mydiamond Posted November 14, 2013 Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 what are these .ink files?? I was told they're viruses? all of the files in my flash disk have a .ink duplicate if I plug them into a Windows computer. I cleaned them all up in my Mac using Avast but they still pop out in Windows. Scariest thing is if I delete all the duplicates they revive themselves my friend told me it's the other computer that has virus, but today I plugged my brother's flash disk to my laptop and transferred a file. I printed the file in a PC and realized I need to print another so plugged it back in to my Mac. The moment I opened the flash disk in my Mac, I saw that all of my brother's files have turned into a .ink file so does that mean my Mac is virus-ridden?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Posted November 14, 2013 Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 Had a quick google search and it said that .ink files are shortcuts or linked files. Not sure about viruses, haven't gotten that far yet......... oh right, yeah. um, I was hoping someone with more update knowledge would show up by now. I've seen a few things about this virus, but what seems to be agreed is that the first thing to try if it is indeed the .ink virus is to try the windows restore option (don't ask me to explain because I don't really know! ha ha. I think it means rolling back to an earlier restore point. I'm assuming you've backed up your filing system periodically?) Best bet is to wait for a techy type to show up, lol. I honestly have no idea if it's just a shortcut or a virus??? I can work my way around my own stuff but can't really explain how or what I've done! lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted November 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 but I can't open them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterchillz Posted November 14, 2013 Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 .lnk are usually the shortcut icons extension for Windows OS. Since you're using Mac OS, the operating system cannot recognize those files. Are you sure that your brother didn't, instead of copying the files, create a shortcut to them on the flash drive? Does Mac OS have the option to see the properties of the file and see what's their target (source) folder/file? ex: C:\Users\Documents\etc ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted November 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 I'm not sure... I'm not exactly tech-y how can one not realize when they created a shortcut instead of copying stuffs anyways? how do you even make a shortcut for a file? why would you need it? but fun fact is, when my own flash disk got ridden with .ink duplicates, I scanned them with Avast and did found a huge list of viruses. New Heur being one of them. It's also scary how deleted files can reappear in my flash disk... so I think it's more than just an OS incompatibility (??). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Posted November 14, 2013 Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 Thanks Dimitar, I'm out of my depth here, just spent the last few minutes trying to tag various IT members but looks like I couldn't even do that riight, so honestly I'm no use in this situation!! Hope it gets sorted out soon Liv! xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterchillz Posted November 14, 2013 Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 All the software icons that you have on your desktop are shortcuts. That's what one need them for I don't know about the reappearing, I have to see it before actually commenting on it. Try to plug the flash drive into a Windows OS machine, right click one of the files -> Properties and see what's the target folder. I'm 99.99999% sure it's a shortcut. This explains why your brother's files "turned" into a .lnk (yes, that's a L, not an i", lnk stands for "link") on your Mac OS. The solution to get rid of any viruses on the flash drive, in case there are such, is to format it completely. This will however erase all the data on the drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Posted November 14, 2013 Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 *moved thread to IT section* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted November 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 ... "Dead" files are reviving themselves right now. House is empty. Dog is fast asleep. Some furnitures are thrown out of the house today because they need to be replaced. The house felt emptier than usual. Whenever I make a coughing noise of some sort the noise echoes to the entire house. ... I don't know how am I going to sleep tonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterchillz Posted November 14, 2013 Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 You should have started with this. I'm afraid you got the Ghost Virus. Quickly abandon the house, it spreads out of the matrix reality quickly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted November 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 my gosh. I think I left my laptop case at school my luck with technology just can't get any better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunc Posted November 14, 2013 Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 You should have one of these Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyse Posted November 20, 2013 Report Share Posted November 20, 2013 You should have one of these lol, that's not very nice Dunc! How's it going Olivia? Are you still having a problem? I use a Mac as well (and transferred to/from Windows), have for years, and I've never seen that type of file before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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