.rtf files appearing on desktop

[hcatford]

Hi guys,

If I put a new file onto my desktop (any file, copied off the internet, duplicate file... literally anything) my laptop seems to create a duplicate .rtf file in the same name, it continues to duplicate until I can catch up with it and delete them all, then the original file is fine.

I cannot find a mention of this happening at all using google, I am really confused. Any ideas?!

Cheers

I've attached a screenshot

 

[thundersteele]

A virus? Or some application is acting up. Never seen that before.

Does it also happen in finder or only on the desktop?

 

[warvanov]

It sounds like there might be some automator workflow or folder action running. One thing you could check is to right-click on your Desktop folder (in your user folder) and select "Folder Action Set Up" to see if there's a folder action running.

 

[GGJstudios]

A virus?

No, not a virus. Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released 10 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which can be easily avoided with some basic education, common sense and care in what software you install. Also, Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion have anti-malware protection built in, further reducing the need for 3rd party antivirus apps.

Mac Virus/Malware Info​

 

[Ccrew]

No, not a virus. Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X,

That you know of. The best you'll be unaware of.

The Stuxnet folks were probably all on their forum saying "There's never been a virus in a PLC controller" too

 

[GGJstudios]

That you know of. The best you'll be unaware of.

The Stuxnet folks were probably all on their forum saying "There's never been a virus in a PLC controller" too

There are no Mac OS X viruses in the wild, and there never has been one. If there was, someone would have encountered it by now. It would be all over the news. No Mac malware in existence creates the symptoms described by the OP. It's not malware.