How can you restore my faith in God Mode?

Q. I’m running Vista Home Premium SP2. After typing in “God Mode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}” and double-checking my text, I pressed enter. I then got a message that Windows Explorer stopped — then a message that Windows Explorer was restarting and messages that it was searching for a solution, with screen flashes in between.

How can I recover from this problem?

​A. Aha! You must be running one of the rarest Windows versions ever released: 64-bit Vista.

Vista probably accounts for less than two percent of all PCs running today, and 64-bit Vista accounts for only a tiny slice of that tiny slice.

As it turns out, GodMode works on all 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions — except Vista x64.

I always test the how-tos I write about, and I did try the GodMode command on Vista, Win7, Win8.1, and Win10. But I have only a 32-bit version of Vista available; so — to my chagrin — I didn’t see this very specific Vista/x64 weirdness.

There are two major steps to regaining control of Explorer on any Windows version, when any nonstandard folder causes Explorer to malfunction. You simply have to delete the offending folder and any associated Registry keys.

Here’s how, using the GodMode folder as the specific example:

Step 1. If you can access the desktop (or wherever you placed the GodMode folder), select and delete the folder. Now skip directly to Step 2.

If you can’t access the location where you placed the GodMode folder, restart your PC in Safe Mode (more info) or sign in as another user. Delete the folder as above.

Alternatively, open an admin-level command window and manually delete the folder with the following commands:

CD {location of your GodMode folder}
RD {full name of your GodMode folder}

For example, if you placed the GodMode folder on your Desktop and used its default name, you’d enter the commands:

CD C:Users{your username}Desktop
RD GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Step 2. In the Start menu’s Search box, enter “regedit” to launch the Registry editor. Use the Find command to search for and delete all keys with the GodMode keyword ED7BA470.

Step 3. Reboot; your PC should now run normally.

My apologies.

(Originally published on Windows Secrets on Wednesday, February 17, 2016.)

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Editor's note: We feature an abridged Q&A from Fred Langa's LANGALIST, a column available exclusively to paid subscribers of the Windows Secrets newsletter,. What you see here is just a small sampling of what Langa's writing for the newsletter — go here for more information on how to subscribe.