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Windows 7's 'GodMode'

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(@douglasbrush)
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Joined: 16 years ago
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Topic starter  

http//news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10423985-56.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Although its name suggests perhaps even grander capabilities, Windows enthusiasts are excited over the discovery of a hidden "GodMode" feature that lets users access all of the operating system's control panels from within a single folder.

By creating a new folder in Windows 7 and renaming it with a certain text string at the end, users are able to have a single place to do everything from changing the look of the mouse pointer to making a new hard-drive partition.

To enter "GodMode," one need only create a new folder and then rename the folder to the following

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

GodMode is a goofy term. It is making a call to a registry key that interfaces with the shell and it shows you a "super control panel" - this key and ability has been around for a while. Any folder can be created with the string after the dot.

You can run from start box as well
Start ->Run
explorer.exe shell{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

It is a documented developer feature of the shell
http//msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc144096%28VS.85%29.aspx#virtual

And the "All Tasks" folder which by design was not meant to be browsed to directly and is the source of the Control Panel

Works in Win 7 and 32 bit Vista. 64 bit Vista will crash so it would have to be run from the start box or short cut as;
explorer.exe shell{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}


   
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jhup
 jhup
(@jhup)
Noble Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 1442
 

At first I thought it was a left over from coders, but if it is also in Vista, the oversight is not excusable.

Does one need to have higher privileges, other than to create a folder? It does not seem like it.


   
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keydet89
(@keydet89)
Famed Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 3568
 

At first I thought it was a left over from coders, but if it is also in Vista, the oversight is not excusable.

Oversight? How so?

h


   
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(@douglasbrush)
Prominent Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 812
Topic starter  

It is not this huge backdoor that it was being dubbed. Why Tom's Hardware and CNET ran with it such as they did is a little confusing.
There are many Windows functions that can be executed from run commands to interface with explorer.exe or the shell
control.exe desk.cpl
control.exe /(name) Microsoft.PowerOptions
gpedit.msc

Heck even regedit is more invasive.

I use many run commands from even task manager/process explorer when doing malware/virus removal and explorer is compromised.

I think because of the reg key looking ominous people think its some sort of "hack".

Kind of fail to realize that if there are group and/or user policy restrictions in place you will be limited in a"GodMode"


   
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Novunix
(@novunix)
Eminent Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 35
 

interesting .. thanks

I did this on Win7 x64 as a run command and it worked. I then drag'n'dropped a shortcut to the quick launch for convenience.

)


   
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