CLSIDs, Windows GodMode and Lock Utility

Today I am going to write something about Class IDs popularly known as GUIDs. A Class ID (CLSID) is a 128 bit number that represents a unique id for an application or component. Typically they are displayed like this "{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}". They are used to uniquely identify a given program. GUIDGEN.EXE (or UUIDGEN.EXE) is the utility provided by Microsoft to generate CLSID for a given application.

Now comes the interesting part. You can play with these GUIDs or CLSIDs when they come from system tools. Meaning, there are CLSIDs for all system tools like 'My Computer', 'Control Panel', 'Administrative Tools' etc. Below is the list of some of the CLSIDs:

Administrative Tools            {D20EA4E1-3957-11d2-A40B-0C5020524153}
Connections                          {241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
Computer                              {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Documents                            {450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}
History                                    {ff393560-c2a7-11cf-bff4-444553540000}
Network Places                     {208d2c60-3aea-1069-a2d7-08002b30309d}
Printers and Faxes                 {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Programs Folder                    {7be9d83c-a729-4d97-b5a7-1b7313c39e0a}
Recycle Bin                             {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
WEI                                          {78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}

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

Lock                                        {2559a1f2-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}

WEI stands for Windows Experience Index.

Create a folder 'Softwares' and rename it to 'Softwares. {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}'. The properties of the folder are changed according to the CLSID appended to it. That is if you rename the folder 'Softwares' to 'Softwares. {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}' the folder is changed to My Computer. Pretty interesting, isn't it?

Now, the most exhilarating part of the whole name game is the GodMode and Lock class IDs. Create a folder named 'GodMode' and rename it to 'GodMode. {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}'. The icon of the folder changes to something like that of control panel. Now open this folder, it contains almost every system tool from defragmenting a drive to creating a partition to configuring services and so on. This is called as GodMode feature of Windows 7 because all the system utilities are captured under one roof.

Another interesting thing is the Lock CLSID. Create a folder called 'Movies' and rename it to 'Movies. {2559a1f2-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}'. A lock icon appears on the folder and you cannot open the folder. This can be used to protect important files and folders from other users.

All the CLSIDs are stored in System Registry at the location 'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID'

PS: The information in this post has been taken from various sites through Google and then consolidated into an easy-to-understand blog-post.