Windows God Mode Console

At last — a Windows console interface worthy of a Supreme Ruler! By name alone, the recently discovered Windows God Mode Console is enough to initiate uncontrollable drooling among tech-heads!  Finally, you’ll be able to bring order to the Galaxy!  Not so fast your Highness. The GMC is merely an interesting way to view and access Control Panel functions you’ve always had, but had trouble getting to. Sorry to burst your bubble!

So  what does this new view look like? The first time you see it, it will be in Details view. The screen image below is the God Mode Console in “Small Icon View” — which I find to be the most effective!

God Mode Console - Small Icon View

Very interesting — wouldn’t you agree? You can see,  at a glance, the available functions for each category. Nice! I have a feeling this will catch on for regular use – especially for types like me. I’ve been like a a rat in a maze since Windows started hiding everything in Category view.  Reverting to Large Icon view was helpful, but I find God Mode in Small Icon view to be like freedom!

Don’t feel bad that you’ve never stumbled upon this little gem yourself. I’d be surprised anyone outside of Redmond would have found it on their own. Before I tell you how to find God, you need to know a few things.

I’m aware that it works on Vista 32bit and Windows 7, both 32bit and 64bit. There are reports of Explorer crashes when attempting to use it on Vista 64bit, so try that at your own risk.

You can make the folder anywhere, although if attempting to make it work on Vista 64bit, it may be safer to avoid putting it in the root directory.

There are reports that, once created, it may not be that easy to remove. Windows may complain that something has it open. I did not find that to be true in my case. Under Windows 7 64bit,  I deleted it without issue. If Windows refuses to let you delete it, try rebooting and then delete the folder first thing.

On my system, I made a root directory called GMC, and then within that folder I created another sub-folder and named it thusly:

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

Actually you could replace “GMC” with anything of your choosing — “God Mode Console” being a logical choice.  Just make sure you get the part after the period absolutely correct. Copy and paste is your friend! The newly created  folder will get it’s own unique icon and when you double click it, you will launch the God Mode app. If you tap the Alt key to bring up the menu bar, you can change the look from the View menu. For me, there are only two choices really – the default Details view, and the Small Icon view.

Other Shortcuts

The character strings below can also be used to create what essentially are shortcuts to Windows Features. They came from CNET contributor Ina Fried. I’ve tested these on Windows 7 64bit only.

{00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}
{0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}
{025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}
{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
{1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}
{15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}
{17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}
{1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}
{1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}
{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
{241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
{4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}
{78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}

Descriptions for each character string

1. Location and other Sensors: {00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}
2. Biometric devices: {0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}
3. Select a Power Plan: {025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}
4. Customize Notification Area: {05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
5. Credential Manager: {1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}
6. Install a Program from the Network (if any are installed): {15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}
7. Default Programs: {17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}
8. All NET Frameworks and COM Libraries: {1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}
9. All Networks For Current Connection: {1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}
10. Network: {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
11. My Computer: {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
12. Printers: {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
13. Application Connections: {241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
14. Firewall and Security: {4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}
15. Performance Information and Tools:  {78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}

Nifty Batch File

I decided to create a batch file to create these folders/shortcuts but while researching one of the strings that did not seem to work, I came across this website and an article by Auri Rahimzadeh. He had already created a nifty batch file to do the exact same thing. So I’m including his batch file here. Just copy the following lines, and paste them into a text file named  “Create_Godmode_folders.bat” (or anything you like really, as long as the batch file ends with .bat or .cmd). Save it to any folder – like the Windows Desktop. When you double click the batch file, it will create a folder named “Special Folders” within the current folder – and then within Special Folders, it will create each individual folder.

Note: This batch file creates the original GodeMode folder, so if you’ve already done that, you can either delete the first line that starts with “mkdir”, or place REM at the beginning of the line so that it does not get executed.

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}

Frankly, some of these are not very useful, as shortcuts can be made for them already. And I personally have no need to see “All NET Frameworks and COM libraries”. But to each his own.