How to Pull a Computer Prank on Your Friends

Looking to play a harmless Windows XP or Vista prank on your friend? Here's a little trick you can do. These four pranks may confuse your friend. The first one makes him believe his computer is frozen. The second one will make him stare at a completely blank screen even though Windows is active. The third prank will make your friend think their computer has crashed with the blue screen of death.

The first trick involves taking a screen shot of their current desktop and replacing their background image (wallpaper) with it. Both tricks involve hiding the desktop icons. When they attempt to left-click on anything, nothing will appear to happen. The second trick will also make right-clicks seem futile.

Steps

Windows XP or Vista

1
Visit your friend's house. Make sure they have a computer running Windows XP or higher, and that you have access to their user account.
2
Secure their current user settings. Purely optional, this will ensure you still have a friend when you're done. Create a new user account and copy over their existing user settings. When you're done with the prank, they'll be able to restore the changes you've made by referencing the other account. This is more important for the "black screen" prank than the "static background" prank.
3
Wait until your friend goes out of the room. Anytime they leave the room for at least a couple of minutes will suffice.
4
Once they are out of the room, close everything that is open on the computer.
5
Right-click on the desktop background and select "Arrange Icons By", then select "Show Desktop Items" to uncheck it. It may take a moment for the effects to be made. If your friend's computer doesn't show the "Show Desktop Items" option, you may move all of their desktop icons (user created ones, not the Recycle Bin, etc.) to a different folder. You may also hide desktop icons such as "My Documents", "My Computer", "Internet Explorer", etc. by right-clicking on the desktop, selecting "Properties", clicking on the "Desktop" tab, and then clicking on the "Customize Desktop..." button.