you microsoft!
By shin0bi272 on 1/5/2010 10:02:57 AM , Rating: 4
quote:
the normal Control Panel folder (accessible via Start -> Control Panel) contains all the same items but with a custom view designed to be easier to navigate.


Why thank you microsoft for deciding for me what is easier to navigate... next can you tell me what color underwear I should wear? How about what breakfast cereal I should eat? Then maybe what Job I should apply to and even better who I should marry and how many kids I should have? When did microsoft become the united states government?




RE: thank you microsoft!
By fatedtodie on 1/5/2010 11:22:32 AM , Rating: 5
So when a t-shirt comes with 2 "arm holes" and 1 "head hole" and 1 "body hole". Are those suggestions you protest against as well?

Microsoft picks a "default" and you are free to change it to suit your needs. They recommend the default as they spent time and money designing a user-friendly way.

Yess you can wear a t-shirt like it was underwear but there is a suggestion I would not make.


RE: thank you microsoft!
By afkrotch on 1/7/2010 8:05:35 PM , Rating: 2
Weird. I buy pants and cut a hole in the ass. Then I put it on over my body. Doesn't everyone?


RE: thank you microsoft!
By callmeroy on 1/5/2010 2:03:00 PM , Rating: 2
I think you are a bit more than a little over dramatic.

What's the big deal -- Microsoft has a default way of getting to the information, you wish to do it your way. So STFU and do it your way...and move on with life...its a damn OS for crying out loud --- not the formula to cure cancer.


RE: thank you microsoft!
By lco45 on 1/5/2010 6:02:41 PM , Rating: 2
Wear navy. It hides the skids, and makes you look more tanned.

Luke


Just a joke
By fredthelight on 1/5/2010 9:29:38 AM , Rating: 3
Anything can be typed in place of Godmode, and it will still open...and it's just another way to display the control panel, nothing special...this is a nonews...




RE: Just a joke
By davepermen on 1/5/2010 9:44:20 AM , Rating: 3
it just displays in a different view than the control panel. and that view can be quite handy, or at least people believe it.

i directly use windows search in the startmenu to navigate to those items, so i don't see a point in placing a special shortcut. real geeks know how to get to their stuff quickly on a foreign system, so your godlike folder will be of no help, then.

i bet microsoft could simply add that view as an option in the controlpanel. people would love it. for no particular reason, but they would.


RE: Just a joke
By SavagePotato on 1/5/2010 12:40:20 PM , Rating: 3
Some people are absolutely stuck on having huge unmanageable lists of options to scroll through to find what they want.

The same kind of people that hated office 2007's ribbon interface because they would rather go through massive pull-down menus. (more realistically because they had those memorized and refused to relearn.)

I use the combination of windows key / type what I'm looking for, for absolutely everything. I start games and other programs that way, other than the few I have pinned to the task-bar. The result is a neat and tidy system with nothing on the desktop other than the recycle bin, and everything a press of the windows key away.


RE: Just a joke
By Leper Messiah on 1/6/2010 3:43:53 PM , Rating: 3
I'm pretty sure most of us hated the ribbon because it sucks due to being counter-intuitive to the last 15 years of using microsoft office. I'm sure people who have never used a computer before love it though. It's just hard to retrain yourself after doing something basically the same way for so long.

And its not like the windows + type in a program thing is that special, some of us have been doing the same thing for years, just put a shortcut to the program you want into the system32 folder, windows+R type in the name of the shortcut and there you go


It doesn't work.
By MonkeyPaw on 1/5/2010 1:32:21 PM , Rating: 3
MS must have a bug in their program. I setup GOD MODE on my notebook and then threw it across the room. It broke into pieces. FAIL.




RE: It doesn't work.
By geekman1024 on 1/5/2010 9:20:54 PM , Rating: 1
No kidding, dude. This is not funny.


RE: It doesn't work.
By jonmcc33 on 1/6/2010 1:20:30 PM , Rating: 3
You are only supposed to use it for 3D games! Duh! Works like a charm on Call of Duty 4! I press my mouse button once and everyone on the server dies! Booyah! BFG10K eat your heart out!


