How to: Windows 11 & 10. Tricks 101 - God Mode

There are two ways of accessing settings in Windows 11. The Settings Menu and the good ol Control Panel. It can be confusing trying to find specific settings. For example, Windows Update and Touch Screen Settings are only found in the Settings menu.

If you want an All-In-One bucket to access every setting you can imagine within Windows use what is called 'God Mode'. 

'God Mode' is a complete breakdown of the Control Panel settings.

Placing the God Mode folder on your desktop is a must for those power users who like to give Windows the ultimate tweaks and settings.

To place the God Mode folder on your desktop, ensure your user account is an administrator.
Right Click on your desktop, Click NEW, Click FOLDER.

Copy and paste this in the Folder Name:

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

After following the step above, you will have a folder much like the Control Panel, but with a ton full more options!

How To: Windows Services - What are they and is it safe to stop any of them?

Windows Services are a core component of Microsoft Windows and enable the creation and management of long-running processes.
Services broadly fall into three categories depending on the actions and applications they control: Local Services, Network Services and System. Third party applications such as antivirus and printing software may install their own software.

Unlike regular applications, Windows Services do not have a user interface; they run in the background and the user does not directly interact with them. Unless stopped by the user, a Windows Service does not stop when a user logs off the computer; a regular application will.

That being said, having a multitude of services running may slow your system down. You can stop & disable certain services to speed up your system.
Most System services should NOT be stopped, but there are other services which may bog down your system and may be stopped.

Before diving into the Services and disabling/stopping certain services it's highly recommended you create a Restore Point and do a backup as well for your documents and pics...etc.
This way if things get awkward within Windows, you can go back to the restore point.

Windows 10 Services which are safe to disable.
1. AllJoyn Router Service
2. Application Layer Gateway Service
3. Bluetooth Support Service
4. BranchCache
5. Certificate Propagation
6. CNG Key Isolation
7. DMWAPPUSHSVC
8. Downloaded Maps Manager
9. Diagnostic Tracking Services - (Windows Phone home tracking service also called Telemetry)
10. Geolocation Service
11. HomeGroup Listener
12. HomeGroup Provider
13. Hyper-V Data Exchange Service
14. Hyper-V Guest Service Interface
15. Hyper-V Guest Shutdown Service
16. Hyper-V Heartbeat Service
17. Hyper-V Remote Desktop Virtualization Service
18. Hyper-V Time Synchronization Service
19. Hyper-V VM Session Service
20. Hyper-V Volume Shadow Copy Requestor
21. Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
22. Internet Explorer ETW Collector Service
23. IP Helper
24. Microsoft (R) Diagnostics Hub Standard Collector Service
25. Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service
26. Microsoft Windows SMS Router Service
27. Netlogon
28. Offline Files
29. Print Spooler (leave enabled if you want to use printer)
30. Printer Extensions and Notifications
31. Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
32. Remote Access Connection Manager
33. Remote Desktop Configuration
34. Remote Desktop Services
35. Remote Desktop Services UserMode Port Director
36. Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator
37. Remote Registry
38. Retail Demo Service
39. Routing and Remote Access
40. Sensor Data Service
42. Sensor Monitoring Service
43. Sensor Service
44. Smart Card Device Enumeration Service
45. Smart Card Removal Policy
46. SNMP Trap
47. Storage Service
48. Superfetch
49. SSDP Discovery
50. Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel Service
51. Windows Biometric Service
52. Windows Connect Now - Config Registrar
53. Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
54. Windows Mobile Hotspot Service
55. Windows Remote Management (WS-Management)
56. Windows Font Cache Service.
57. Workstation
58. Xbox Live Auth Manager
59. Xbox Live Game Save
60. XboxNetApiSvc

Britec has an excellent video on which Services you can disable/stop.

How to: The difference between Sleep & Hibernate on a Windows machine

You're in the midst of typing an email up and it's dinner time. You're not ready to send that email off just yet, and you don't want to shut down the machine....so you click the start menu and send in off to Sleep....or should you use Hibernate instead?

What's the difference?

