GOD MODES for Windows 7 and windows 8

A more appropriate name than "GodMode" for an Easter egg feature that gives you ultimate control over the operating system would be hard to come up with. That said, you don't really need GodMode to be the god of your domain--the tweaks available with GodMode already exist independently of it, but these tricks make them far more accessible. Let's take a look at what the Windows 7 GodMode is, how to access it, and what playing god with Windows 7 can do for you.

What Is GodMode?

GodMode is actually a hidden (or, at least it used to be hidden) developer shortcut in Windows 7 that provides more direct access to features and functions of the operating system. To be clear, GodMode doesn't add functionality. But it helps administrators work more efficiently by collecting all these tweaks and controls in one place.

Accessing GodMode in Windows 7

Follow these steps to access GodMode:

• Create a new folder wherever you want the GodMode folder to be. Right-click in Windows Explorer, select New, then click Folder.
• Next, rename the folder. You can name the folder anything you like as long as you add a period followed by this exact text string: {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
• The folder icon should be replaced by the Control Panel icon, and the folder should now be filled with a variety of tweaks and tools (see figure at lower right

But, wait. There's more! The truth is, there isn't just one "GodMode." Windows 7 has an entire pantheon of GodModes, with a variety of hidden folders you can set up using different, unique text strings, including special folders for biometric settings, printers, credentials and logins, the firewall and security, and many other features and functions of Windows 7.

A post in a Microsoft forum by Auri Rahimzadeh provides a short script that will quickly create the GodMode folders. Copy and paste the following text (immediately below this paragraph) into Notepad. Name the file "godmodes.bat" and save it on your hard drive in the location where you would like the folders to be. Running this script will create a new folder called Special Folders that will contain all of the developer shortcut folders (as shown in the clickable thumbnail figure below). Also, by changing the text where it says "Special Folders" in the first two lines of the script, you could rename the new folder anything you'd like

mkdir "Special Folders
cd ".\Special Folders
mkdir "God Mode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
mkdir "Location Settings.{00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}
mkdir "Biometric Settings.{0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}
mkdir "Power Settings.{025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}
mkdir "Icons And Notifications.{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
mkdir "Credentials and Logins.{1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}
mkdir "Programs and Features.{15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}
mkdir "Default Programs.{17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}
mkdir "All NET Frameworks and COM Libraries.{1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}
mkdir "All Networks For Current Connection.{1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}
mkdir "Network.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
mkdir "My Computer.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
mkdir "Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
mkdir "Application Connections.{241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
mkdir "Firewall and Security.{4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}
mkdir "Performance.{78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}