Enable Hidden Secret “Debug” Menu in Microsoft “FreeCell” Game in Windows Vista and 7
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This article will help you in enabling a hidden secret “Debug” menu in Microsoft FreeCell game which comes pre-installed in Windows Vista and 7. This secret “Debug” menu will allow you to cheat in the game. You can instant win, lose, enable autoplay, quickly customize card deck and board background using this new secret menu.
Description:
Recently we shared a detailed tutorial about revealing secret “Debug” menu in Windows Vista and 7 built-in games:
Revealing Hidden Secret “Debug” Menu to Cheat in Built-in Microsoft Games in Windows Vista, 7
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The above mentioned method requires editing of a system file using Resource Hacker tool. Its a bit complicated task and requires expertise to properly edit system file.
If you don’t want to edit the file manually, we have also provided an already modified file at the end of this tutorial for your convenience. You just need to download the file and replace existing file in your Windows with this new one. That’s it.
Result Preview:
By default FreeCell game window looks like following screenshot:
And when you enable secret “Debug” menu, it looks like following:
As you can see, the new “Debug” menu allows you to force win, force lose, enable autoplay (computer plays for you) and many other things in the game which are not accessible without using this hack.
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And that’s not all. You also get direct access to options for customizing card deck and board background as shown in following screenshot:
How to Instructions:
Following are simple steps to follow to enable hidden secret “Debug” menu in FreeCell game in Windows Vista and 7:
1. First download and install Resource Hacker using following tutorial. The tutorial will also help you in learning how to use this awesome tool:
All About Resource Hacker in a Brief Tutorial
2. Now launch Resource Hacker and open following file in it:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\FreeCell\en-US\FreeCell.exe.mui
Note 1: Here C: is the system drive where Windows is installed. If you installed Windows in any other partition, replace C: with that partition letter.
Note 2: “en-US” folder is found in English language Windows versions, if you have a different language version of Windows, replace en-US with your own localization string like fr-FR, etc.
3. Now expand Menu -> 102 and replace existing code in right-side pane with following code:
102 MENU
LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
{
POPUP “&Game”
{
MENUITEM “&New Game\tF2”, 40001
MENUITEM “Select &Game…\tF3”, 40000
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM “&Undo\tCtrl+Z”, 40011
MENUITEM “&Hint\tH”, 40012
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM “&Statistics\tF4”, 40003
MENUITEM “&Options\tF5”, 40004
MENUITEM “Change &Appearance\tF7”, 40002
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
POPUP “Change Card Deck”
{
MENUITEM “Classic Deck”, 40031
MENUITEM “Hearts Deck”, 40032
MENUITEM “Seasons Deck”, 40033
MENUITEM “Large Print Deck”, 40047
}
POPUP “Change Background”
{
MENUITEM “Classic Felt”, 40034
MENUITEM “Red Hearts”, 40035
MENUITEM “Green Nature”, 40036
MENUITEM “Red Felt”, 40048
MENUITEM “Brown Felt”, 40049
}
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM “E&xit”, 40005
}
POPUP “&Help”
{
MENUITEM “&View Help\tF1”, 40008
MENUITEM “&About FreeCell”, 40007
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM “Get &More Games Online”, 40018
}
POPUP “&Debug”
{
MENUITEM “Force Win”, 40027
MENUITEM “Force Lose”, 40028
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM “Toggle Cheat Keys”, 40042
MENUITEM “Toggle Hint Rankings”, 40044
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM “Enable Autoplay”, 40040
MENUITEM “Disable Autoplay”, 40041
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM “Tweak”, 40043
}
}
4. Now click on “Compile Script” button and save the file.
5. That’s it. Now launch the game and get ready to enjoy hidden “Debug” menu.
Download Already Modified MUI File:
If you don’t want to modify the MUI file manually, you can download following ZIP file, extract it and you’ll get already modified FreeCell.exe.mui file.
Download Link (for Windows 7)
Download Link (for Windows Vista)
You just need to replace existing .MUI file present in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\FreeCell\en-US\ folder with this new one.
To replace default file, first rename it to some other name like FreeCell_backup.exe.mui and then copy and paste new downloaded FreeCell.exe.mui file in this folder.
NOTE: If you don’t see the “Debug” menu after replacing the file, do as following:
1. Click on “Start button -> All Programs -> Accessories“. Right-click on “Command Prompt” and select “Run As Administrator“. If you are prompted to enter password, enter the password and continue. You can also open Command Prompt in Administrator mode by typing “cmd” in Start Menu Search box and press “Ctrl+Shift+Enter“.
2. Now type mcbuilder and press Enter. Wait for a few seconds to finish the command process and then restart your system.
Now you should get “Debug” menu without any problem.
is there any way to get these games in Windows 8 Developer Preview?? I miss’em!
^^ I have not played it but its a card game similar to Solitaire.
@Astitva
You can copy files from Windows 7 to Windows 8. May be it works? Have not tried myself.
Hi Vikram. Great post, thanks. Recently I’ve been fooling around with different versions of Freecell, and this tweak will make a great addition to my collection.
A question, if you would:
Is there a way of getting Vista’s version of Freecell to run in a W7 machine? (mine’s a 64bit, if that makes a difference). By ‘run’ I mean work alongside the W7 version of Freecell, so that either version will run on demand.
I found a workaround that purports to make Vista Freecell run in W8, but I don’t use that OS.
Any tips would be appreciated.
BTW, I think I have all the required Vista files (entire Microsoft Games folder plus cardgames.dll) but the workaround I mentioned doesn’t work (around) 🙂
Cheers
^^ Did you try Windows 8 workaround in Windows 7? It should work. Also you can try compatibility mode option.
Yes, that was the first thing I tried.
Might be more tricky than it’s worth 🙂