Boot from a live CD

Executables and other binaries are normally not on my prank repertoire. I don’t think it is sportsmanlike. Here is an exception to that rule.

  1. Go to ubuntu.com, download and burn a live CD. Follow the instructions on the site. Don’t worry – it’s quite simple.
  2. Make sure the computer boots from CD’s automatically. This differs from computer to computer, but you will find the boot order in the BIOS setup. If you’ve never made any BIOS changes, this is NOT a good time to start.
  3. Put the CD in the drive

Next time your victim boots his computer, it will start Linux instead of Windows. Once the CD is out, all is back to normal.

Mouse with a life of its own

This will only work if you sit close to your victim. Soon you’ll understand why.

Plug in an extra mouse into the target computer and hide it on the floor under your own table.

Now, move the extra mouse around  with your feet every now and then. Pick your moments and take your time. Take it easy the first few days

Caps Lock madness

You know that little annoying key at the left of your keyboard – the one that you rarely mean to hit, but still do? Just those infrequent misses can be enough to drive you mad. Imagine that same button with a life of its own…
This little script can help you drive your victim to mental illness and it comes in two different flavors, one for instant reaction and one that takes its time to present itself.

Here’s what to do:

  1. Start Notepad
  2. Type this
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Do
  WScript.Sleep 5000
  WshShell.SendKeys "{CAPSLOCK}"
Loop
  1. Save it as capslock.vbs (make sure it gets the right extension, not the default txt)
  2. To start the script, simply double click the file.

Now it’s running, but the only life sign is the flashing Caps Lock LED. If you want to stop it, you have to go to the task manager and kill the wscript task.

This will run until you log out or kill the task. If you want to make it more persistent there are several techniques, but a simple one is to put it in the Startup folder (in the Start menu).

In the script there’s a number, 5000. This means that there will be 5000 milliseconds, i.e. 5 seconds, between the toggles of the Caps Lock state. Change this number if you want to, but be careful – if you set it too low you might end up with a frozen computer.

The same basic script but with some minor changes can create a different effect. Look at this one:

Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Do
  if rnd<.05 then
    WshShell.SendKeys "{CAPSLOCK}"
  end if
  WScript.Sleep 600000
Loop

Here we will only see some change in every 1-20 minutes. A lot more subtle but with bigger effect, if you have the patience, that is.

Auto correct

This one’s so old, that it is time to bring it forward again. It’s the old Auto Correct prank.

The steps are easy:

In Word 2010
File Tab – Options – Proofing – AutoCorrect Options – AutoCorrect Tab
In older versions it is found under Tools – Options

OK, now I’m here. What now?
Well here it is time to add some entries to the Auto correct list that makes the use of Office somewhat different. What words to use is much dependent on your victims’ language, but here are a few examples:

Your You’re
<victim’s name> Well oiled baboon
And Or
Monday Tuesday
It’s Its
I I will never forget this day, when my computer started doing funny things with me

Use your imagination – and please share your experiences!
And one more thing; the changes are applied to all Office applications, including Outlook.

And  now, for extra credit, make the prank stick! Start Notepad and type this

dim Word
set Word=CreateObject("Word.Application")
Word.AutoCorrect.Entries.Add "your","you're"
Word.AutoCorrect.Entries.Add "John Doe","Well oiled baboon"
Word.AutoCorrect.Entries.Add "and","or"
Word.AutoCorrect.Entries.Add "Monday","Tuesday"
Word.AutoCorrect.Entries.Add "I","I will never forget this day, when my computer started doing funny things with me"

Save it as autocorrect.vbs and put a shortcut to it in Startup in the Start menu.

 

The narrator

The special thing with this one is that it works even with a locked computer. Start by pressing Windows + U.

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tombi_2_pc_ita_murar

tombraiderparodyxxx_build1601iso

tomb_raider_5__pc_games__chronrar

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tomboy

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Now you will get a dialog with some options:

Hopefully, the Narrator is installed. If it is, click Start Narrator. Every single message and option will now be read out loud with the adoring voice of Microsoft Anna. If you doubt this has any wanted prank effect – try it on yourself!

Once you’ve entered the settings dialog for the Narrator, you can control if it starts automatically on log on. Of course it should!

 

Tilting Firefox

Similar to the flipping IE prank, there is a way of doing it in Firefox. The theory is the same, but quite a different way to reach it. A bit harder, but still a great effect.
First – find the Firefox user profile. This can be tricky, since there are so many places to store it. This is the easiest way (I think…):

If you are using Windows, then start Windows Explorer and type
%appdata%
and press Enter. This will bring you to the folder where the user’s settings are stored. On other operating systems, the path will be different.

