# The strangest computer bug ever **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278 "2007-11-30T04:37:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ForumBot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@ForumBot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForumBot)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/1 "2007-11-30T04:37:22Z")
This might even fall under “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.” [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/261186](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/261186) What the hell? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/2 "2007-11-30T04:44:03Z")
Boy, if I were a hacker, I’d totally come up with an exploit to make Windows machines play “It’s a Small, Small World”. That’d be pretty much the most evil virus ever. ---
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/3 "2007-11-30T04:46:00Z")
[QUOTE=ForumBot] This might even fall under “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.” [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/261186](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/261186) What the hell? [/QUOTE] An “easter egg”-like feature put in by a computer engineer with a warped sense of humor. The BIOS detects a problem that triggers an interrupt. which then starts a routine that uses the built-in sound capabilities of the motherboard to play a song. My guess is that it uses the MIDI generator on the board, which substantially reduces the size of the stored song. Finding the MIDI code for Fuer Elise or It’s a Small Small world is trivial, and those songs are easily recognizable. Makes them good candidates for an easter egg, and besides, they’re simple so they don’t take up too much memory. In the good ol’ days an engineer couldn’t possibly get away with wasting memory space in a BIOS, but these days I betcha a typical BIOS chipset has tons of memory doing nothing at all. Some wise-acre guy in Taiwan probably laughs his ass off every time he thinks of this. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/4 "2007-11-30T04:48:27Z")
User picks up phone. User: “Is that tech support” Tech: “Yeh. What’s up” User: “Well I can hear music coming from my computer, but I don’t have media player on or a CD in or anything.” Tech: “What’s the music?” User: "Sounds like ‘Fur Elise’ " Tech: “Oh that means your CPU is going to get really warm” User: “Don’t take the piss” Tech: “I’m not” ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/5 "2007-11-30T04:50:18Z")
LOL Lobsang I totally had that conversation in my head as soon as I read that article. I think the next time I build a machine for a random family member, I will try to make it a DFI 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/6 "2007-11-30T05:32:29Z")
[QUOTE=ForumBot] This might even fall under “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.” [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/261186](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/261186) What the hell? [/QUOTE] _Might even_ fall under “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature?” A feature is exactly what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/7 "2007-11-30T05:47:15Z")
Creepy, but nothing new. ---
**Author:** ![VanillaGorilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@VanillaGorilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanillaGorilla)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/8 "2007-11-30T06:51:48Z")
While maybe not exactly related, try this. Create a new folder (this probably only works in windows). Name it “con”. How’d that work for you? 😃 And also, open up notepad. Enter “Bush hid all the facts” (without the citation marks). save the file, exit notepad, go to where you saved the file, open it. How does it look? Just something I found on the web. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/9 "2007-11-30T06:56:23Z")
“Bush hid all the facts” looked like a bunch of little blocks when I opened it back up. I’ve learned to be suspicious that little blocks are probably real symbols from an unsupported font. Turns out I was right: 畂桳栠摩愠汬琠敨映捡獴 Any Chinese speakers who can work this one out? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/10 "2007-11-30T07:56:57Z")
[QUOTE=Etumretniw] And also, open up notepad. Enter “Bush hid all the facts” (without the citation marks). save the file, exit notepad, go to where you saved the file, open it. How does it look? [/QUOTE] Exactly as I typed it in. Maybe this only works in XP/2000? (I have Vista) And I did some searching, and it seems it works for most phrases that follow the 4 3 3 5 format (as in, number of letters. (work in XP/2000/NT, that is.)) ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/11 "2007-11-30T12:37:14Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] Exactly as I typed it in. Maybe this only works in XP/2000? (I have Vista) And I did some searching, and it seems it works for most phrases that follow the 4 3 3 5 format (as in, number of letters. (work in XP/2000/NT, that is.)) [/QUOTE] Yes, the phrase “fart pig dog cat fudge” produced the same result. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/12 "2007-11-30T13:46:14Z")
[QUOTE=Etumretniw] While maybe not exactly related, try this. Create a new folder (this probably only works in windows). Name it “con”. How’d that work for you? [/QUOTE] “CON” is a reserved word (it has special meaning to the operating system), so you can’t use it for object names. You also can’t name a folder things like: PRN AUX NUL LPT1 COM1 It would have been nice if MS had included an error message to that effect rather than just ignoring the user’s attempt to rename the folder, but alas. ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/13 "2007-11-30T14:42:23Z")
It says a lot about the attitude of whoever designed it that they chose not to generate a useful sound that would actually help the user understand the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/14 "2007-11-30T16:42:17Z")
Like Beethoven’s Fifth or Maple Leaf Rag? ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/15 "2007-11-30T16:46:19Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] Like Beethoven’s Fifth or Maple Leaf Rag? [/QUOTE] I was thinking more of a human voice saying 'Overheating problem with the CPU" or something. Sure, the user might not understand English but at least it’s an attempt to be helpful. The music just seem smartass to me and there is simply no logical way to deduce what the problem is from music. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/16 "2007-11-30T17:00:06Z")
Oh. I thought you were being sarcastic. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/17 "2007-11-30T17:03:31Z")
Or Yosemite Sam yelling “My biscuits are burnin’!” ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/18 "2007-11-30T17:24:02Z")
[QUOTE=Bayard] “CON” is a reserved word (it has special meaning to the operating system), so you can’t use it for object names. You also can’t name a folder things like: PRN AUX NUL LPT1 COM1 [/QUOTE] Fascinating. I get the others, but from whence “CON”? According to [this](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/71843), it’s used to indicate the display…wha??? ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/19 "2007-11-30T18:27:11Z")
[QUOTE=Digital Stimulus] Fascinating. I get the others, but from whence “CON”? According to [this](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/71843), it’s used to indicate the display…wha??? [/QUOTE] I dunno either. Maybe it was originally short for console or something? Or maybe they were just running out of letters. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278/20 "2007-11-30T18:48:58Z")
[QUOTE=Digital Stimulus] Fascinating. I get the others, but from whence “CON”? According to [this](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/71843), it’s used to indicate the display…wha??? [/QUOTE] DOS, which inherited much from CP/M, had the possibility of redirecting data streams. CON meant CONsole, or keyboard/screen, depending on input or output. The original CP/M had a program that handled copying and routing of data streams, and was called PIP, for Peripheral Interchange Program. When you think about it, sending a data stream to a file on a disk isn’t much different from sending a text data stream to a screen or routing keyboard input to a printer. It was up to the device to decide how to handle the technical details (buffering, etc.). You take from the input and send to the output. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strangest-computer-bug-ever/428278.md?page=2)