Enable Hidden Secret “Debug” Menu in Microsoft “Solitaire” Game in Windows Vista and 7

Summary: Solitaire Game Debug Menu

This article will help you in enabling a hidden secret “Debug” menu in Microsoft Solitaire 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 Solitaire game window looks like following screenshot:

Default_Solitaire_Menus.png

And when you enable secret “Debug” menu, it looks like following:

Secret_Solitaire_Debug_Menu.png

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:

Secret_Solitaire_Menus.png

How to Instructions:

Following are simple steps to follow to enable hidden secret “Debug” menu in Solitaire 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\Solitaire\en-US\solitaire.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 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”, 40038
}
POPUP “Change Background”
{
MENUITEM “Classic Felt”, 40034
MENUITEM “Red Hearts”, 40035
MENUITEM “Green Nature”, 40036
MENUITEM “Red Felt”, 40039
MENUITEM “Brown Felt”, 40040
}
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM “E&xit”, 40005
}
POPUP “&Help”
{
MENUITEM “&View Help\tF1”, 40008
MENUITEM “&About Solitaire”, 40007
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM “Get &More Games Online”, 40018
}
POPUP “&Debug”
{
MENUITEM “Force Save”, 40021
MENUITEM “Force Load”, 40022
MENUITEM “Force Win”, 40024
MENUITEM “Force Win Timed”, 40041
MENUITEM “Force Lose”, 40025
MENUITEM “Toggle Deck Lock”, 40027
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM “Autoplay”, 40028
MENUITEM “Disable Autoplay”, 40029
}
}

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 solitaire.exe.mui file file.

Download Link (for Windows 7)

Download Link (for Windows Vista)

You just need to replace existing .MUI file present inĀ C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Solitaire\en-US\ folder with this new one.

To replace default file, first rename it to some other name like solitaire_backup.exe.mui and then copy and paste new downloaded solitaire.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.

Published in: Windows 7, Windows Vista

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. it work delete orginal file and copy modifying file (i had same problem) do not replace it !!!!!

  2. Attempting to unzip downloaded file resulted in errors “not a valid Win32 application” and “cannot open output file”.

  3. ^^ I have not tried in Windows XP. You can try to open the game’s EXE file in Resource Hacker and then find the code.

  4. How do I restore the default deck and table? I tried removing the modified MUI, rebooting and rooting through the registry, but nothing works. I want the old setup back, but I’m reluctant to try removing ang reinstalling the game, because monkeying around with this stuff has been working SO WELL for me. Help!

  5. Not working on my computer. Followed all instructions to the letter, including moving original *.mui to a different directory (from the comments). Nada. Interestingly, the “Change Appearance” hack works, but the debug menu never appears.

  6. OK, I may have figured out the disconnect. You must cold reboot your computer after running mcbuilder. After doing that, debug menu appears. Woo-hoo!

  7. While debug seems to work – ALMOST. It does every thing you say – EXCEPT
    It does accumulate score in Vegas style, but it does it backwards, so you don’t actually have a winning score, you are in the hole $52 every time it wins and every time it deals. And keeps building to the negative, not positive.

    Any one know how to fix this. I have cleared my stats several times.

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