Prank your co-worker's keyboard

Looking for a quickie April Fool's prank... or just sly, remorseless revenge for one?

Try this: Turn your victim's computer keyboard into utter gibberish.

We tested this one at Friday 5 Labs last week, and it actually works. Try it on your own computer before you set out to prank your computer-using friends. It's annoying, for sure, and if your victim is compu-phobic in the slightest it's likely to cause a major meltdown. But it's also easily reversed, and will cause no permanent harm.

Follow along after the jump...

You will need a target computer that's logged in and running Windows XP. Ready? Go!

Wait until your victim is away from his/her computer. You need to give yourself at least two minutes to work this trick.

1. Go to the Start button and open the Control Panel.
2. Double-click on "Regional and language options."
3. Click on the "Languages" tab.
4. Under "Text services and input languages," click the "Details" button.
5. Select the "Settings" tab.
6. Under the "Installed services" header, click the "Add" button.
7. Click the down arrow in the right corner of the "Keyboard layout/IME" window.
8. Scroll down to the setting "United States-Dvorak" or "United States-Dvorak for right hand" or "United States-Dvorak for left hand." Click "OK."
9. This returns you to the "Text services and input languages" input box. Under "Keyboard," highlight the "United States-Dvorak" option. Now click the "Apply" button. Click the "OK" button to close out the screen.
10. Look at the bottom of the "Text services and input languages" screen and click the "Language Bar" button under "Preferences." Make sure that the option "Show the Language bar on the desk" is selected. Click "OK" to close out the Language Bar Settings box.
11. Click the "OK" button to close out the "Text services and input languages" screen.
12. Left-click on the keyboard icon that should appear on your toolbar. Below the default setting "English (United States)" you should see a new setting -- "United States-Dvorak." Right-clicking on "United States-Dvorak" moves the check mark from "English (United States)" to "United States-Dvorak."
13. It also changes your keyboard layout from the standard QWERTY layout to a rarely used alternative layout that is sometimes preferred by engineers (the "Dvorak for right hand" and 'Dvorak for left hand" settings are layouts designed for one-handed users).
14. Try typing something. Every key will have been assigned to another letter. Here's that same sentence ("Try typing something") in "United States-Dvorak": Ypf yflcbi orm.ydcbi
15. Walk away from your victim's computer and wait for the fun to start.

Undoing the damage:

1. Wait for the screaming, cursing and casting of aspersions ("I'M SO SICK OF THE COMPUTERS AROUND HERE THAT NEVER SEEM TO WORK!") to die down.
2. Apologize to your coworker.
3. Apologize to your I.T. staff.
4. Apologize to your supervisor.
5. Apologize to human resources.
6. Make a large donation to the charity of your supervisor's choice.
7. Left-click on the the keyboard icon. Change the keyboard preference back to "English (United States)."
8. Click on the Start button and open the Control Panel.
9. Open the "Regional and language options" screen.
10. Select the "Languages" tab.
11. Under "Text services and input languages," click the "Details" button.
12. Select the "Settings" tab.
13. Under the "Installed services" header, click on "United States-Dvorak" to highlight it.
14. Click the "Remove" button.
15. Click "OK."
16. Apologize one last time to everyone involved.
17. Post your video of the entire escapade on YouTube and share it with all your friends.