Ten Quick and Easy Computer Pranks for the Technically Challenged

Envious of tech savvy folks who can pull off complicated pranks on their coworkers' computers? Wish you could do something funny to your office mate that doesn't leave lasting harm? No problem. Here are ten harmless, quick and easy office computer pranks for April Fool's Day (or any time). They are arranged in order of easiest to hardest to pull off. So take a moment, read, and glean some ideas on pulling one over on your co-worker's computer, even if you're not a computer whiz yourself.

1. Change their start up page to something embarrassing.

It's a classic, but it's also one of the easiest pranks you can pull on a co-worker. When you have just a few moments with an unprotected computer, you can quickly surf over to a page guaranteed to embarrass your co-worker, and set it as the home page. Then exit out of the browser, and wait for their reaction next time they go to surf the Web. It's quick, easy, and a good bang for the buck.

2. Blank their screen with Function F5.

If your victim has a laptop, you can easily blank out their screen by telling it to transfer its video signal to an external monitor. Look at the function keys and find the smaller blue icons. Usually the video-out function key has a small blue monitor icon. Holding down the blue Fn, or Function key, activates these extra uses. Many laptops use F5 for the video-out function, needed when a laptop is hooked up to a projector or external monitor. Holding the Function key down and pressing F5 once will blank the laptop's main screen and send the signal to the video-out port. Pressing it twice will split the signal and show it on both the monitor and the video-out, while pressing it a third time will return video to normal operation. Of course, if your victim's laptop is not hooked up to a projector, pressing the Function F5 key combination will simply blank their screen, and should prove fairly resistant to all efforts at restoring the video if they are unaware of your chicanery.

3. Turn their display upside with Crtl-Alt-Up arrow.

Many (but not all) graphics cards are set to change the direction of the display by using the Ctrl-Alt-Up arrow key combination. Try it on your victim's computer. If it works, their monitor will show everything upside down. Reversing the process simply involves hitting the Ctrl-Alt-Down arrow key combination.

4. Swap their keyboard, monitor, mouse, or speakers.

If your computer is next to your intended victim's, simply swapping out their keyboard, monitor, mouse, or speakers can add several minutes of enjoyable confusion. The particularly gullible may believe their computer is talking back to them when words begin showing up the screen, chastising the user for typing too fast, or when strange sounds emit from "their" speakers at random intervals.

5. Add a second mouse for hilarious "ghost" control.

USB ports are great. Computers usually have four or more in the back. What many folks don't realize is that a computer can handle more than one mouse at a time. Modern computers happily accept commands from two or more mice simultaneously. Simply hook up another mouse to your neighbor's computer and let them think it has come under extraordinary control. If you are some distance from your co-worker's desk, try plugging in a wireless mouse for the same effect farther away.

6. Confuse their mouse with tape or paper.

Taking the ball out of a mouse is so 20th Century. Nowadays most everyone uses optical mice. Fortunately, they can be sabotaged too. The nice thing about optical mice is you can screw them up without being permanently destructive. All you have to do is put a small piece of transparent tape over the optical sensor. Other ideas include taping a piece of paper on the bottom of the mouse, completely blocking the laser sensor. A friendly note can be left for the victim when they eventually discover it. If you are feeling adventurous, go to the Mouse settings in the Control Panel. From there, you can switch primary buttons so that right clicking becomes left clicking or vice-versa. Also, you can change the pointer to the hour glass, slow down the click rate, and perform other acts of mouse mayhem.

7. Change the language in Windows or Google.

"Regional and language options" is the setting under Control Panel you'll want to alter in Windows. You can change Google's default language, too. This is especially fun when Google is set as their home page. Click on "Language Tools" next to the Google search bar to change it. Some of Google's more interesting choices include Pirate, Elmer Fudd, and Klingon. If Google is set as their home page, you are guaranteed instant confusion the next time they try to surf the Web.

8. Hide their icons.

This is a quick and easy trick that will confuse many computer users. Right click on a blank part of the desktop. Top of the pop-up menu that comes up will be "Arrange Icons By." Choose it, and uncheck "Show Desktop Icons." You guessed it: the icons on their desktop will disappear. Repeat the process to bring them back. The adventurous can try taking a snapshot of the desktop before hiding the icons, using the Print Screen button, pasting it into Paint, and saving it as the wallpaper. Then, when the icons are hidden, their pictures remain but don't do anything when the victim clicks them.

9. Swap a couple keys on their keyboard.

Be subtle -- just swap two or three common keys. The A and the S, or the Alt and Del keys will do: just enough to confuse your victims when they go to use a common key combination. A higher tech alternative: change Auto Correct in Word to replace common terms with inappropriate or misspelled alternatives.

10. Change up the sounds.

Changing the default sounds in Windows is easy. Just go to Sounds and Audio Devices under Control Panel. Under the Sounds tab, you can change the different noises programs make. Some of the more funny ideas include setting the "Windows shutdown" tone to play when your victim closes programs, and the "empty recycle bin" sound (crumpling paper) when new e-mail arrives.

It's easy to pull a fast one on your co-workers' computers, even if you don't know computers very well. Next time you have a free moment with an unguarded machine, try one or more of these tricks and impress your friends with your new "technical" skills.