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Boy if I EVER needed a Letterhead barrage of help....I have to find an 'invisible' to delete it, but can't because it is 'busy'. But it's there, and causing a problem. If no one has a guess or answer...please steer me to a good Mac user bulletin board, not a chat channel, I find them hard to log on to. thanks for the leeway of posting it here instead of the computer forum...sometimes that takes a lot longer to get a respoinse as it does not seem to be frequented as much. Thanks in advance. Mick Samsel. E-mail: biz883@netins.net. Phone: 712-225-2175 or 712-225-5612 (after hours)
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Posts: 499 | From: Cherokee, Ia USA | Registered: Jan 1999
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By invisible file, do you mean some sort of program? My first thought is virus. Have you ran a good virus program on your system to see if that's the culprit? What is this "invisible" file doing? The more info you can give the easier it will be to cure the problem, particularly from a distance like we're doing here.
------------------ Don Coplen aka "SaintPete" Coplen Designs St.Petersburg, FL dcoplen@mindspring.com
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Sounds like a problem I used to have with a preference(or extension) called BJ backgrounder that seemed to freeze everything up, even though I had no bubble jet printer installed. Took everything related to Canon and saved it on a floppy just in case. My problems were solved. Hope you have equal good fortune. I would recommend purchasing a copy of the Macintosh Bible. It sure has solved many a problem for me. E-mail me if I can be of further help.
------------------ Pat Swerna Old Time Carny Painter...on the road
Posts: 446 | From: Milton, NY US | Registered: Jun 2000
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Thanks guys for the replys...more info: Yes I do have a virus, Used a demo version of VIREX and it detected it, and calls it 'Autostart 9805-A'. VIREX finds it attached to the 'Desktop Printer Spooler' and asks if I want to delete it. From what I know, that spooler is not all that important and i told Virex yes, but then a message comes back saying it can't delete that file...it is 'busy'. Busy, hell...I can't even find it! I use 'Fast Find' and it finds it in the System folder, in the Extensions folder...I double click on it in Fast find and a message comes back...'cannot be opened because it is invisible'. ?????? I go into those folders and it is not there. I have rebooted the computer using Techtools Pro, then tried to clean or delete the virus from Virex which I copied onto my hard drive. In this scenario, I get a message from Virex saying the 30 day trial demo has expired - and I just loaded the demo Friday, June 16. Still workin' on it...this new info give you any ideas? As always, ain't none better than those on this Bullboard...I appreciate the effort! Mick Samsel
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Posts: 499 | From: Cherokee, Ia USA | Registered: Jan 1999
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Mick...Don't feel bad...reminds me of a virus I had about a year ago. McAffee deleted it but left 2 files. I tried to delete them manually and windows (yeah I am on a PC) kept telling me that they weren't there!!! BUT I was sittin there looking at them!! They didn't do anything so I left em there till the time I had to re-format. But it was annoying to be told by a stupid software program that something that I was looking at didn't exist!!!!
------------------ Dave Grundy shop#340 AKA "applicator" on mIRC "stickin' sticky stuff to valuable vessels and vehicles!" in Granton, Ontario, Canada 1-519-225-2634 dave.grundy@quadro.net www.quadro.net/~shirley "A PROUD $ supporter of the website"
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Again I would recommend Macintosh Bible as a way to remedy this situation. This is not to try to sell the book which I have no financial interst in-they just seem to have the answers. There is a way to delete the file- maybe by holding the shift or option key as you empty the trash. There is a way to get rid of it. By the way, did this problem occur after the installation of Virex demo? Friends who have a business that sells Mac systems to large corporations tell me that they virtually never see viruses on Macs. Maybe we're not elite enough. Try the help menu on the OS. If the problem started after installing Virex, sounds to me like the problems I had after installing Norton Utilities to run constantly in the background, as they recommend. Nothing but headaches until an Uninstall. Now I only run Disk Doctor and only from the CD. Hope this helps. Will look in my Bible tommorrow at work to see if I can find anything more.
