NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/comp/os/mswindo/misc/6701

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-29 | 7.9 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Mark Plutowksi)
Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.misc
Subject: Re: "Secret" windows in MS Windows 3.1
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 27 Jan 93 16:43:27 GMT
References: <[e-mail]> <frankmrk.728035040@milton>
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[e-mail] (Mark Frank) writes:

>Get Brian Livingston's book: Windows 3.1 Secrets.

>[e-mail] (John C Ramirez) writes:


>>    Does anyone know how to access the so-called "secret" windows
>>in MS Windows 3.1?  Apparently there was an article about it in PC
>>Magazine last fall -- some special keystrokes bring up some windows
>>showing various authors of the program (or something similar to this).
>>If anyone can let me know more about this, especially how to access
>>these windows, I'd really appreciate it.

>>Thanks in advance,

>>John Ramirez ([e-mail])




Here's a re-post of several:


---------------------------------------------------
Product: Windows 3.0
---------------------------------------------------

Source: unknown

Press and hold F3
Type the four characters WIN3
Release F3
Hit the backspace key

The display can be cleared by pressing the left mouse button.

---------------------------------------------------
Product: Windows 3.1
---------------------------------------------------

Source: Tom Tanida ([e-mail])


1. Hold down Cntl and Shift simultaneously (keep holding them down for all
     of the following steps).
2. Select Program Manager's Help menu option, and select "About Program
     Manager".
3. When the box pops up, double click inside one of the four panes in the
     Windows 3.1 logo.
4. Click OK.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 to see a flag waving.
6. Repeat steps 2-4 again to see the credits.  (Is that a picture
     of Bill Gates there? :-) )

   (Note: my tests indicate that if you try this a third time you'll
   get nothing; try it a fourth time and you're back at the waving
   flag.  jcm)

The display terminates immediately when the OK button is pressed (step 4).


Some followup to the Windows 3.1 egg, from contributions by:

   Mark Scase ([e-mail])
   Jill Patterson ([e-mail])
   JT Anderson ([e-mail])
   Andrew Turner ([e-mail])

You don't have to be in Program Manager to do this.  It seems to
work in any "About" box of an application provided with Windows
3.1 (eg file manager, write, paintbrush, clock etc).

The character appearing in the graphic with the name scroll changes each
time you see it; there are four distinct figures:


a bald man  (Steve Ballmer)
a man with a beard and dark hair (Brad Silverberg),
a man with glasses and fair hair (Bill Gates), and
a Teddy bear...apparently the logo of bugs@microsoft

The Bear is a Microsoft euphemism for someone who comes along and bonks
programmers for introducing bugs into test code(as in Smokey the Bear, who
crushes your butts). The concept of the Bear is so much a part of debugging
at Microsoft that certain, undcoumented functions used for testing Windows
components such as USER.EXE are named things like Bear351."

--------------------------------------------------
Product: Word for Windows, v1.1
--------------------------------------------------

Source: Todd Lutz ([e-mail])

Here is a hidden feature of Word for Windows:
  1. Turn CAPS LOCK on.
  2. Choose Format, Define Styles, Options.
  3. In the Based On field, select Normal.
  4. You will get an error message, select OK.
  5. Select Cancel.
  6. Select Help, About.
  7. Make sure your mouse cursor is inside the help box, then press the
     following four keys all at the same time: OPUS

You should get some fireworks with the authors names scrolling on the
screen.

--------------------------------------------------
Product: Word for Windows, v2.0
--------------------------------------------------

Source: [e-mail] (nancy b.)

    To see some cute animation, a not-so-subtle jab at WordPerfect,
    and a list of those responsible for "wizardry", "quality",
    etc...  on the Word for Windows 2.0 project:

    1) Start WfW 2.0.
    2) In the Tools menu, click on Macro.
    3) For the Macro Name, type   spiff  [stop the macro recorder -- jcm]
    4) Click on Edit.
    5) Delete the lines    Sub MAIN   and  End Sub
    6) In the File menu, choose Close.
    7) You will be asked if you want to save the changes.
       Click on Yes.
    8) In the Help menu, click on About.
    9) Click on the Word icon in the upper left, and enjoy ;-).

    If you have high resolution drivers, you might not see that awful
    green WordPerfect monster or the little people jumping up and
    down in glee after they make it go away.  If all you see is the
    fireworks with the credits rolling in the foreground, then this
    is the case.  Change to a lower resolution (800x600 or 640x480)
    driver to see the first part also.


--------------------
Application: Solitaire game distributed with Windows
--------------------

Source: Joe Robison ([e-mail])

 From: [e-mail] (Hank Pfeil-Alumnus)
>
>Here's a neat trick you can play on your computer:  Start "Solitaire"
>...  Now, if the card game only had a cheat mode....

There is.  If you're playing "Draw Three" you can hold down
Ctrl+Alt+Shift and click on the deck to draw single cards
(just don't hit the Del key!)

--------------------
Application: Norton Desktop for Windows 2.0
--------------------

Source: Rich Santalesa and David Harvey's column in 6/92 _Computer_Shopper_

With NDW 2.0 in the foreground, hold down the N, D, and W keys, then click
HELP -> ABOUT, then double-click on the Symantec icon in the upper left
corner.  The response is a group of photos of the NDW development team,
plus a scrolling title bar with quotes from Shakespeare.

In a followup, Brian Downing ([e-mail]) says:

Just choose HELP|ABOUT and then double click on the icon to make
symantec disappear, then press the N,D,&W keys.

In another followup, Mark Scase ([e-mail]) adds:

Whilst in the desktop, click on help about.  Press N, D and W at the
same time and double click on the icon in the about box.

A window pops up containing 15 black and white pictures of people with
the status bar entitles NDW Development Team.  This title scrolls to
the left and is replaced with the following (it takes a time for it all
to scroll past):

VIPER TEAM: Yet another great truth I record in my verse, that some
vipers are venomous, some the reverse (Hilaire Belloc)
ENRIQUE & PETER: A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds
(Emerson)
MARK: An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose
time has come (Victor Hugo)
MICHAEL: You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one (John Lennon)
DOUG: As you already knew, this is the wave of the future! (NDW)
MANSHAN: Very ingenious/important product enhancement realized! (Anonymous)
SUE: I want you all to stonewall it (Richard Nixon)
RENEE: What you achieve depends on what you settle for (Anonymous)
BILL: Fame, fame, fatal fame, it can play hideous tricks on the brain, but
still I'd rather be famous than righteous or holy any day, any day, any
day (Morrissey)
Congratulations Bruce & Vickie!!!! (The Gang)

--------------------
Application: Procomm Plus for Windows
--------------------

Source: Joseph Malloy ([e-mail])

1) From the Window menu, select Monitor
2) Keep the focus on the monitor (i.e., make sure monitor is active, not
the Procomm Plus terminal window)
3) type GO DATASTORM! (case doesn't appear to matter, but the
exclamation mark is necessary; you'll probably hear beeps as the system
tells you this is an error)
4) Choose Help/About/Credits: instead of the usual list of names, you
should see a nice color picture of, I assume, the primary developers.