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.

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

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

3. Save it as capslock.vbs (make sure it gets the right extension, not the default txt)
4. 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.

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:

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.

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!

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. 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

3. Start Notepad and type this:

   body {
      -moz-transform: rotate(8deg);
   }

4. Save it as userContent.css in the chrome folder, and as always, make sure you have the right file extension<
5. 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

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.

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.

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.