Hi, I just set up a new computer for a relative. Everything was smooth. Next day when booting up they noticed a weird file on the desktop. It has the Windows flag icon and the ~ for the name. When I click properties it says, Type of file: File, Description: ~, and that's it. It's 178 kb in size. Any idea what it is? We ran Norton Antivirus on it and nothing, and McAfee Stinger came back with nothing as well...I opened it in notepad and here is a sample of what's in it: ��ˍu��X �OyV�  � � �  Є � D  Є @ �  Є @ �!  Є @ ��  Є �+  �  � �    � F � 3 2 8 5 4 � 3 2 8 5 5 � 3 2 8 5 6 � 3 2 8 5 7 � 3 2 8 1 2 � 3 2 8 1 3 � 3 2 8 1 4 � 3 2 8 0 2 �2������ � <�v � 3 2 7 6 9 � 3 2 7 7 0 � 3 2 7 7 1 � 3 2 7 7 2 � 3 2 7 7 3 � 3 2 7 7 4 � 3 2 7 7 5 � 3 2 7 7 6 � 3 2 7 7 7 � 3 2 7 7 8 �~�+�6��� ���� � M s g r I D  T�  R�  �  l�  �  ��  S� �� ��  V�  � ��  u�  &�  ��  ��  !�   $ $ � @ 0 �� � � f � 0 �@ 0 �Ga�m�  �N { E 3 8 B 6 0 C 8 - F 3 E 6 - 4 1 B F - A 1 6 5 - 7 E 8 B A B F 8 4 0 C 9 } �   �N { E 3 8 B 6 0 C 8 - F 3 E 6 - 4 1 B F - A 1 6 5 - 7 E 8 B A B F 8 4 0 C 9 }  �  f �                               �   02 M a i n I d e n t i t y ' s C o n t a c t s  �   4 4 = �@ 0 q: U: 0 0T:V: : : 0 � �� !  ����Q���� � G��  @ 0 ~����  q:   U:  0 S M T P  0" c a m 9 9 @ a o l . c o m T:  S M T P V: & " c a m 9 9 @ a o l . c o m  : E d s  : B e v  0 B e v E d s  �   �   4 4 5 �@ 0 q: U: 0 0T:V: : : 0 � �� !  ����Q���� � G��  @ 0 ��w��  q:   U:  0 S M T P  0 j @ j u n o . c o m T:  S M T P V: $ j @ j u n o . c o m  : L y  : J a m e s  0 J a m e s L y  �   �   4 4 Y �@ 0 q: U: 0 0T:V: : : 0 � �� !  ����Q���� � G��  @ 0 )>��  q:   U:  0 S M T P  0. c r e a t @ a d e l p h i a . n e t T:  S M T P V: 2 . c r e a t e@ a d e l p h i a . n e t  : W a l k e r  :  0 W a l k e r  �   �   4 4 I �@ 0 q: U: 0 0T:V: : : 0 � �� !  ����Q���� � G��  @ 0 �X��  q:   U:  0 S M T P  0* j s t u @ s o c a l . r r . c o m T:  S M T P V: . * j s t u @ s o c a l . r r . c o m  : S t u a r t  : J e f  0 J e f S t u a r t  �   �   4 4 I �@ 0 q: U: 0 0T:V: : : 0 � �� !  ����Q���� � G��  @ 0 �*�n��  q:   U:  0 S M T P  0$ g g r o b i n s s @ m s n . c o m T:  S M T P V: ( $ g g r o b@ m s n . c o m  : R o b i n  : G r e g  0 G r e g R o b i n  �   �   4 4 M �@ 0 q: U: 0 0T:V: : : 0 � �� !  ����Q���� � G��  @ 0 �悏�  q:   U:  0 S M T P  0& K C B o e l @ a o l . c o m T:  S M T P V: * & K C B o e l@ a o l . c o m  : B o e l  : K . C .  0 K . C . B o e l s  �   �  4 4 I �@ 0 q: U: 0 0T:V: : : 0 � �� !  ����Q���� � G��  @ 0 �%����  q:   U:  0 There is a lot more of this, with large blank gaps in between as well. Any help on this...?

You can also have it scanned with the best scanner for trojans and viruses online: http://www.kaspersky.com/remoteviruschk.html or just delete it.

Hi James, Edsod, hello everyone It is caused from a cumulative patch for Outlook Express that was released in April 2003. You notice in reading through the file, copied and pasted above, several people that are in their Outlook Express Address book are within the text. Read more about it here. Best Regards, Mesich

Thanks Mesich! That looks like the problem :-) I had tried searching the net for more info on this w/no luck....you had the magic keywords I suppose. Anywys, thanks for the help amigos!

Hi James, Edsod, hello everyone I had seen and heard of the problem many times in the past and knew what it was. I thought a link such as the one above might provide a bit more insight into the problem than my fading memory. :-) You are so correct, a search on a couple of different engines is difficult for that problem. Google for example removes the ~ symbol within the search making the search worthless for what you are trying to find. My issue was the correct spelling of the symbol, ~, referred to as a tilde. I think the whole brain is going and not just the memory. :-)) Glad to hear you now understand where it is coming from and the options you have. Thanks for posting back with the results, you probably just helped out someone else in the near future. Best Regards, Mesich

You may also find the tilde file in your root directory or elsewhere depending on where you have opened Outlook Express from i.e. the toolbar or Desktop or Internet Explorer. It works for me D4

Hi, this is maybe a bit off-topic, but I was looking answer for the same thing, but instead of trying to google "~" I copy-pasted "M a i n I d e n t i t y ' s C o n t a c t s" from the suspicious text file and used that as a search word and voil�. Anyway, thanks for the advice. Anders B�hle