SLEEP 
Using Sleep in Windows uses low power. The machine is still on, and any programs that are open will remain open. It's similar to pausing a DVD player. *Turn back on Windows by moving the mouse, tapping a key on the keyboard or opening the lid if it's a laptop. 
 *If it's laptop and the battery is low during Sleep, Windows may shut down to prevent damage to the battery.

HIBERNATE 
The Hibernate option is specifically designed for laptops where battery drain would be a concern. When you place a PC in Hibernation, the current programs and apps stay open, any open documents and files are saved and the computer shuts down. 
When you turn back on your system, you'll start back right where you left off. Unlike Sleep Mode, Windows completely shuts the PC down so it's slightly slower getting back to your PC. 

The Hibernate option in Windows 10 should be available in the Power Menu, but if it isn't it's fairly simple to add it.

Enabling Hibernate option
In the Search bar, type Power Options. A Control Panel named Power Options should be listed. Click that. 

When the Control Panel open click "Choose What The Power Buttons Do"

At the top of the next screen, select and click "Change Settings That Are Currently Unavailable"

Scroll down on the next page and click the box to the left of "Hibernate" and Save Changes. That's all it takes! 

Now when you click the power button at the Start Menu, you'll have the option to use Hibernate

How to: Windows 10 Settings Menu

With each version of Windows it seems Microsoft is phasing out the Control Panel and replacing it with the beautifully easy to access Settings Menu in Windows 10. Accessing the menu is simple. It resides in the Start Menu right about the Power button.

Windows 10's Settings menu will look somewhat familiar to Windows 8.1 users. Remember the Charm Bar? That side bar you could access on the right side of the screen. Settings was accessible then. This is a more robust version of the Settings charm.

In the new Settings menu, you'll find some familiar prompts: System, Devices, Network & Internet, Personalization, Accounts, Time & language, Ease of Access, Privacy, and Update & security

The first thing I usually check is the specs of the computer. To do this simply click System, then About.

Another section you may want to consider is Apps & Features. It's here where you can uninstall programs and apps.

How to: Windows 10 - uninstalling Apps and programs

In older versions of Windows, uninstalling a program wasn't all that straightforward -- you had to go through the Programs and Features menu in the Control Panel. But in Windows 10, uninstalling a program (either a desktop program or a Windows 10 app) is much simpler.

Here are three different ways to uninstall an app or a program from your Windows 10 PC:
From the Start menu
You can uninstall both Windows 10 apps and traditional desktop programs directly (er -- sort of directly) from the Start menu.

To do this, go to Start > All apps and find the app or program you want to uninstall. Right-click on the app or program and click Uninstall from the drop-down menu that appears. If you don't see Uninstall in the dropdown menu, the app may be a default app, in which case you'll need to follow this guide to uninstall it.

If you're uninstalling a Windows 10 app, you'll see a pop-up window telling you the app and its related info will be uninstalled. Hit Uninstall to complete the uninstallation.

There's another way to uninstall apps that might not be too obvious. Swipe in from the right side of the screen and tap 'All settings.' Select System and then tap Apps & features. You can sort the list of apps by size, name, or install date. If you would like to uninstall an app, select it from the list and then tap or click the uninstall button.



If you can't find the app or program you want to uninstall in the Start menu, you can also uninstall apps and programs via the Settings menu.

Open the Settings menu (Start > Settings) and go to System and then click Apps & features. Here, you'll see a list of the apps and programs on your PC, sorted by size. You can use the search box at the top of the screen to search for apps, and you can resort the list by name or by install date.

Find the app or program you want to uninstall, click it, and then click Uninstall. It doesn't matter if it's an app or a desktop program this time -- you will see a pop-up window informing you that the app and its related info will be uninstalled. Hit Uninstall to complete the process (you may also see a pop-up asking if you want to let this program make changes to your computer, hit Yes to proceed).
From the Control Panel

You can still uninstall programs -- but not Windows 10 apps -- directly from the Control Panel. To do this, right-click the Start button and click Control Panel. Go to Programs and Features (if your Control Panel is in Category view, go to Uninstall a Program). Find the program you want to uninstall, click it to select it, and then click Uninstall. You'll see a pop-up window asking if you're sure you want to uninstall this program, click Yes and click through the uninstall wizard, if applicable.