Why are mysterious dk.html files automatically downloading upon launch of newly updated Safari Version 5.1.7 (6534.57.2)?

Perhaps corrupted preference files...

Quit Safari.

Now open the Finder. From the Finder menu bar click Go > Go to Folder

Type or copy/paste: ~/Library/Safari

Click Go then move the Downloads.plist file from the Safari folder to the Trash.

Relaunch Safari.

Check Safari > Preferences > Extensions

If there are any installed, uninstall one at a time, then quit and relaunch Safari to test.

The dk.html file loaded only when I went to the Drudge Report website. I put the file into Trash and deleted. Repeated the process and the same occurred. Malware scans run and nothing found. Nothing in Extensions. Any idea what these files are? Any thoughts?

No comments on my choice of website please.

I have Safari Version 5.1.7 (6534.57.2) & OSX 10.6.8

It keeps D/L multiple copies of “dk.html.”

I trashed downloads.plist & quit & relaunched Safari... No help.

I have no extensions.

Not sure which web site is doing this. No files s/b allowed to D/L without my active input!

Are many users experiencing this?

Update:

Now there is a change. No dk.html appears in my D/L folder but, I keep having the D/L window pop up yet it remains empty. B4 it popped up & D/L the dk.html & then dk.html 1,2,3,etc.

I keep Safari open with several tabs & one of them is Drudge. I will test by closing the Drudge tab to see if problem continues. Regardless of someone hacking Drudge or not, no file or malware s/b able to D/L w/o my direct permission.

I too, am having the same issues with Drudge. Also happened with Trulia, the real estate website. But several other websites did not do it at all. My old Mac is still running Safari 4.1.3, so it's not an upgrade issue.

Same with me and Drudge. I reset Safari and it seems to have subsided.

I am having the same issue, but I reset Safari and did not have any luck. The dk-#.html downloads seem to appear any time I scroll over any picture or video on certain sites. I do not have any extensions, and cookies are disabled. I am using Safari 5.0.6, so I agree that it is not an upgrade issue.

Oh, and I don't know what Drudge is, but I don't think I'm using it...

I've been "resetting" Safari all day, restarting my Mac, etc. Checked after trashing the D/L list, as advised above; no luck. Just tried Trulia and Drudge again, same thing. Will check back here and hope someone has found out something.

I have been on the phone with Apple tech support for an hour discussing the dk.html download issue and it is not just the Drudge web page. It happens on eBay, too. Apple does not have an answer, yet. Must be an issue with the new update of Safari. I know that the downloads are ads that are NOT going into the Drudge page but are downloading onto my Desktop instead. I am on an iMac with Snow Leopard. PS It does not happen on Fire Fox.

I have not updated Safari recently. I am not convinced that it is an issue with the new update of Safari.

Thought I'd jump in. Not using Safari - on a Windows system using Opera, but get the same dk.html popups, so I'm betting on Drudge as the issue, as that is where they are appearing for me, as well, though I see others have had them on ebay.

I've gotten these from multiple web sites, including Drudge and National Journal.

It is my opinion that this behavior is a side effect of the latest Java update. Until this latest update, Apple has maintained its own version of Java. The latest update is Oracle Java.

Apple's note on the Java for Mac OS X 10.6 update 11 includes this:

On systems that have not already installed Java for Mac OS X 10.6 update 9 or later, this update will configure web browsers to not automatically run Java applets. Java applets may be re-enabled by clicking the region labeled "Inactive plug-in" on a web page. If no applets have been run for an extended period of time, the Java web plug-in will deactivate.

Looking at the innards of one file downloaded, it appears to be a JavaScript beacon from advertising.com for rubiconproject.com. These files are used to track web browsing activity. I suspect that this Java changed the way the beacon is served and Safari.

Cyber-

Looking at the innards of one file downloaded, it appears to be a JavaScript beacon from advertising.com for rubiconproject.com. These files are used to track web browsing activity. I suspect that this Java changed the way the beacon is served and Safari.

I would bet you're right on the money. . . after upgrade here about 2-3 years ago, another set of weird files began downloading, and it was a tracking file. I think it came in from similar types of websites (newspapers, I think) who had all hired the same tracking company. So, in this case, I would bet that the non-Drudge report sites are in fact using the same internet tracking company.

EDIT: However, I does not leave any files on my Mac. So I'm thinking it might be more about an extension or plugin? (Because I have none).