Windows 7 Tips & Tricks

[Frank Golden]

God Mode.Create a new folder in the file system and and rename it with this name:

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

???

[Peachy]

It creates a special system folder that contains links to every Windows setting you might wish to change. Think of it as the control panel on steroids.

[Frank Golden]

It creates a special system folder that contains links to every Windows setting you might wish to change. Think of it as the control panel on steroids.

Cool Peachy, most definitely a Control Panel on steroids.

[bob3160]

You can also accomplish this same feat,If you Run2God

[Corrine]

Here is how EdBott explains it: That "God mode" Explorer trick does less than you think.This may also be of interest: List of CLSID to open Windows Special Folders : The Secret BEHIND the Windows 7 GodMode

[Corrine]

His first article was on his personal blog. However, Ed got on the bandwagon at ZDNet with The ultimate 'God Mode' list: 39 secret Windows 7 shortcuts. Ed did say that some users have reported problems when using some of these shortcuts, especially on systems running Windows Vista 64-bit but in his article, Access All Windows 7 Tasks with God Mode, Bill Pytlovany added a note that it is not supported by x64 bit Windows.

[rolanaj]

Wow some great tips thanks! My new laptop came with Windows 7 and its rather neat, a lot more like Linux than it used to be in some ways. Corrine I've bookmarked your blog its great.Really liked you tip on background screen saver libraries rbdietz I love the background slide show but wondered where to change the timing.Any tips on getting used to not using the mouse?

[rbdietz]

Any tips on getting used to not using the mouse?

In the Control Panel, select Hardware and Sound, then Mouse.If you have a mouse connected to your laptop (in addition to the built-in touch pad), your first stop should be the Hardware tab to select the touch pad.Then go muck around on all the other tabs to see how the touch pad is configured and if the settings are all to you liking (almost certainly not.)Different touch pad hardware and drivers provide different options, so it's hard to give more specific advice.Good luck.

[goretsky]

Hello,By default, the Windows Explorer icon on the Taskbar opens the Libraries folder view.If you want to open another folder, instead, you can change this by performing the following:

1. Hold down the Shift and Right-click on the Windows Explorer icon in the Taskbar.
2. Select Properties from the context menu that pops up.
3. In the Target: field, change the value of "%windir%\explorer.exe" to a different value. Some possible options include:
   • enter "explorer.exe ::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}" to open the Computer View of all disk drives and network shares
   • enter "explorer.exe ::{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" to open the Documents folder
   • enter "explorer.exe ::{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}" to open the Network folder
   • enter "explorer.exe ::{7007acc7-3202-11d1-aad2-00805fc1270e}" to open Network Connections
   • enter "explorer.exe ::{2227a280-3aea-1069-a2de-08002b30309d}" to open the Printers folder
   • enter "explorer.exe ::{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}" to open the Recycle Bin
   • enter "explorer.exe ::{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}" to open Internet Explorer (or just use the Internet Explorer icon on the taskbar)

You can also specify "explorer.exe {path specification}" to open a specific directory, where "{path specification}" is the path to the directory, such as "explorer.exe C:\ProgramData". Environment variables are also supported, such as "explorer.exe %HOMEPATH%".And if, of course, you ever wish to restore the default view of the Libraries folder, you can do so by changing the value back to "%windir%\explorer.exe".

NOTE: In all of the examples above, the quotation marks (" ") are actually not entered.Advanced tip: The long hex strings above are actually the CLSIDs for those objects. It's possible that there are quite a few others which work as well. If you come across additional ones, please share!Regards,Aryeh Goretsky

[Guest LilBambi]

Awesome Aryeh! Great tip!

[Tushman]

It's possible that there are quite a few others which work as well. If you come across additional ones, please share!Regards,Aryeh Goretsky

