Understanding Windows 7's 'GodMode'

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.

Yes, and it's UNDOCUMENTED. So, let's say that I'm a malicious virus writer. I write a trojan that creates this folder, and then a script that uses controls in this folder to open ports, open access to your machine - and then do something really nasty. Say, perhaps hook your machine into a coordinated attack against the Pentagon.

Nah - This is all hokey system settings crap - Available elsewhere in system settings and control panel stuff.

"god mode" as I have always known it, is accessing the "System" desktop or console... and that has been there since at least Win2k (any reasonable hacker can find out how). As "System", one has the greatest authority possible in a local box.

It’s not an exploit or back door, all it does is let you get to all the control panel stuff in one place, instead of it’s default scatter. From what they’re saying nothing that appears in that folder is stuff you can’t get to elsewhere.

I don’t think you understand what is this article is stating. The title is wrong...it should be handy feature in Windows7 allows you to create a folder full of admin tools that exist everywhere on your machine, but as stated...it’s handy to have them in one place.

> This allegedly bypasses those limitations, and there is nothing that indicates what you CANNOT do. This is bad ...

Nah. Much ado about nothing. This doesn't bypass anything except worthless poofy icons.

I enabled this so-called "God Mode" on my Win7 boxes as soon as I heard about it, and yeah, it's handy, I use it rather than the normal Control Panel entry. But there's nothing in God Mode that isn't in the Control Panel -- it's just the Control Panel, organized and presented correctly.

Personally I think it's completely misnamed. It should be "Control Panel for people who understand computers and like lists more than poofy icons".

The Mac used to list the Control Panel controls in a nice handy drop-down menu, but then they went to the poofy icons. Microsoft seems to have copied the Mac's decision, but finally in Win7 somebody said, "You know, real computer people prefer lists, let's give them a list. And since anyone like that is a Computer God, let's call it "God Mode"."

Kudos to Microsoft on this one.

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