------------------ Pat Swerna Old Time Carny Painter...on the road
Posts: 446 | From: Milton, NY US | Registered: Jun 2000
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There is a program for Macs called res-edit that will locate hidden files so you can delete them. The same program allows you to customize or create icons too.
------------------ Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 ICQ: 21604027 sherwood@up.net
Posts: 5397 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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posted
A couple of things Mick. Is the demo virex a fully functioning demo or does it just detect and not exerminate? If a demo works fully there would be no reason to ever buy the program. Second, if this is the old worm virus that went around last year, I don't know if just trashing the spooler file will indeed eliminate it. The reason that it is a busy file is probably because it loads upon startup. You might try starting with the shift key depressed and see if it isn't "busy". Also, you'll have to check every floppy and zip disc that you've used as this thing indeeds worms it's way nto everything. Best advice, drop the bucks and get a fully functioning virus program.
------------------ Bill Modzel Mod-Zel screen Printing Traverse city, MI modz@traverse.com
Posts: 1357 | From: Traverse City, MI | Registered: Nov 1998
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Careful with virus programs sometimes they detect files that want to access certain information which is quite a normal function but then think its a virus...so make sure this hidden file isnt just some printer spool file just trying to do its job.........but do this ....go to the file menue and choose find...when the window pops up click on the first option.....( name )....hold the option key and click on the window..at the bottom of the window will be an option.....( visible ) .choose it and it will change the next box to invisible then hit ok...this will locate all the hidden files.....find the file then go back up to the file menue and choose move to trash......hope this helps.....Cyber
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Mick, I had that AutoStart worm virus on my system last year. I downloaded a program called WormScanner that will detect and remove this virus. It's shareware and available at: http://www.jwwalker.com/pages/worm.html
good luck!
------------------ Kelli Cajigas aka Janda Dolphin deSigns & Banners “A satisfied customer will tell two friends, a dissatisfied customer will tell ten.”
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Always great help from fellow 'Heads. Here's where the virus thing with my system stands...Sams Signs in Alabama is sending me a CD with 2 Virus programs to kill the 'Autostart' virus my system has. AND, he told me his came from the CD that came with Mac Addict magazine. The next month they included the 2 virus killers on their CD. Don't know what month...maybe Sam will read this and figure out the month... it was months back. So be warned...all those 'Free' CD's with magazines need to be checked. I have also gotten an e-mail from another person stating the same thing. I'll keep you posted and thanks for all of the ideas/suggestions, gradually trying them as time(?) allows!!! Mick Samsel
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Posts: 499 | From: Cherokee, Ia USA | Registered: Jan 1999
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Thats true ..i was infected by that very disk...and they had a cure the next time around....go to there web site they might have some info .........wasnt a bother at all in fact i didnt even know it was there untill they issued a warning.........thats the only virus i ever got on the MAC and my virus program is always shut off.........DocCyber
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Koo Koo! The worm has died. Kelli...thank you! That Shareware download you posted did the job in 15 seconds...easiest program I've ever used. Downloaded, double clicked to open it, clicked on scan, and in 15 seconds the 'Autostart' worm was dead and gone. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! And to everyone out there, I really appreciate the effort and time you took to answer...Don, Doc, Kelli, Sam Signs, and others - I just can't scroll up to the original replys so don't feel slighted if your name is not mentioned. I also learned a few tricks on locating invisible files (Thanks Doc...and I got my e-mail returned from you...maybe I mistyped your e-mail address) and other things going through this virus/worm thing. Check out that Worm Scanner shareware Kelli talks about above. Thanks again! Mick Samsel P.S. Looking forward to that 'Letterhead Lift', walldoggin' in Vinton, Iowa Labor Day weekend. Check or search the events area on this BB for more info! Public Service Announcement: Not a resident of Letterville yet? Please do...the help I got on just this problem is more than worth the $50, and this site just keeps on giving day in day out with neat ideas, exposure to fantastic creativity, problem solving, and on and on. Mick
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Posts: 499 | From: Cherokee, Ia USA | Registered: Jan 1999
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