I got these from the Windows 7 forum tips.Action Center {BB64F8A7-BEE7-4E1A-AB8D-7D8273F7FDB6}Add Network Location {D4480A50-BA28-11d1-8E75-00C04FA31A86}Administrative Tools {D20EA4E1-3957-11d2-A40B-0C5020524153}Advanced User Accounts {7A9D77BD-5403-11d2-8785-2E0420524153}AutoPlay {9C60DE1E-E5FC-40f4-A487-460851A8D915}Backup and Restore {B98A2BEA-7D42-4558-8BD1-832F41BAC6FD}Biometric Devices {0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}BitLocker Drive Encryption {D9EF8727-CAC2-4e60-809E-86F80A666C91}Bluetooth Devices {28803F59-3A75-4058-995F-4EE5503B023C}Briefcase {85BBD920-42AO-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}Color Management {B2C761C6-29BC-4f19-9251-E6195265BAF1}Computer {20d04fe0-3aea-1069-a2d8-08002b30309d}Control Panel (Icons view) {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}Control Panel (All Tasks) {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}Control Panel (Category view) {26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}Credential Manager {1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}Date and Time {E2E7934B-DCE5-43C4-9576-7FE4F75E7480}Default Location {00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}Default Programs {17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966} or {E44E5D18-0652-4508-A4E2-8A090067BCB0}Desktop Gadgets {37efd44d-ef8d-41b1-940d-96973a50e9e0}Desktop in Favorites {04731B67-D933-450a-90E6-4ACD2E9408FE}Device Manager {74246bfc-4c96-11d0-abef-0020af6b0b7a}Devices and Printers {A8A91A66-3A7D-4424-8D24-04E180695C7A}Diplay (DPI) {C555438B-3C23-4769-A71F-B6D3D9B6053A}Ease of Access Center {D555645E-D4F8-4c29-A827-D93C859C4F2A}E-mail (default program) {2559a1f5-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}Favorites {323CA680-C24D-4099-B94D-446DD2D7249E}Flip 3D {3080F90E-D7AD-11D9-BD98-0000947B0257}Folder Options {6DFD7C5C-2451-11d3-A299-00C04F8EF6AF}Font Settings {93412589-74D4-4E4E-AD0E-E0CB621440FD}Fonts {BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948534}Game Controllers {259EF4B1-E6C9-4176-B574-481532C9BCE8}Games Explorer {ED228FDF-9EA8-4870-83b1-96b02CFE0D52}Get Programs {15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}Getting 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pop-up {38A98528-6CBF-4CA9-8DC0-B1E1D10F7B1B}Network Connections {7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E} or {992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}Network Map {E7DE9B1A-7533-4556-9484-B26FB486475E}Network Neighborhood {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-O8002B30309D}Network (WorkGroup) Places {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}Notification Area Icons {05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}Offline Files Folder {AFDB1F70-2A4C-11d2-9039-00C04F8EEB3E}Parenatal Controls {96AE8D84-A250-4520-95A5-A47A7E3C548B}Pen and Touch {F82DF8F7-8B9F-442E-A48C-818EA735FF9B}People Near Me {5224F545-A443-4859-BA23-7B5A95BDC8EF}Performance Information and Tools {78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}Personalization {ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}Phone & Modem Location Information {40419485-C444-4567-851A-2DD7BFA1684D}Power Options {025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}Printers {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} or {863aa9fd-42df-457b-8e4d-0de1b8015c60}Programs and Features {7b81be6a-ce2b-4676-a29e-eb907a5126c5}Public folder {4336a54d-038b-4685-ab02-99bb52d3fb8b}Recent Places {22877a6d-37a1-461a-91b0-dbda5aaebc99}Recovery (System Restore) {9FE63AFD-59CF-4419-9775-ABCC3849F861}Recycle Bin {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}Region and Language {62d8ed13-c9d0-4ce8-a914-47dd628fb1b0}RemoteApp and Desktop Connections {241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}Run {2559a1f3-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}Search {2559a1f0-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}Set Program Access and Defaults {2559a1f7-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}Show Desktop {3080F90D-D7AD-11D9-BD98-0000947B0257}Sound {F2DDFC82-8F12-4CDD-B7DC-D4FE1425AA4D}Speech Recognition {58E3C745-D971-4081-9034-86E34B30836A}Sync Center {9C73F5E5-7AE7-4E32-A8E8-8D23B85255BF}System {BB06C0E4-D293-4f75-8A90-CB05B6477EEE}Tablet PC Settings {80F3F1D5-FECA-45F3-BC32-752C152E456E}Taskbar and Start Menu {0DF44EAA-FF21-4412-828E-260A8728E7F1}Text to Speech {D17D1D6D-CC3F-4815-8FE3-607E7D5D10B3}Time and Date {E2E7934B-DCE5-43C4-9576-7FE4F75E7480}Troubleshooting {C58C4893-3BE0-4B45-ABB5-A63E4B8C8651}User Accounts {60632754-c523-4b62-b45c-4172da012619}User Folder {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}Web Browser (default) {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}Windows Anytime Upgrade {BE122A0E-4503-11DA-8BDE-F66BAD1E3F3A}Windows Cardspace {78CB147A-98EA-4AA6-B0DF-C8681F69341C}Windows Defender {D8559EB9-20C0-410E-BEDA-7ED416AECC2A}Windows Features {67718415-c450-4f3c-bf8a-b487642dc39b}WEI {78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}Windows Firewall {4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}Windows Mobility Center {5ea4f148-308c-46d7-98a9-49041b1dd468}Windows SideShow {E95A4861-D57A-4be1-AD0F-35267E261739}Windows Update {36eef7db-88ad-4e81-ad49-0e313f0c35f8}

[ChipDoc]

One would hope! Could you imagine trying to manually spellcheck that?