Who is ANNIE ? And why she is in WIN.INI file ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter chicchio
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chicchio

Hi to all !
I am new to the group.
Looking in my WIN.INI file, I found the following:

[annie]
CaptureFile=D:\Temp\prova
VideoDevice2=@device:pnp:\\?\usb#vid_093a&pid_2468#5&1561aa82&0&1#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\global
AudioDevice2=@device:cm:{33D9A762-90C8-11D0-BD43-00A0C911CE86}\VIA AC'97
Enhanced Audio (WAVE)
FrameRate=333333
UseFrameRate=1
CaptureAudio=0
CaptureCC=0
WantPreview=1
MasterStream=1
UseTimeLimit=0
TimeLimit=0

Unfortunately I have no more the file prova.
I am using XP SP3, Symantec AV, ZoneAlarm, and I connect via a Netgear
router with its firewall. A look in my PC with HiJackThis, Malwarebytes
Antimalware, Gmer, Runscanner etc didn't show anything of strange and the PC
is running fine, so I don't think to have infection issues. I used msconfig
to deactivate, and the PC was running fine.
So the question is: what is this ? Should I delete it from WIN.INI ?
Thanks in advance, Chicchio
 
Hi to all !
I am new to the group.
Looking in my WIN.INI file, I found the following:

[annie]
CaptureFile=D:\Temp\prova
VideoDevice2=@device:pnp:\\?\usb#vid_093a&pid_2468#5&1561aa82&0&1#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\global
AudioDevice2=@device:cm:{33D9A762-90C8-11D0-BD43-00A0C911CE86}\VIA AC'97
Enhanced Audio (WAVE)
FrameRate=333333
UseFrameRate=1
CaptureAudio=0
CaptureCC=0
WantPreview=1
MasterStream=1
UseTimeLimit=0
TimeLimit=0

Unfortunately I have no more the file prova.
I am using XP SP3, Symantec AV, ZoneAlarm, and I connect via a Netgear
router with its firewall. A look in my PC with HiJackThis, Malwarebytes
Antimalware, Gmer, Runscanner etc didn't show anything of strange and thePC
is running fine, so I don't think to have infection issues. I used msconfig
to deactivate, and the PC was running fine.
So the question is: what is this ? Should I delete it from WIN.INI ?
Thanks in advance, Chicchio
Click to expand...

Don't fix what ain't bust, Chicchio. Anyway, "annie" may just be who/
what you are looking for? :-)
 
chicchio said:
Hi to all !
I am new to the group.
Looking in my WIN.INI file, I found the following:

[annie]
CaptureFile=D:\Temp\prova
VideoDevice2=@device:pnp:\\?\usb#vid_093a&pid_2468#5&1561aa82&0&1#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\global
AudioDevice2=@device:cm:{33D9A762-90C8-11D0-BD43-00A0C911CE86}\VIA AC'97
Enhanced Audio (WAVE)
FrameRate=333333
UseFrameRate=1
CaptureAudio=0
CaptureCC=0
WantPreview=1
MasterStream=1
UseTimeLimit=0
TimeLimit=0

Unfortunately I have no more the file prova.
I am using XP SP3, Symantec AV, ZoneAlarm, and I connect via a Netgear
router with its firewall. A look in my PC with HiJackThis, Malwarebytes
Antimalware, Gmer, Runscanner etc didn't show anything of strange and the PC
is running fine, so I don't think to have infection issues. I used msconfig
to deactivate, and the PC was running fine.
So the question is: what is this ? Should I delete it from WIN.INI ?
Thanks in advance, Chicchio
Click to expand...

Just a guess.

[annie] could be associated with the amcap.exe application, which is used
for video capture. The vid_093a&pid_2468 belongs to a webcam.

http://www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids

093a Pixart Imaging, Inc.
2468 Cammaestro 2.5DU/X-EYE/Orite SC-120/ICGear TravelCam/Easy Snap Snake Eye Webcam

So it is possible you were using amcap.exe, to try to capture video from one of
the named web cams. amcap.exe was a sample application written by Microsoft,
and it is sometimes bundled with webcams or PCI capture cards.

I have a copy of amcap.exe on my Hauppauge WinTV Go CDROM, and the file
is pretty small (34304 bytes). The word "annie" can be found, with a hex
editor, inside that application.

So amcap.exe may have put that information there. Exactly why that file
was used, I don't know.

Paul
 
I would delete it from Win.ini
It appears to be from PrintKey Pro, so if that has been removed, then
just remove the Win.ini section.

....Alan
 
Paul said:
So amcap.exe may have put that information there. Exactly why that file
was used, I don't know.

Paul
Click to expand...

Thanks, Paul. I have a webcam, and amcap.exe is on my PC, so now it is clear
that ANNIE is from amcap.exe and some test of video capture.
But is it normal that amcap writes this in WIN.INI ?

Thanks, chicchio
 
Thanks, Paul. I have a webcam, and amcap.exe is on my PC, so now it is clear
that ANNIE is from amcap.exe and some test of video capture.
But is it normal that amcap writes this in WIN.INI ?

Thanks, chicchio
Click to expand...

I thought the win.ini file went away after Windows NT 3.51 and was
mostly used for 16 bit applications. I haven't seen one in a long
time and don't have any on our XP systems here.

Maybe some applications still use it out of habit from writing code
for old Windows versions. It not existing at all does not seem to be
a problem for XP.

The free Amcap application used to use win.ini, but apparently someone
there (perhaps Noël Danjou) caught on and started putting their stuff
in their own private .ini called amcap.ini (duh).

If it bothers you, make a copy someplace, delete it, reboot and see
who misses it.
 
chicchio said:
Thanks, Paul. I have a webcam, and amcap.exe is on my PC, so now it is clear
that ANNIE is from amcap.exe and some test of video capture.
But is it normal that amcap writes this in WIN.INI ?

Thanks, chicchio
Click to expand...

The system.ini and win.ini files didn't go away in NT-based versions of
Windows. They are there for compatibility with old applications. Part
of the problem with successive versions of Windows is it retaining
compatibility with old stuff. And I mean really o-l-d stuff. Microsoft
kept win.ini and system.ini for compatibility with old apps that worked
way back in Windows 3.x.

When you run msconfig.exe, notice there are still tabs for System.ini
and Win.ini. Sometimes "new" apps are really just old ones that have
merely been adapted to run on later versions of Windows. Sometimes the
developers leave in outdated code (it's not what they were assigned to
work on).
 
Thanks to everybody for the answers.
Now I have understood that ANNIE is not malware, and also learned something
about WIN.INI.
I didn't know this newsgroup, surely I will ask other questions !
Sorry for my English...
 
Thanks to everybody for the answers.
Now I have understood that ANNIE is not malware, and also learned something
about WIN.INI.
I didn't know this newsgroup, surely I will ask other questions !
Sorry for my English...
Click to expand...


Two comments for you:

1. You are using the awful web interface to participate in this
newsgroup--it's the slowest, clunkiest, most error-prone method of
using the newsgroups there is. Do yourself a favor and switch to a
newsreader, such as Outlook Express, which comes with Windows XP, or
Windows Mail, which comes with Vista. See
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

2. Your English is just fine. Are you Italian? I know a little of the
Italian language, but your English is much better than my Italian.
 
Ken Blake said:
2. Your English is just fine. Are you Italian? I know a little of the
Italian language, but your English is much better than my Italian.
Click to expand...

Hi Ken, thanks for the advice about OE.
Yes, I am Italian. I know some English because I have 2 cousins in USA, my
aunt came in USA many years ago and her husband was from USA (New Jersey).

Thanks again from Enrico (chicchio)
 
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