Unknown File in C drive?

Discussion in 'privacy general' started by tomteeth, Dec 5, 2002.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. tomteeth

    tomteeth Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2002
    Posts:
    153
    Location:
    filthydelphia
    Hello, Everyone, Does anyone know what this file could be, i found it on my C drive, its called the "FOO" file and its 1kb in size, when i try to open it, its states that is an unknown file and it has no Extension on it! How can i find out what this file is for etc? Thanks Tom
     
    tomteeth, Dec 5, 2002
    #1
  2. Pieter_Arntz

    Pieter_Arntz Spyware Veteran

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2002
    Posts:
    13,481
    Location:
    Netherlands
    Hi Tom,

    Have you tried opening it with notepad?
    And does right-clicking it and choose properties reveal anything?

    Regards,

    Pieter
     
    Pieter_Arntz, Dec 5, 2002
    #2
  3. tomteeth

    tomteeth Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2002
    Posts:
    153
    Location:
    filthydelphia
    Hi Pieter, on right clicking and selecting properties it states Size=68 bytes and Size on Disk=400kb and it says it was created on 11-25-02. This is the date this pc was in for repair at HP service in California! Remember ( i think i told you) that i did not have a Safe Mode on this pc, we'll they fixed it so i do now, Do you think that has anything to do with it? There was No option to open in Notepad!
     
    tomteeth, Dec 5, 2002
    #3
  4. Pieter_Arntz

    Pieter_Arntz Spyware Veteran

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2002
    Posts:
    13,481
    Location:
    Netherlands
    Pieter_Arntz, Dec 5, 2002
    #4
  5. tomteeth

    tomteeth Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2002
    Posts:
    153
    Location:
    filthydelphia
    Pieter: No, I dont have that, i heard of it but dont know what it does?
     
    tomteeth, Dec 5, 2002
    #5
  6. Pieter_Arntz

    Pieter_Arntz Spyware Veteran

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2002
    Posts:
    13,481
    Location:
    Netherlands
    Well, it does lots of things, but the one I´m interested in for you is peek into files without altering anything.
    I´m moving this thread to Privacy general, where I hope it will get some more attention.

    Regards,

    Pieter
     
    Pieter_Arntz, Dec 5, 2002
    #6
  7. *Ari*

    *Ari* Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2002
    Posts:
    431
    Location:
    Finland
    Hi Tomteeth and Peter

    You find " open as " extension by highlighting the file first, then press shift down and right click the file.

    foo file aye, I think here is the answer:
    http://www.linuxprinting.org/pipermail/foomatic-devel/2002q1/000613.html

    regards - Ari
     
    *Ari*, Dec 5, 2002
    #7
  8. tomteeth

    tomteeth Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2002
    Posts:
    153
    Location:
    filthydelphia
    Krusty, I did download the A3000 all in one printer yestersday, it had some kind of photo imaging tool with it but i did not download that, i figured i could do it later! Do you think this "foo" file is related to this?
     
    tomteeth, Dec 5, 2002
    #8
  9. JacK

    JacK Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2002
    Posts:
    737
    Location:
    Belgium -Li?ge
    Hello,

    Are you using PHP ?

    Maybe your PHP is compiled with FOO support.

    Rgds,
     
    JacK, Dec 5, 2002
    #9
  10. tomteeth

    tomteeth Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2002
    Posts:
    153
    Location:
    filthydelphia
    No, I'm not using PHP either! Thanks
     
    tomteeth, Dec 5, 2002
    #10
  11. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2002
    Posts:
    18,225
    Location:
    New England
    tomteeth,

    So, have you managed to open the file with Notepad yet?

    If you can't get an "Open With..." on a right-click or shift/right-click, then simply bring up Notepad first, then using Notepad's "File" > "Open..." menu option, browse to the location of "foo" and open it that way. Those 68 bytes might include an interesting text message.

    My guess is that the person working on your PC used "foo" as either an output file name from some test / utility program, or as an indirect output from a CMD window. (They may have simply piped the output from some simple DOS command to a file to capture some needed test information.)

    A lot of techs use "foo" or "foo.foo" or "foo.bar" or other such file name combinations to hold the output of commands or utilities. (At least they did back in the olden days ;) ).
     
