TITECH weblog

So today is April Fools’ Day, and it’s time to pull off some err, spectacular but otherwise harmless (almost always, at least?) pranks on your coworkers or friends and family. Sure, we all know about the more conventional April Fools’ Day pranks— tarantulas in phony presents, fake phone calls about dead relatives, among others. However, these "common" April Fools’ Day pranks often get dull and friends and family are more likely than not to be on the lookout for anything fishy going on— so what kind of prank can you pull that will catch your victim(s) unawares and scare the heck outta them? Simple! You hit them where they least expect—the computer.

Below I have come up with a list of what I think are the best pranks that you can quickly and easily pull on a victim’s computer without actually causing any actual damage (that is, to the computer ).

1. Turn your victim’s computer into a zombie with AMMY Admin

This previously mentioned tool was made for a more innocent cause— it makes it possible for anyone to connect to and take control of another computer for remote help. However, it is also possible to freak your friends out using this very same tool. Think of this case scenario: Your buddy leaves his desk for a latrine break and while he’s gone, you can copy the no install executable from your jump drive (or download it from the AMMY website), and run it on his computer. Hook up a session between your unsuspecting pal’s computer and your own, and you can be back at your desk as if nothing had ever happened. When your victim gets back from his break, he will find his computer "acting on its own" and will go berzerk (he will, I promise…). Since you can completely take over his computer from your computer, you can send ominous messages to his screen about reformatting his hard drive or about viruses, randomly open up his browser, or open his email. Sit back and enjoy the fun (while it lasts)!

2. Make your victim’s computer "unresponsive" with this nifty trick

This trick is simple, but I think it will have quite a ludicrous effect— here is what you have to do to make your victim’s computer seem "unresponsive" when your poor subject begins to fruitlessly click on his desktop icons and Start menu…

Step 1: Get the mouse out of view on your victim’s desktop and hit the "Print Screen" button on the keyboard. Open up a paint application such as Paint (or you can use this more sophisticated print screen utility) and save the image to a location other than the desktop (you could save it onto the desktop but then your prank might become clear to your victim sooner).

Step 2: Right-click on the image you just saved and click on the Set as Desktop Background option.

Step 3: Then right-click on the desktop wallpaper and click View and then click Show Desktop Icons. Once you click this, all of the desktop icons should disappear (note that they are not gone, just hidden).

Step 4: Right-click on the Windows Taskbar and click Properties from the context menu. Then click on the Taskbar tab and check the Auto-hide the taskbar button (if this is already checked, don’t do anything). Click OK.

You’re done! Sit back in a sheltered corner and watch as your victim begins to frantically click his desktop icons and vainly attempts to click his Start button or anything else, for that matter .

3. Use the ‘Doctor Windows’ program to randomly pop up fake error messages on your victim’s computer

Must of us humans freak out when we see an error message from Windows, especially if it has one of those scary red X’s on them. So in the spirit of April Fools’, here’s a program that will display random and fake (scary and humorous) error messages to the unsuspecting user. Doctor Windows even allows you to create your own error messages, so if you get bored with the extensive set included with the program or just want to make your own, you can do so.

Below is one of Dr. Window’s numerous fake error messages:

Dr. Windows [free download]

4. Make your victim’s Google searches backwards

Now it’s time to hit your victim where it hurts hardest— its time to drive them nuts when they try to search using Google. Follow the simple steps below to make Google search results all backwards…

Step 1: Go to http://elgoog.rb-hosting.de/index.cgi. You will notice that everything is backwards.

Step 2: Set the http://elgoog.rb-hosting.de/index.cgi as your home page (in Firefox: Tools > Options > Main > Homepage > -change the value to new address-)

You’re done! Have fun…

So what do you think? What other April Fools’ Day pranks have you pulled on a victim’s computer? Tell the world in the comments!

How To, Wacko April Fools' Day, How To, Wacko