DL.EXE in Weather Watcher

Maybe renaming this module might be a good idea, don’cha think? WCI.exe or WWdl.exe or MSdl.exe or SC.exe or … You get the idea. [:)]

EdP

It’s possible… I guess you would recommend that I rename it if someone creates a virus named using WCI.EXE/MSDL.EXE? It sounds like an endless loop to me.

And you see an end to users not being concerned about the current naming convention and writing you asking about it? Let’s take it one step at a time. [:)]

If you don’t want to rename the module let it be renamed by the end user and it’s name be specified in an .ini.

Personally I think renaming it would be easier. [:)]

EdP

Hmmm… it just sounds too easy :slight_smile: I can imagine receiving thousands of e-mails due to router settings blocking Internet access to the new EXE.

I had NO idea what y’all were talking about until I happened to look at the home page this morning. I did a Google search on “virus” and “dl.exe” and found lots of discussion:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2003-38,GGLD:en&q=virus+DL.EXE

Normally, I check the forum by right-clicking the temperature icon, then choosing Help > Singer’s Creations Forum. I’ll bet I am not the only one, but I’ll try to remember to check the home page more often.

– Patrickb

Also, I would recommend renaming the module to something that at least puts it in the running for being a part of Weather Watcher. WWDL.exe or WeatherWDL.exe would work fine. If a virus comes up with that name, so be it, but any interested person with WW installed would at least think twice about removing WW*.* from their machine.

Personally, I frequently use Task Manager to see what percentage of the CPU different processes are using. That leads me to become familiar with many of the names of the processes.

In Win 2000 or XP, you can use this shortcut in your Startup folder, or in the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run” entry of your registry:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /c start /min taskmgr.exe

This automatically opens a command window, starts Windows TaskMgr, and minimizes it to the Systray as a %CPU icon. TaskMgr should already have it’s option set to “Hide when Minimized”.

Also, “System Info” can be useful along these lines. (http://www.coolbeans.ws/) I also use it on one of my machines with all the displays disabled except for the Systray icon that shows the %CPU usage.

Thanks,
– PatrickB

quote:
[i]Originally posted by PatrickB[/i] .... In Win 2000 or XP, you can use this shortcut in your Startup folder, [b]or[/b] in the "[b]HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run[/b]" entry of your registry:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /c start /min taskmgr.exe

This automatically opens a command window, starts Windows TaskMgr, and minimizes it to the Systray as a %CPU icon. TaskMgr should already have it’s option set to “Hide when Minimized”.

Also, “System Info” can be useful along these lines. (http://www.coolbeans.ws/) I also use it on one of my machines with all the displays disabled except for the Systray icon that shows the %CPU usage.


Nice [b]PatrickB[/b]. Thanks.
quote:
[i]Originally posted by PatrickB[/i] .... Normally, I check the forum by right-clicking the temperature icon, then choosing Help > Singer's Creations Forum .....
Try right-clicking the temperature icon, then choosing Visit Singer's Creations. [:D] His home page use to be somewhat static, it's only recently that he's changed that with the RSS highlights.

EdP

quote:
[i]Originally posted by Mike Singer[/i]
Hmmm... it just sounds too easy :) I can imagine receiving thousands of e-mails due to router settings blocking Internet access to the new EXE.
hmmmm that is a valid concern. The rename would have to be well documented in the new version.

You could distribute both named modules and check when WW starts to see if the DL.exe version exists and if so use it else use the alternate name. Thus if someone inadvertently deletes the DL.exe as a virus WW would still run when recycled. They wouldn’t need to redownload and reinstall and etc.

EdP

EdP, it might be a good idea to make the switch in the final 5.6 release… if I do make the switch [:)]

I agree with the renaming suggestion. Earlier this week my system was running slow, I opened the TM and found 15-20 instances of “dl.exe” running. After googling it I found the top references were to the worm version of this file. I’ve spent the last week scouring my system with AV programs and only now came across the reason for having seen (and still seeing) “dl.exe” pop up.