.PIF - what file is this...? Virus?
Discussion
Hi
Got an email today from "warren" wwho i have never met as far as i can tell.
The email address was @spin.co.uk
The title was "cell spacing"
Anyway i clicked on message and it immediately wanted to open a file which was C: temporarysomethingsomethingsomething15.pif
I cancelled it twice, but it kept opening, so i pressed the open option, rather than safe but was met with lots of hard drive noise and not much else (my computer is very old and only really used for internet etc, but i don't particularly want to go through formatting etc everything.
Never heard of .pif files before.
COmputer is acting a bit odd now - but it may just be my imagination i suppose.
Can anyone enlighten me what a .pif file is?? I am very careful with my address and it is not given out willy-nilly.
Thanks
Got an email today from "warren" wwho i have never met as far as i can tell.
The email address was @spin.co.uk
The title was "cell spacing"
Anyway i clicked on message and it immediately wanted to open a file which was C: temporarysomethingsomethingsomething15.pif
I cancelled it twice, but it kept opening, so i pressed the open option, rather than safe but was met with lots of hard drive noise and not much else (my computer is very old and only really used for internet etc, but i don't particularly want to go through formatting etc everything.
Never heard of .pif files before.
COmputer is acting a bit odd now - but it may just be my imagination i suppose.
Can anyone enlighten me what a .pif file is?? I am very careful with my address and it is not given out willy-nilly.
Thanks
Bugger - well that hasn't happened tp me for a long while...
I can't tell you the full name because i have since deleted the email. When i heard lots of hard drive whirring i reset the computer. I am just searching for it now....
Any ideas what it might do?
Right - searched *15.pif and nothing found - is that good or bad?
It was trying to open something in the temp internet folder - made me think dialler straightaway? Thoughts?
Thanks so far...
I can't tell you the full name because i have since deleted the email. When i heard lots of hard drive whirring i reset the computer. I am just searching for it now....
Any ideas what it might do?
Right - searched *15.pif and nothing found - is that good or bad?
It was trying to open something in the temp internet folder - made me think dialler straightaway? Thoughts?
Thanks so far...
Most common Mass Mailing viruses will use a "from" address from the infected hosts so if someone you know get's infected, then the address may be one you recognise. The subject lines are usually random so that's no help in identifying what it is.
From your descrption, that's a virus. Get yourself an antivirus program soonest. In the meantime, try a free online scan :
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp
If there's any interest in it, I can put together some easy steps to take that can help defend against such things.
From your descrption, that's a virus. Get yourself an antivirus program soonest. In the meantime, try a free online scan :
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp
If there's any interest in it, I can put together some easy steps to take that can help defend against such things.
As well as antivirus, something else worth having is Mailwasher, which shows you details of all your waiting mail (who from, subject, file size) BEFORE you download it. It then enables you to delete or bounce any dodgy looking or otherwise unwanted messages from your ISP so you only download the 'good' ones.
Download it free at www.mailwasher.net
Download it free at www.mailwasher.net
PIF files used to be common under windows 3.1
(the version before Win95 )
PIF is short for Program Information File.
In the old days Windows ran on top of DOS.
So chances were you had quite a few DOS apps /games .
If you were running Windows and then needed to use a DOS program, you had two options:
1) Reboot/restart your computer and fire up DOS program.
2) Run DOS program in Windows.
Trouble with option two is the DOS program would have fewer resources
(as Windows was using up memory / temp. hard disk space e.t.c *Remember* memory was like £30-£40 per MB !).
So what you would do is in windows create a PIF file,
which told windows what to do with your DOS program.
I have not seen one of these for years.
Of course nowdays Windows forms the core of your Operating System. Its far easier to manage your computer using folders and icons and a desktop with my computer / recycle bin e.t.c
than typing in DOs
>copy c:cars vr amora_Front.jpg d:mydocuments
ext_bonuscars vr
!
(Sorry looks like I've gone in to the deep end with this!)
....one more thing...SPAMMERS easily put in false addresses in their emails. Get your local IT GURU to have a look before you send emails to the address .
All the best.
>> Edited by Robertuk on Friday 25th July 02:21
(the version before Win95 )
PIF is short for Program Information File.
In the old days Windows ran on top of DOS.
So chances were you had quite a few DOS apps /games .
If you were running Windows and then needed to use a DOS program, you had two options:
1) Reboot/restart your computer and fire up DOS program.
2) Run DOS program in Windows.
Trouble with option two is the DOS program would have fewer resources
(as Windows was using up memory / temp. hard disk space e.t.c *Remember* memory was like £30-£40 per MB !).
So what you would do is in windows create a PIF file,
which told windows what to do with your DOS program.
I have not seen one of these for years.
Of course nowdays Windows forms the core of your Operating System. Its far easier to manage your computer using folders and icons and a desktop with my computer / recycle bin e.t.c
than typing in DOs
>copy c:cars vr amora_Front.jpg d:mydocuments
ext_bonuscars vr
!
(Sorry looks like I've gone in to the deep end with this!)
....one more thing...SPAMMERS easily put in false addresses in their emails. Get your local IT GURU to have a look before you send emails to the address .
All the best.
>> Edited by Robertuk on Friday 25th July 02:21
The following site is a handy for checking any iffy looking files: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=pif
Generally though, just don't open anything that arrives in an unexpected email.
Generally though, just don't open anything that arrives in an unexpected email.
The day after i got the .PIF attachment i got an email from my girlfriends hotmail address yet she hadn't sent me one....
So from the info supplied above about email addresses and virus, i decided enough was enough. Have now reformatted drive and hopefully sorted it.
Incidently i found the .PIF attachment using the find files/folders option and removed it but had already received teh dodgy email above.
I have adusted my "mark as read after..." time for longer so i can view the message before it tries anything funny and will look towards some of the progs listed.
I decided to reformat instead of trust that a simple act like deleting the .PIF command would rid me of any probs....
Thanks for the insight!
Buff
So from the info supplied above about email addresses and virus, i decided enough was enough. Have now reformatted drive and hopefully sorted it.
Incidently i found the .PIF attachment using the find files/folders option and removed it but had already received teh dodgy email above.
I have adusted my "mark as read after..." time for longer so i can view the message before it tries anything funny and will look towards some of the progs listed.
I decided to reformat instead of trust that a simple act like deleting the .PIF command would rid me of any probs....
Thanks for the insight!
Buff
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