Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Pacman-like bug ate my folder titles--How? Why?

Jun 8, 2007 2:52PM PDT

I have a Mac G4 running OS 10.4.9. The strangest thing happened today. The titles of my folders began to be replaced by 6s and + signs (6 6 ++6, etc.). It started with the main disk drive, then went like Pacman to eat the titles of the folders on that drive. Fortunately, I saw it start and shut everything down immediately. When I started up again, the 4 or 5 folders still contained the 6+ names (which I didn't copy down) and I changed them back to their correct name. What could cause that? What triggered this request was a question about viruses. Is this a virus? I've been using Macs since the early 80s and never experienced this before. Thanks.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Pacman
Jun 8, 2007 11:48PM PDT

I have seen the same thing happen with a sticky keyboard.

I very much doubt it is a virus, there are currently zero viruses in the wild for the Mac.

This begs the question, did you download anything and run it before this happened?

Even those "proof of concept" viruses that exist in lab conditions are unable to spread from machine to machine without being physically downloaded and given permission to run.

P

- Collapse -
Thanks 2
Jun 9, 2007 1:40AM PDT

Thanks. I couldn't imagine it being a virus. I was copying a program unto a disk, then put a previously copied disk into the disk drive when this crazy thing happened. A sticky keyboard could be the solution. Thanks so much. MSE

- Collapse -
Clickman
Jun 8, 2007 11:51PM PDT

My dad's old PowerMac did something like that. The hard disk was making a click sound and filenames were going wonky. A new drive fixed it right up.

Bob

- Collapse -
Thanks
Jun 9, 2007 1:35AM PDT

My drive is a bit old, but heard no clicking. A new drive before it crashes wouldn't hurt. Thanks for reminding me. MSE