downloads folder with stuff i didn't dl?

ok, this has kinda got me worried.
I found an unknown folder... C: \Downloads, it has 4 folders in it, \driver, \game, \mp3, and \software.
Inside the downloads folder and the mp3 folder are 261 .exe files.
All are named stuff like like "quake no cd crack", "battlefield 1942 crack", "adobe photoshop 7 keygen" and stuff like that, all cracks, keygens, and simular junk.
I have never tried to download any of these things, heck some games and apps I havn't even heard of, strange thing is when I try to run one (yeah that's dumb but I was curious and stumped) they say I may not have the appropriate permission.
Strange still is they are all 12KB's and created on the same date.
Anyone know what this is from?




if not and you don't mind a longass post, here's some more background info...

A few weeks back I did a few things and I didn't notice any immediate problems after installing them, but they were done around the same time.

1. Installed flashget
STUPID mistake, was recommended by someone as a good way to download entire pages. UGH! It didn't work anything like I wanted. Found out it had alot of spyware and adware in it too. Got rid of that thing asap.

2. installed the new version of yahoo messenger
Just a new version of yahoo, play games and new ui and stuff, things working fine.. I think...

3. installed shareaza
Nice p2p program I heard. Seems to be working good and even lets you convert from emule. Things working good...

Few days later I start getting alot of lockups with shareaza. It freezes itself on screen, ugh. I'm pissed cause I was hasty and already converted gigs of stuff over from emule to it. Found out it's some unknown problem between zonealarm and the new version of shareaza. Only workaround known is to change firewalls or uninstall shareaza. Since I already converted from emule I figure I have to stay. I heard sygate is a good firewall anyways, so I uninstall zonealarm.

4. installed sygate firewall
Ok, now shareaza is working perfectly. Downloading things faster than I ever did in emule and it's stable now unlike before. I notice shareaza uses up alot more cpu time but oh well, computer is still fast enough not to see any slowdown in most things.

Friends on yahoo are ignoring me for the most part now though.. I figure I just pissed everyone off, but after a few days I realize hey, I'm missing alot of thier messages and they mine. I try out msn after a few days and same thing is going on. I do the uninstall reinstall of them and they still miss messages.
Thing is, I never have any other connection problems. I still dont' have any trouble on websites, online updates, games, or any program that connects online. Yahoo even still connects and stays connected, I just have problems getting all messages and people getting my messages.
Then I notice that odd folder on my C drive.

So I'm thinking either...
A- flashget put it there
B- shareaza put it there or
C- I have an some trojan or something that did it. I know some trojans will search for cracks and serials on your computer, but doubt they'd be that obvious.

as for the missing messages I'm thinking it's either.
A- shareaza is pluggin up some ports or something that yahoo wants.
B- switching firewalls left alot of plugged up things and they're overlapping or something.
C- some virus or trojan got ahold of something.

anyone have any ideas?

Do u have an older brother that is really big into warez???

Those are all viruses. A- Flashget only puts spyware and adware on your computer, buy the pro version to rid yourself of that. B- Shareaza- Unless you didnt download it from the official site, rest assured that it is 100% clean.

That being said, what have you downloaded with Shareaza? Anything could have contained a Virus which set all that off. Definatly get a virus scan, which should delete that stuff. Those "cracks" are often found on P2P programs. Those arent actually cracks, but viruses like you have. If you reallllly need a no-cd crack for a game you legally own, there are two websites i can refer you to through PMs.

Kinda off topic but is shareaza having any spyware or adware ??

Am also thinking of shifting from emule to shareaza. :biggrin:

Thanx in Advance. (:

Quote:

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Originally posted by ravihpa
Kinda off topic but is shareaza having any spyware or adware ??

Am also thinking of shifting from emule to shareaza. :biggrin:

Thanx in Advance. (:

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I use Shareaza and I'm not too impressed. I might just switch back to eMule. Shareaza totally murders my system resources coupled with Azerus, giving me probably 12MB of free RAM. Damned memory leaks. It also takes too long to connect, and you can't really choose which eMule server to connect to, after all, the ones you would want to connect you ban Shareaza clients.

I think that I had some similar problem when I used to use KL back in the day...damn p2p progs. My assumption was that somebody put them there, with a trojan or however. I'd suggest deleting that shit. Then I would do some hardcore virus scanning.

Argh! k, had a bad case of worms, places call it a worm but it looks like ti acts like a virus, it's krepper.c
Initially found 262 copies of it on my machine. I restarted and did another search and found well over 2300 of them! ack, after some work today I'm clean, but still worried about the IRC info relaying part of this worm...

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Every ten minutes, the worm launches an infection routine affecting P2P networks.

It creates a BAT file on disk under a random name. This file, when launched, is designed to track when a user ends a process. When this happens, the BAT file will delete the worm's executable file from the disk.

The worm checks the system registry value every second.

It downloads and launches files from the Internet.

blah blah blah...

The worm also connects to a number of IRC channels to inform the author of the worm about infected machines.
======

I'm thinking that is the reason I was having messenger problems. Perhaps connecting to some IRC channels or sending off information was using up some ports every 10min that yahoo & msn normally use to send messages.
Some of this stuff got me thinking and I'm curious of this.
After removing the virus is it possible little things were left behind running that aren't really considered a virus or worm themselves (avoiding antivirus scans) but still active? Possibly still sending off information to these IRC channels or other sources?
and the big question while infected, WHAT INFORMATION is sent to these bastards!?


thanks for the info so far though. I have no worries about flashget or shareaza now, whew.

If youre getting hit that bad, format. Its the easiest way to whipe out everything