MS needs to learn something...
By MadMan007 on 1/5/2010 8:52:53 AM , Rating: 2
Stating that a hacked feature should not be used will specifically cause more people to use it than might have otherwise. I know it's only semi-official being on the guy's blog but he should have just explained the technical details of that one potentially problematic folder and left it at that rather than saying that it shouldn't be used or 'God Mode? Hardly'




By SocrPlyr on 1/5/2010 9:17:44 AM , Rating: 3
What they are putting out there is that it is likely that a future OS update might break this. When that happens you are supposed to remember that they told you not to "RELY" on it.


Warning
By Etern205 on 1/6/2010 9:22:08 PM , Rating: 2
I'll have to blame DT on this for not giving enough info and of course they can't take the full blame as I didn't bother to do a full research.

Tried this method on Vista 64bit and my explorer crashed immediately. Trying to restart it, open up task manager, or even run a simple task (e.g. run command) does not help as explorer.exe just won't start all it does is smack me in the face with its "explorer.exe has stop working" message.

Luckly my OS has another account and used that to delete the offending folder, but when I've tried to remove it, cmd says the file you specify cannot be found! WTH?!

I've managed to finally remove that folder by using a bartpe disc.

If you don't have a bartpe disc, use a linux live CD or any OS on a disc to remove that folder.




RE: Warning
By afkrotch on 1/7/2010 8:11:39 PM , Rating: 2
Not sure how DT is to blame.

"Windows 7 has a special feature that allows you to congregate all its control panels in a single place."

Maybe the lack of it mentioning Vista, XP, 2k, and NT would have told you something. Don't assume, just cause they mention Win 7, that it works on all Windows.


By greylica on 1/5/2010 11:25:00 AM , Rating: 2
The sense I had from Microsoft is exactly this, when you find something good in their software, you have to be certain that they will screw it someday, it's their software, not ours...
An great example is NTbackup, even useless in some cases, it´s a great backup tool. The new backup tool in Vista/Win7 is a tragedy for system administrators. That´s why they don't think twice to jump in virtualization world. Compacted ''machines'' are like candies to maintain...




Tweak UI
By Kaleid on 1/7/2010 6:24:07 AM , Rating: 2
How about another one? It was very useful for XP




Class ID
By Calabros on 1/5/2010 10:04:08 AM , Rating: 1
You can replace GodMode with anything else.. for example: "papa.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}"




Oh man...
By Jeff7181 on 1/5/10, Rating: -1
RE: Oh man...
By av911 on 1/5/2010 8:42:28 PM , Rating: 3
Microsoft didn't create the name "God Mode".

"nicknamed "God Mode" by some bloggers"


Who uses control panel to do anything anyway?
By iFX on 1/5/10, Rating: -1
By PitViper007 on 1/5/2010 11:36:02 AM , Rating: 3
I believe you mean MMC. And while it is VERY handy for putting together custom admin windows, the average person isn't going to like adding snap-ins for everything they want to be able to control.


RE: Who uses control panel to do anything anyway?
By iFX on 1/5/10, Rating: -1
By SavagePotato on 1/5/2010 12:43:32 PM , Rating: 4
Try not to make typos that are so off as to make you look stupid, while you are flaunting your superior knowledge.

Suggestions for the future.


RE: Who uses control panel to do anything anyway?
By iFX on 1/5/10, Rating: -1
By SavagePotato on 1/5/2010 3:32:31 PM , Rating: 2
You owned yourself trying to look good. Deal with it.


By jonmcc33 on 1/6/2010 1:24:11 PM , Rating: 1
I make typos all the time and I'm not stewpid. The fact is that peepel new what he wuz talking abewt even if he didn't speel it korektly!


By afkrotch on 1/7/2010 8:32:34 PM , Rating: 1
MMC doesn't control everything and you'll have to end up using control panel for certain tasks. Unless there's a snap-in that I can download to use in MMC to change my Regional & Language settings.

Control Panel + Computer Management. It's all I've ever needed on a weekly basis. When first configuring the computer, I will use gpedit.msc.


"The whole principle [of censorship] is wrong. It's like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can't have steak." -- Robert Heinlein











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