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Things that MICROSOFT Could not Explain!



TRY this....

MAGIC #1

It is in fact perfectly true that you cannot create a folder named "CON", nor can you rename an existing folder to "CON". However, the "team" at Microsoft, and a great many others besides, know perfectly well why you cannot name a folder "CON".

"CON" and a number of other character strings are in fact reserved names that go back to the days of DOS and cannot be used to name folders or files. Other reserved names are:
  • PRN
  • AUX
  • NUL
  • LPT1
  • COM1
  • Potential drive letter - A: to Z:
  • A number of others

If you try to name a folder using one of these reserved names, the name will automatically revert to the default, generally "New Folder". Moreover, if you try to use a reserved name to name a file such as a Notepad or Microsoft Word document you will generally receive an error message similar to the following:
Reserved name warning

Depending on exactly how you save the file, you may instead receive a warning message advising that a file with that name already exists. However, even if you choose "Yes" to overwrite the existing file, you will still not be allowed* to save the file.

While there is no mystery about this issue, it might have saved user confusion if Windows displayed an explanatory error message when attempting to create a folder with a reserved name as well.

For more detailed information see:
MS-DOS Device Driver Names Cannot be Used as File Names
*Note: It may be possible to create a folder using a reserved name via the command prompt. However, this may cause other problems and is not advisable.


MAGIC #2 

It is true that, when the phrase "Bush hid the facts" is typed into the Windows XP or Windows NT/2000 versions of Notepad as instructed above, the re-opened file displays an unreadable line of squares or Chinese style characters.

The first image below shows the text before closing the Notepad file. The second image shows the text as it is displayed after the file is re-opened:


Bush hid the facts before closing Bush hid the facts after re-opening

Some of the more wide-eyed conspiracy theorists postulate that this result is a form of political commentary directed against US President Bush.

Alas, the truth is far less compelling. It appears that a lot of other character strings in the pattern 4 letters, 3 letters, 3 letters and 5 letters will give the same result. For example, the phrase "Bill fed the goats" also displays the garbled text as shown below:

Bill fed the goats before closing Bill fed the goats after re-opening

In fact, even a line of text such as "hhhh hhh hhh hhhhh" will elicit the same results.

However, some character strings that fit the "4,3,3,5" pattern do not generate the error. For example, the phrase "Bush hid the truth" is displayed normally. However, conspiracy theorists should not take this as aiding their argument. "Fred led the brats", "brad ate the trees" and other strings also escape the error.

Thus, any hint of political conspiracy fades into oblivion and is replaced by a rather mundane programming bug. It seems that a certain combination and/or frequency of letters in the character string cause Notepad to misinterpret the encoding of the file when it is re-opened. If the file is originally saved as "Unicode" rather than "ANSI" the text displays correctly. Older versions of Notepad such as those that came with Windows 95, 98 or ME do not include Unicode support so the error does not occur.

MAGIC #3


Using the rand() function in the way described automatically adds sample text to a word document. In Word 2003 and earlier versions, the rand() function adds several sentences and paragraphs that repeat the words, The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. These words are often used for testing because, together, they contain all the letters in the English alphabet in one concise and coherent sentence. Such a sentence is known as a pangram.

In Word 2007, the rand() function adds information about using specific Word features in order to create a more realistic document for testing. However, if you wish to use the "Quick Brown Fox" pangram in Word 2007, you can still do so by inputting the function =rand.old(). Another Word 2007 option is to use =lorem(), This function automatically adds the familiar Lorem ipsum dummy text that has been used by the printing and typesetting industry since the 1500's. Nowadays, Lorem ipsum text is also used extensively by web developers and publishers to add random text to such things as templates and website prototypes.

You can alter the results of the rand() function by adding numbers in the round brackets. The first number controls the number of paragraphs while the second number controls the number of sentences in each paragraph. For example, using "rand(3,5)" will add three paragraphs of five sentences each. Leaving the brackets empty will add the default number of paragraphs and sentences, which is set at three sentences and three paragraphs.

Far from being a mystery, this is a well-documented feature of Microsoft Word that simply allows sample text to be quickly added to a document for testing purposes. Microsoft can in fact "explain the result" and does so in an article on the MS Support website.

Again this is something funny and can't be explained?
At Microsoft the whole Team,including Bill Gates, couldn't answer why this happened! It
was discovered by a Brazilian.
Try it out yourself?
Open Microsoft Word and type
=rand (200, 99)
And then press ENTER And see the magic?..!


Magic #4
 

Did you
know that a flight
number
from one of the planes that hit
one of the two WTC towers on
9/11 was Q33N. In Notepad / WordPad or MS Word, type that
flight number i.e Q33N. Increase
the font size to 72. Change the
font to Wingdings. ..... u will be
amazed by the findings!!!


Thus, although these little computer tricks are interesting, there is no mystery or magic involved and Microsoft certainly does know about them. 


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