Unknown Desktop Shortcut?

[Frank Pecenka]

Can one of you computer experts shed some light on two things that have
recently happened to my computer, which may or may not be related?



The first being a shortcut that suddenly appeared out of nowhere on my
desktop several weeks ago. The shortcut has no file association and shows
the tilde or ~ symbol in the name column. Below is the information pulled
up from the file properties.



C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop

200 KB (205,127 bytes)

~



What is this shortcut and how did it get there?

I do run Norton Anti-Virus and keep my definitions up to date.



The second issue that appeared about the same time but do not know for sure
is that whenever I encounter a page that requires fields of data to be
filled out the background of certain fields is highlighted in yellow. This
is a new occurrence as they all used to be white before.



Thank you for your help and advice.



Frank Pecenka

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Frank;
The ~ (Tilde) is the result of an update installed from Windows
Update.
There had been a temporary fix for a few months.
The permanent fix is included in the recent updates from Microsoft.
It appears you have not been to Windows Update in a while since you
still have the ~ showing up.
Go to Windows Update and install the Critical Updates to help protect
your computer as well as solve this minor annoyance.

Also see:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/security.htm

 

[Murray]

First one is (I think) a backup of your OE data files. I have seen a report
about it but cannot recall where. It's not a threat.

The second one is related to the Google search bar you recently installed in
IE. Fields that it can autocomplete are colored straw color.

 

[Mike Kolitz]

Hi Frank,

This should clear things up for you:
http://filext.com/faq/article.php?id=002

 

[Wesley Vogel]

It's not a shortcut.

~ is called a tilde and it's a backup copy of your Windows Address Book.

Go to Windows Update and download the *all* latest Critical Updates.
There is one for OE that fixes this bug that has been around since the
April, 2003, Cumulative patch for Outlook Express.

Microsoft Windows Update
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

A file that is named "~" appears on the desktop or in another location on
the hard disk
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=830921

What is the Tilde (~) file that appears on Desktop
http://www.pchell.com/support/tildefile.shtml

A file named ~ appears on the desktop or in another location on the hard
disk
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=830921

========

For the other deal you might try...
Right click the Desktop | Properties | Appearance tab |
Advanced button | Under Item, click the V to expand |
Select: Application Background | Look at the color under
Color 1