    LowWaterMark, Dec 5, 2002
    #11
  12. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2002
    Posts:
    18,225
    Location:
    New England
    Here's another great little utility for viewing the available text from inside a file. From Bintext from foundstone.com

    http://www.foundstone.com/knowledge/proddesc/bintext.html
    It's very handy, especially when you have its shortcut in the Send To folder. Then, when you right-click a file, use the available Send To option to pass the file to Bintext directly. This utility does not even need to be installed. You just download it, unzip it and run it.
     
    LowWaterMark, Dec 5, 2002
    #12
  13. pin

    pin Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2002
    Posts:
    116
    is there a reason why this site needs my phone number in order to d/l their program!?

    but thx for the link, it's a nifty program =)
     
    pin, Dec 6, 2002
    #13
  14. tomteeth

    tomteeth Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2002
    Posts:
    153
    Location:
    filthydelphia
    LowWaterMark: I downloaded Bintext, but am having a problem with Winzip, it would not unzip and here is what it said>> Extracting to "c:\unzipped\bintext\"
    Use Path: yes Overlay Files: no
    Error: Access is denied.
    Cannot create c:\unzipped\bintext(from low water at wilders)\bintext.exe

    Interrupted
    What do you think could be happening, maybe i stumbled onto a secret Goverment Project!!LOL!!! Tom
     
    tomteeth, Dec 6, 2002
    #14
  15. tomteeth

    tomteeth Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2002
    Posts:
    153
    Location:
    filthydelphia
    I added that (from Low water mark) on my own, so i know where i get tips from!
     
    tomteeth, Dec 6, 2002
    #15
  16. tomteeth

    tomteeth Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2002
    Posts:
    153
    Location:
    filthydelphia
    LowWaterMark: I just tried to open the "Foo" file using Winzip (alone) and it would not open it either, BUT, it flashed my Netzero Home Page first, before going quickly off the screen! So what do you think? Do you think this is possibly a file connected with Netzero? I use Netzero as a back up to the Internet!
     
    tomteeth, Dec 6, 2002
    #16
  17. Pieter_Arntz

    Pieter_Arntz Spyware Veteran

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2002
    Posts:
    13,481
    Location:
    Netherlands
    Hi Tom,

    Let me get this straight. When you tried opening that file with Winzip your browser (IE I presume?) opened (and showed your startpage?) and then the browser Window disappeared again?
    Do you have a firewall log you can check to see where that connection went to after Netzero?

    Regards,

    Pieter
     
    Pieter_Arntz, Dec 6, 2002
    #17
  18. tomteeth

    tomteeth Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2002
    Posts:
    153
    Location:
    filthydelphia
    Pieter, Yes, thats what happened! I just installed Outpost Firewall the other day, as soon as i got the pc back, I am not that familiar with outpost yet, how do i get to the Log file, i see where to change the Log file settings, do i go in there and what do i look for? And yes i am using IE6 (preinstalled) on my XP home edition!
     
    tomteeth, Dec 6, 2002
    #18
  19. Pieter_Arntz

    Pieter_Arntz Spyware Veteran

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2002
    Posts:
    13,481
    Location:
    Netherlands
    Hi Tom,

    I´m not familiar with Outpost either, but I´m sure the experts will jump in.
    I would like to rule out that a secret connection to the internet was made (or find out where and why)

    Regards,

    Pieter
     
    Pieter_Arntz, Dec 6, 2002
    #19
  20. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2002
    Posts:
    18,225
    Location:
    New England
    Hi Tom,

    Well, that message is just that Winzip can not create a folder named "\unzipped\bintext(from low water at wilders)\" and not a problem with bintext itself. All you really need to do is unzip it without using the path. The ZIP container should simply contain two files: bintext.exe and readme.txt. Just extract them and put them anywhere you like.

    But, back to the earlier suggestion. Did you try to run Notepad and then use its File > Open... menu option to browse to and open the "foo" file? That should work the best.

    Also, did you mean to say you tried to open the actual "foo" file in Winzip? I doubt "foo" is a ZIP file, so that would probably give you an error. I wouldn't worry about any error from that in any case.

    Oh, by the way, I do the exact same thing you do with files I download through of referrals at a forum. I include the name of the person and site that made the recommendation in the name so I can remember "who to blame thank" for the reference. ;)

    Let's see if we can all figure this out together,
    LowWaterMark
     
    LowWaterMark, Dec 7, 2002
    #20
  21. tomteeth

    tomteeth Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2002
    Posts:
    153
    Location:
    filthydelphia
    I tried to open in Note Pad and it kept saying the file does not exit! Go Figure?
     
    tomteeth, Dec 7, 2002
    #21
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Accept Learn More...