Day: January 15, 2010

If you hate looking all over the control panel in Windows 7 for where Microsoft moved your favorite icon, you’ll love the “God Mode” hack. I found this on CNET.

Basically, you open Windows Explorer, navigate to the C: drive, create a new blank folder in Windows 7 and give it the following name:

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

The folder icon changes automatically and you’ve got the ‘God Mode’ menu.

Double-click that icon and you have one menu with about 275-295 menu choices (depending on the hardware and windows features installed) broken into the following categories:

• Action Center (15 items)
   
• Administrative Tools (10 items)
   
• AutoPlay (3 items)
   
• Backup and Restore (2 items)
   
• BitLocker Drive Encryption (2 items – if you have BitLocker installed)
   
• Color Management (1 item)
   
• Credential Manager (1 item) 
  
• Date and Time (4 items)
  
• Default Programs (2 items)
  
• Desktop Gadgets (6 items)
  
• Device Manager (1 item)
  
• Devices and Printers (9-11 items)
  
  Note: I’ve also seen options for “Add a Bluetooth Device” and “Change Bluetooth Settings” on laptops.
• Display (11 items)
  
• Ease of Access Center (26 items)
  
• Folder Options (5 items)
  
• Fonts (3 items)
  
• Getting Started (4 items)
  
• HomeGroup (2 items)
  
• Indexing Options (1 item)
  
• Internet Options (14 items)
  
• Keyboard (2 items)
  
• Location and Other Sensors (3 items)
  
• Mouse (8 items)
  
• Network and Sharing Center (16 items)
  
• Notification Area Icons (6-7 items)
  
  Note: Laptops have a “Show or hide battery on the taskbar”
• Parental Controls (1 item)
  
• Performance Information and Tools (4 items)
  
• Personalization (12 items)
  
• Phone and Modem (1 item)
  
• Power Options (7-8 items)
  
  Note: Laptops also show “Change battery settings”
• Programs and Features (8 items)
  
• Recovery (1 item)
  
• Region and Language (10 items)
  
• Remote App and Desktop Connections (1 item)
  
• Sound (4 items)
  
• Speech Recognition (3 items)
  
• Sync Center (6 items)
  
• System (22 items)
  
• Taskbar and Start Menu (10 items)
  
• Troubleshooting (12 items)
  
• User Accounts (13 items)
  
• Windows CardSpace (1 item)
  
• Windows Defender (1 item)
  
• Windows Firewall (2 items)
  
• Windows Mobile Device Center (1 item – if you have it installed)
  
• Windows Update ( 2 items)
  

Now you know why they call it ‘god mode’. 😉