Minor irritation, but an irritation.

[Guest cat]

to those that reply, hello.

 

i must have picked up a bug somewhere in the last few months, because

on an average of once every 3 days all of my '.txt' files get allocated an

icon other than the standard '.txt'.

 

this bug chooses at random which icon it will use to represent a '.txt'

file,

but it is always one of five or so that are already on my computer.

 

it doesnt seem to do damage, and has never caused a problem, but it

is annoying.

my computer::

1)win98se

2)i have, ' adaware, spybot, spywareblaster etc

3)antiV is Avast

4)'normal' precautions taken, ie, frequent degrag and running of above.

(plus Ccleaner)

 

i can and will supply any other details you need.

 

again, its an annoyance, but one i can do without.

tia

[Guest David H. Lipman]

From: "cat" <inthehat@mymat.com>

 

| to those that reply, hello.

|

| i must have picked up a bug somewhere in the last few months, because

| on an average of once every 3 days all of my '.txt' files get allocated an

| icon other than the standard '.txt'.

|

| this bug chooses at random which icon it will use to represent a '.txt'

| file,

| but it is always one of five or so that are already on my computer.

|

| it doesnt seem to do damage, and has never caused a problem, but it

| is annoying.

| my computer::

| 1)win98se

| 2)i have, ' adaware, spybot, spywareblaster etc

| 3)antiV is Avast

| 4)'normal' precautions taken, ie, frequent degrag and running of above.

| (plus Ccleaner)

|

| i can and will supply any other details you need.

|

| again, its an annoyance, but one i can do without.

| tia

|

 

The wrong icon showing is NOT malware related, it is file association related.

 

--

Dave

http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html

http://www.ik-cs.com/got-a-virus.htm

[Guest cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

On Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:17:18 +0930, "cat" <inthehat@mymat.com> wrote:

>i must have picked up a bug somewhere in the last few months, because

>on an average of once every 3 days all of my '.txt' files get allocated an

>icon other than the standard '.txt'.

>this bug chooses at random which icon it will use to represent a '.txt'

>file, but it is always one of five or so that are already on my computer.

 

This may be a side-effect of an invalid icon cache, a problem that can

apply to Win9x. Or more seriously, what you think are .TXT files may

in fact be some other type that has the extension hidden (.PIF, .LNK,

..SHS, .SHB, etc.) and may in fact be malware code.

 

To tell the difference, rt-click an affected file and go Properties.

You should see the "real" 8.3 name there, and if that name does not

end in .TXT, then you have a problem - they aren't really .TXT files

anymore. Instead, they could be code that icludes the original

content, dropping and launching it, or may be "companion files"

>my computer::

>1)win98se

>2)i have, ' adaware, spybot, spywareblaster etc

>3)antiV is Avast

>4)'normal' precautions taken, ie, frequent degrag and running of above.

>(plus Ccleaner)

 

As to why this may matter, see...

 

http://cquirke.blogspot.com/2006/10/rungbua-exploits-bad-design.html

 

 

 

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On the 'net, *everyone* can hear you scream

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[Guest cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

On Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:11:56 -0400, "David H. Lipman"

>From: "cat" <inthehat@mymat.com>

>The wrong icon showing is NOT malware related, it is file association related.

 

Most likely, yes hence IconCache etc.. If so, it doesn't matter as

much as if there IS a malware doing this, as several can do.

 

Take one PC with duuuuuhfault settings:

- hide file name extensions

- hide hidden and system files

 

Malware can do this:

- assert the above unsafe duuuuhfault UI settings

- drop itself next to SomeName.doc as SomeName.exe

- set its own icon as "Word Document"

- set hidden and system attributes for SomeName.doc

- when run, do whatever, then chain into Word, SomeName.doc

 

See:

 

http://cquirke.blogspot.com/2006/10/rungbua-exploits-bad-design.html

 

>-- Risk Management is the clue that asks:

"Why do I keep open buckets of petrol next to all the

ashtrays in the lounge, when I don't even have a car?"

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