The next step is to find the Firefox profile. This is somewhat different depending on your version, but in this example we will use Firefox version 5.

Open the folder Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles. Here you will find one folder per user profile. You will probably only find one folder here – if there are more, you will have to dig a bit to find which one it is. Enter that folder.

Now, create a folder named chrome (has nothing to do with the competing product). Here we will create a file named userContent.css and put some styles in it.

Before we continue, just a quick recap:

  1. tomboy dvx ita

    tomba 2 psp

    tombstone the history of the undertaker

    tomboy 2011 download 4shared

    tomb_raider_2_no_cd_crack

    tomboy 2011 download

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    Open the Firefox user profile folder (somewhere like C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\zweeredf.default)
  2. Create a folder named chrome

Now we continue

  1. tombideutschdownloadnewzip

    avril lavigne goodbye lullaby japanese limited edition video2011flac

    tombraiderlegendnudemodforpcchm

    tombois playboy movie

    tomba 2 psx iso download

    tomb_raider_underworld_gioco_pc

    tombraiderapk1080bps3gp

    tomb_raider 2_crack_no_cdcrackexe

    it hurts 2ne1 piano sheet music Start Notepad and type this:
    body {
       -moz-transform: rotate(8deg);
    }
  2. Save it as userContent.css in the chrome folder, and as always, make sure you have the right file extension<
  3. That’s it. If you’ve done it properly, Firefox should look something like this after next restart

And here are some variations of the style sheet:

Everything fades out when the mouse pointer is over the browser

body {
  -moz-transition-property: opacity;
  -moz-transition-duration: 0.5s;
  opacity: 1;
}

body:hover {
  -moz-transition-property: opacity;
  -moz-transition-duration: 0.5s;
  opacity: 0;
}

Images rotates when hovering them

img {
  -moz-transition-property: -moz-transform;
  -moz-transition-duration: 0.5s;
  -moz-transform: rotate(0deg);
}

img:hover {
  -moz-transition-property: -moz-transform;
  -moz-transition-duration: 0.5s;
  -moz-transform: rotate(360deg);
}

Changes in the style sheet are applied when you restart the browser

 

Reorient the mouse

The only way is …  ehm… 45 degrees to the left?

This one’s fun, but it takes some research. Depending on your mouse driver, there are different ways to make this happen. In my case, I have a Dell laptop with an Alps APoint touchpad and the specifics here will only work for similar setups.

If you happen to have a victim with an Alps touchpad, it’s easy:

  1. Start regedit
  2. Find HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Alps/Apoint/Orientation
  3. Change the value of Rotation to 2D (that’s hex for decimal 45)

After the next login, the mouse is realigned. Up is no longer up.

If it is a different driver, it will most likely be a different registry key. Search for Rotate or Rotation in the registry under Current User and maybe you’ll find it. If you do, send it to prankmaster@pull-a-prank.com and I will include it here.

Flipping Internet Explorer

This is one of my favorite computer pranks. Quick when applying and a big effect – as it should be.
In Internet Explorer there is an option to apply a style sheet to all pages opened in the browser. And since we’re dealing with IE, why not use some of its non-standard styles?

First, start Notepad and type this

body {
           filter: FlipH();
 }

Then, save it as style.css somewhere. Make sure it gets the right extension and not some hidden .txt.

Next, open Internet Explorer. Select Tools – Internet Options. On the General tab, click Accessibility.

Check “Format documents using my style sheet” and browse for your previously created file. And voila!

There are some other nice possibilities. Try this one:

h1 {
           filter: FlipV();
 }

or this one

img {
           filter: Blur(strength=20);
 }

I hope the effect of these examples are obvious enough.

To make the changes take effect, toggle the checkbox or restart the browser. This “feature” can be used for a delayed effect. Create an empty style sheet, activate it and then put the right content in the file. This way, the effect will be there after next restart, giving you an alibi.

 

Simple scary prank

Find a scary wav sound (Google – where else?). Download it and save to your victim’s computer.
Go to the Control Panel and open Sounds. On the Sounds tab, select Windows Logon.

Uncheck “Play Windows” to avoid the default Windows startup sound giving your prank away prematurely.

Crank the volume up to the max and log out or shut down the computer. Serves one. Enjoy.