The Gun-Shot and Jaws...

I am unsure what to make of this. For quite a while I had been getting a window popping up, asking if I wanted to open a file in Photoparade (.php file; The names were almost always a number and a letter or two. Though I don't remember the whole file name of any of these, they were on the order of 720ax.php). This would happen periodically as I accessed ATS (and ATS only) either through selecting a new thread to view, going to a different page on a thread I was reading, or refreshing a page to see if there were new posts.

Most pages did just fine, but periodically...

I, of course, would hit "Cancel." But it's possible my partner might have done something different, or, because it would not happen immediately upon the page loading, it might have "taken" while I was typing away

Just twice now something different has happened. I access a page in one of the three approaches, and as it is loading, I hear a gunshot, and then the "duh duh" like from Jaws repeated over and over until I reload again or otherwise leave the page.

The first time it happened, I didn't think too much about it, though it was pretty weird. Now it has happened again, and I'm a bit freaked out. Anyone else have any of these issues? Should I ignore it?

Any clues?

[edit on 8/31/2008 by Amaterasu]

Sounds like a virus to me.
I would run TrendMicro's HouseCall, or download something like ClamWin.

You might also download and run SpyBot S&D, Adaware, or something along those lines.

Good Luck!

No doubt, same thing happened to me a couple of times last week. I was wondering if it was an advert or something? Very weird though. I would be interested in what this was also.

I just now got the noises, but no popups.

Very strange.....

Glad to hear I'm not the only one...well, actually, not GLAD... Relieved, I guess. I am NOT glad things are out there "bugging" the users of ATS.

Thanks for the links, Anon. I will be doing just that!

Just ran a spyware detection program. Had 150 infections, many of which could only have come from ATS. Just thought I would let people know.

Originally posted by spookjr
Just ran a spyware detection program. Had 150 infections, many of which could only have come from ATS. Just thought I would let people know.

Well, I have a spywear program, and it updates itself often, and it found one issue a long while ago. I just ran it and nothing showed up. It's Webroot Spy Sweep...

[shrug]

I ran a freebie, and it cam up with several, but then I had to buy their product to get rid of the items...making me suspect the items it "found" were bogus and designed to get one to buy the software.

Originally posted by spookjr
Just ran a spyware detection program. Had 150 infections, many of which could only have come from ATS. Just thought I would let people know.

"Only", eh?

I've been here for years (both before, and after registering) and I've never once had a malware issue related to ATS.

Me thinks someone with access to your computer may be visiting a few too many "naughty" sites.

[edit on 9/1/08 by redmage]

reply to post by Amaterasu


I would purchase a copy of Symantec Antivirus or Kaspersky. SAV will run around $40 per year. It doesn't catch everything, but it does get a lot of the riff raff.

I would also get a firewall program like Zonelabs. It will tell you when some program is trying to access something it isn't supposed to be, but it can be a pain to figure out what programs are what.

Easiest bet is to use one computer for surfing and another for work. Surf computer should just have the basics and when it gets infected, just format it and reload windows or have an image of it which will take less time.

If you can afford it, never surf the web without antivirus. There is just too much bad stuff trying to make your computer do its bidding.

If you run need more information, U2U me and I will help you out.

xMIBx