How to "Unlock God Mode" in Windows 7

Image via Wikipedia

If you've ever had to do a lot of configuration on a Windows OS in one sitting, as say on a new install, you know the frustration of navigating through the byzantine labyrinth of dialog boxes with which you are presented.  While this can be true of any operating system, more or less depending on how thoughtfully designed, Vista was the worst I've ever encountered, and Windows 7 is only slightly better.

Well, an undocumented feature of Windows 7 has been bouncing around the blogsphere that simplifies things quite a bit.  Take a look for yourself after the jump.
An undocumented feature in Windows 7 has gotten a lot of attention lately and has been given the nickname "God Mode."  The truth is, this trick has been known since at least late 2008 and works fine on Vista 32-bit as well.  Only the clever name is new, but it deserves mention because it really does streamline the process of accessing your settings as opposed to going through Control Panel or the "Launchy like" search bar in the start menu.  The name is in reference to hidden cheat codes found in many games that give the player god-like powers in the game, say invisibility or even invincibility.

In this case, your new god-like power will be access to ALL the settings dialogs in Windows 7 in one click from a single, simple interface.  Just follow these steps:

• Create a new folder anywhere you want.
• Rename your new folder with the following string:  “GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}” without the quotation marks, of course.  Actually, name it anything you wish as long as the part after the . is the same.  I called mine "Wombat.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}” and the result was the same.
• That's it.  The folder icon will be replaced with the Control Panel icon, and clicking on it will give you this:

This method has been reported to cause instability in Vista 64-bit.  There is a workaround, but I cannot vouch for it from first hand experience.

 If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe to my RSS feed.  There are a number of similar hacks I will post about over the next few days.  And leave a comment.  Do you have a favorite Windows tweak, documented or otherwise that you'd like to share?

via Dwight Silverman's TechBlog