Is this a virus?

[besler3035]

I checked out my Preferences folder today to get rid of a few things, and saw a document labeled as "cf#JOsIG"

I'm wondering if this is one of those AIM viruses for Windows computers, and if so, I'd love to delete it

Can one of you please tell me what in the world this is?

 

[mcarnes]

No idea. Post a screenshot?

 

[Flying Llama]

There are no viruses on Mac OS X...
Open it with textedit, I'm curious now!

llama

 

[besler3035]

There are no viruses on Mac OS X...
Open it with textedit, I'm curious now!

llama

I can't open the file, because it can't be opened by a Mac application (at least on my system). The icon is just a generic paper icon, usually used when the application isn't installed or if it's a different kind of file that the computer doesn't recognize (.EXE perhaps).

I'm not too worried about it, as I haven't seen any change in my computer's performance. It's supposedly been there since May 20th, when I installed Tiger on my system (or upgraded to 10.4.1, can't remember). It's in the user preferences. So if anyone else wants to check this out, go to User>Library>Preferences and see if it's there.

 

[mad jew]

I don't have it in my preferences.

Just out of interest, how big is it?

 

[Nermal]

I can't open the file, because it can't be opened by a Mac application (at least on my system).

Drag it onto the TextEdit icon.

 

[besler3035]

Drag it onto the TextEdit icon.

Did that, here's what it says:

bplist00Ö
 _AgentLastLaunched_Theme.UnreadArticleHeaderColor_ Theme.UserParam.SafariPrefStyles]MaxDaysToKeep]GroupCriteria_#Theme.HighlightUnreadArticleHeaders>ÌmOGtypedstream?è„
@„„„NSColor„„NSObject…„
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†_?.unread .author { color: rgb(99.607841%,52.549023%,14.509805%); } .unread .date { color: rgb(99.607841%,52.549023%,14.509805%); }Ñ _$55BD5329-3661-48C5-9139-671A7B69668E§
Pd_'http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/rss/news )Jm{‰¯´þ
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So, by the looks of things, it has something to do with ESPN.com, Safari, and RGB color. So I guess it's nothing to worry about, but I'd still like to know what it is. The size of the file is 4 KB.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

Well, a quick way to see if its important. Throw it in the trash , Don't empty. Now go about your day using your machine, and if you that you have to set something back up then that might be what the file is for. Judging on that text you posted its a Safari preference file. RSS for ESPN.com it looks like, its pointless IMO.

 

[besler3035]

Well, a quick way to see if its important. Throw it in the trash , Don't empty. Now go about your day using your machine, and if you that you have to set something back up then that might be what the file is for. Judging on that text you posted its a Safari preference file. RSS for ESPN.com it looks like, its pointless IMO.

Well, I trashed it (not emptied) and went on to ESPN.com and everything's fine on the main website, including the RSS version of it. So I guess everything's okay...I'll hold on to it for the day and see if I notice any changes or anything.

Thanks for your help.

 

[darkwing]

Did that, here's what it says:
So, by the looks of things, it has something to do with ESPN.com, Safari, and RGB color. So I guess it's nothing to worry about, but I'd still like to know what it is. The size of the file is 4 KB.

I think it might be a cookie. Maybe Safari messed up and put it in the wrong place?

Steven

 

[mkrishnan]

I think it might be a cookie. Maybe Safari messed up and put it in the wrong place?

Sounds to me like it was just a temp file that was created during writing to another file (like the plist that holds bookmarks info for Safari) and was not deleted because the task was interrupted. It happens occasionally, and temp files usually have weird names like that.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Upload it to this site: Linkety

Best site ever for those of us with no anti-virus protection

 

[Mechcozmo]

I think it might be a cookie. Maybe Safari messed up and put it in the wrong place?

Steven

For security reasons, Safari probably COULDN'T HAVE put it in the wrong place. Oh well. Repair permissions, yada yada yada.

 

[Makosuke]

Safari wouldn't have put it in the wrong place, but Safari does have permission to write to the prefs folder, and it's entirely possible that it saved some sort of temp file there and then didn't delete it (perhaps because it crashed--that's usually the cause of leftover temp files). I'd have expected it to put files like that in with its cache files (which, I believe, are in Application Support), but there might be a reason that file's listed as a pref instead.

Certainly nothing untoward, though.

 

[besler3035]

Upload it to this site: Linkety

Best site ever for those of us with no anti-virus protection

Whoops...accidentally emptied my trash a little while ago. Nothing's been effected though, so I guess it was just something taking up 4 KB worth of space.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Whoops...accidentally emptied my trash a little while ago. Nothing's been effected though, so I guess it was just something taking up 4 KB worth of space.

Oh well. Bookmark that site though-- amazingly handy for uploading stuff that your Windows buddies send you.

 

[mkrishnan]

Oh well. Bookmark that site though-- amazingly handy for uploading stuff that your Windows buddies send you.

That would make a gangsta' widget.