5 replies to this topic

[mrdee]

I run Windows 7 Ultimate.
Lately a problem has arisen, and I can't seem to get rid of it.

My first name is Frankie, so that is obviously the first part of my Administrator name.
Now lately, on startup, a window pops up asking me which program I want to use to open the file "Frankie", it has no file extension and it is 1.44 Kb in size.
It resides in my C:\Users\ folder.

So far I have just deleted the file and then it does not happen, until after the PC having been shut down for a long time (eg. overnight).

When I reboot after deleting the file, the problem does not occur.

Has anyone got any idea what might be causing this, why and by what is this file created?
How can I get rid of this problem once and for all?
Also, I have not seen anything in my startup sequence or startup folder which might be related to trying to open this program.

All help will be much appreciated.

By the way, my system is scanned for viruses regularly and so far it is squeaky clean.

Edited by mrdee, 23 December 2009 - 03:10 PM.

[jlhaslip]

Which anti-virus are you running? Try a different one to see if you are infected with something that your AV is not catching.
I suggest NOD-32 from http://www.eset.com/

Trial download is here: http://www.eset.com/...al_download.php

[mrdee]

Hi Jim,
Thank you for your reply.
I use the free version of AVG.
So, do you think it might be a virus after all?

Thanks again, and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

[bluedragon]

I was using Windows 7 x64 and had a similar issue. Its could be a virus since I had no antivirus on it (I thought Win 7 comes with some antivirus from Microsoft ). Anyways .. I've removed it and installed Ubuntu .. So don't know how to fix it manually.

You can try running HijackThis and see if it comes up with any unusual entries. It works with XP and Vista so I hope it'll work with windows 7.

You can copy the log from HijackThis and put it here . I am sure someone (even me) can help you with fixing it



If you are looking for changing your antivirus , I'll suggest you go for a good antivirus.

Don't go for McAfee or Norton.

NOD is good but I've seen it fail with many USB drive infections.

I use Kaspersky and its quite effective if you have an updated version

Another good antivirus is Avira but I've never personally used it, although few of my friends claim its good.



oh .. btw..

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Edited by bluedragon, 23 December 2009 - 04:51 PM.

[rayzoredge]

I would use a process explorer program to figure out what is creating the file. Whichever one you use, have it run before anything else and check the log to see the actions being taken on start-up to see what created the file and what's calling for it to attempt to run at start-up.

I'm running Windows 7 x64 Ultimate right now as well and I've never run into this issue, so maybe you do have some malware and/or a third-party software that's creating that file every time on start-up. Try using Panda Scan and other anti-malware software to do some cross-checking to make sure that your "squeaky-clean" PC is actually free of evil stuff.

I personally run Norton Internet Security Suite 2009 and have no issues, so the reputation of being a crappy anti-malware program is either true because it hasn't really caught anything serious, or that I've never been seriously infected. NIS has given me a few warnings about some of my programs and suggests that they are Trojans, so I know it works because key generators and cracked files often come up as being Trojans. Also, NIS2009 isn't a CPU hog like most other previous versions of Norton as well as just about every other anti-malware software out there, so it's a good paid alternative if you want to take a look at it.