How to Create a Cool Desktop Prank

When a coworker leaves his desk for a few minutes, the temptation to play a prank can be impossible to ignore. Even if your coworker thinks he is a computer whiz, this prank will catch him off guard and get a laugh out of the rest of the office when he sits down at his computer and none of his desktop icons work.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Take a screenshot of the desktop as you want it to appear in the prank by using the "Print Screen" key to create the image. You may want to have a game like Solitaire open, or just the original desktop.

2. Open the MSPaint application. Click "Edit" and "Paste" and then save the file to a local folder like "My Documents" and close the program.

3. Right click on the desktop. Select "Properties" and then "Desktop." You can also access the desktop through the Control Panel and the "Display" icon.

4. Select the image of the desktop for the desktop background. Click "OK."

5. Get rid of the actual icons by right clicking on the desktop, selecting "Arrange Icons By" and turning off "Show Desktop Icons." The actual icons will disappear, leaving only the fake ones in the screenshot.

6. Hide the taskbar by right clicking on the taskbar and selecting "Properties" and "Auto-Hide Taskbar." Now the real taskbar will also disappear, leaving only the fake one.

Tips & Warnings

• Give yourself about 15 minutes to create this prank to be sure you can get everything done before your coworker returns. You may even want to practice it on your own computer to see how quickly you can complete the desktop switch.