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Answeris it a virus or malware?

  • Friday, November 06, 2009 10:24 AMparamati Users MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     
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    hey guys hope you all ok. am kindly asking, is "desktop .ini" a virus or malware? its been on my pc for ages. i have tried to remove it but it still comes back. my pc is advent 5712 and the anti virus that i have is avg. kindly help please and thanks in advance
     

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  • Monday, November 09, 2009 2:41 AMNick Gu - MSFTMSFT, ModeratorUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
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    Hi,

     

    Thank you for the post.

     

    According to your description, I understand you want to know whether “desktop.ini” file is a malware or not.

     

    As far as I know, It depends. Some virus will create desktop.ini file on the folders, so people will have a mistake, think this file is a virus. Actually, desktop.ini is used to tell Windows how to display a folder. For example, enabling Thumbnail view creates a desktop.ini file in that folder which amongst other things, tells Windows to add an extra item to the View menu for that folder. Desktop.ini files are also used when you customize folders, change their icons etc. If you delete desktop.ini you will lose any customizations you have made to the folder. If you delete desktop.ini in a Windows system folder, it will just be recreated at the next restart.

     

    Regards,

    Nick Gu - MSFT
     

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  • Monday, November 09, 2009 2:41 AMNick Gu - MSFTMSFT, ModeratorUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
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    Hi,

     

    Thank you for the post.

     

    According to your description, I understand you want to know whether “desktop.ini” file is a malware or not.

     

    As far as I know, It depends. Some virus will create desktop.ini file on the folders, so people will have a mistake, think this file is a virus. Actually, desktop.ini is used to tell Windows how to display a folder. For example, enabling Thumbnail view creates a desktop.ini file in that folder which amongst other things, tells Windows to add an extra item to the View menu for that folder. Desktop.ini files are also used when you customize folders, change their icons etc. If you delete desktop.ini you will lose any customizations you have made to the folder. If you delete desktop.ini in a Windows system folder, it will just be recreated at the next restart.

     

    Regards,

    Nick Gu - MSFT