On a school iMac, I created folders which contained html, jpg, pdf files and other folders. I copied these folders to my thumb drive (the one I use all the time). When I got home, I put this thumb drive into my iMac (Yosemite OS) to finish the folder transfers. When I found the folders I was looking for, they had turned into exec files. What happened?
iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10)
We need some clarification here. Specifically, you say:
When I found the folders I was looking for, they had turned into exec files.
What turned into "exec" files? The folders, or the files inside them? And when you say they are "exec" files, what exactly are you seeing?
One possibility is that the files you created have all changed to look like this:
If that's the case, then most likely you have somehow created those files without an extension, which means that Mac OS X has no idea what they are. You need to add an extension at the end of the filenames: .html, .jpg, .pdf, etc.
One other possibility, which Tim mentions, is that you have connected this flash drive to a Windows PC that is infected with some kind of malware that has replaced all those files with malicious .exe files. These would not affect your Mac, but would certainly affect the data on the flash drive. Do the filenames end in .exe or .lnk?
If none of that matches what you're seeing, we'll need more details. Screenshots would help. Make a screenshot by following the directions here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5775
Be sure no sensitive personal information is displayed. To add that image to a post here, click the camera icon in the post editor toolbar.
We need some clarification here. Specifically, you say:
When I found the folders I was looking for, they had turned into exec files.
What turned into "exec" files? The folders, or the files inside them? And when you say they are "exec" files, what exactly are you seeing?
One possibility is that the files you created have all changed to look like this:
If that's the case, then most likely you have somehow created those files without an extension, which means that Mac OS X has no idea what they are. You need to add an extension at the end of the filenames: .html, .jpg, .pdf, etc.
One other possibility, which Tim mentions, is that you have connected this flash drive to a Windows PC that is infected with some kind of malware that has replaced all those files with malicious .exe files. These would not affect your Mac, but would certainly affect the data on the flash drive. Do the filenames end in .exe or .lnk?
If none of that matches what you're seeing, we'll need more details. Screenshots would help. Make a screenshot by following the directions here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5775
Be sure no sensitive personal information is displayed. To add that image to a post here, click the camera icon in the post editor toolbar.
Thanks for giving me more information. Here are screen shots of two of the three folders.
Three folders turned into "exec" files. The files inside the three folders were properly labelled with the correct extensions. The folders don't require extensions so I didn't add any to them. None of the files in the three folders had the extensions .exe or .lnk. In addition, none of the files on my thumb drive have the extensions .exe or .lnk.
If it is a virus, wouldn't it attack all of my files and not only three? I do appreciate your help and answers.
I scanned my thumb drive with a virus software and it detected no viruses. Is that possible?
That is certainly an odd one. I did a Google search and the only thing I found is a worm called "W32.SillyFDC":
http://forum.precisesecurity.com/computer-security/folders-changed-to-applicatio n-exe
If all of your files/folders have been changed to .exe files then this worm, or another, may be the cause. In any case, your Mac in not at risk but you should reformat your USB drive and let your school's IT staff know about the potentially infected PC. Whatever you do, do not attach the flash drive to another PC until you have reformatted it.
Thank you for your answer. I am not that familiar with these type of files. So .exe is the same as exec? Also, not all of my folders turned into exec files. Also, of the folders I created, two were created on the same day but only one turned into an exec file while the other stayed normal. Would this still be considered a virus? Before I read your response, I did attach this thumb drive to a PC to see if it was just my iMac or not. I've never had a virus infection and don't know where it would've come from.
Select one of those items in the Finder and choose Get Info from the File menu, then take a screenshot of that Get Info window and post it here. (Press command-shift-4, then press the space bar. The cursor should change to a camera icon. Now click on the Get Info window. This will take a screenshot of just that window.)
Make sure that the General, More Info and Name & Extension sections of the Get Info window are all expanded. The other areas can be collapsed, we don't need to see the information there.
I don't really care to start a thread since it is only an icon and I have better things to worry about, I am just trying to help the individual voice the issue since I see the same issue. Would it help to know when I add this file to a folder the folder icon goes to "exec" icon and could the two not be related? I will unsubscribe to this thread as it seems my input isn't useful.
Weird... that item started out as a folder? Whatever happened, it's now a file. In particular, a completely empty, zero-byte file.
This is unlikely to be due to Windows malware. If it were, that file would not be empty, and would probably contain a Windows malware executable. But it does not.
My best guess at this point is that the flash drive with these items on it is corrupt. Try using something like Data Rescue 3 to recover any files from that drive. You could also try repairing with Disk Utility, but the danger there is that a failed repair could potentially reduce the chance of successful file recovery.
Cauldie wrote:
All of the three items started out as folders. I will see what I can do. If I reformat my flash drive, will it help in the corruption?
It should. Of course, then you'll lose all the data on the drive. If these files aren't really that important, or after you have managed to successfully recover them, this is probably the next thing you should do before using the flash drive any further.
I explained the situation with my instructor at a school. He gave me the files back, I put them on the flash drive, and when I got home, they were fine. I should have all of my files on the flash drive backed up on my computer. I will give it a go (reformatting) when I'm feeling risky. Thanks for all of your help and time with this situation.
Hi Cauldie,
I just had the same problem where my folders have turned into exec files. You said in your thread that your instructor managed to fix your folders? I don't suppose you know how he/she did it do you? I am at a loss as to what to do and unfortunately these folders are of high importance to me - 4 years of work!
Any help would be very much appreciated
Hey. I have the same problem with very important folders and files on my flash drive, as well as folders on an SD card, turning into exec files with the extension .Ink. I can't open them on my Mac but I was able to open them on a PC. Is the problem with my Mac or with the flash drive & SD card? And if I need to, how do I reformat the devices? Please help!!
It means what you copied from the PC to the flash drive weren't the actual files, but symbolic links. They don't point to anything when you try to open them from the Mac, not to mention OS X doesn't know what those files are for in the first place. On the PC, it can read in the .lnk file where the real files reside and open them.
So if you need to get the files over to the Mac, you need to copy the actual files onto the flash drive. From Windows, right click on each .lnk file and choose Properties. Part of the information will show you exactly what drive and folder the file resides on.
No.
My question was in line with the original thread question about files created on Macs suddenly turning into exec files; specifically in response to thomas_r's comment about files/folders and .Ink extensions.
My folder and files were created on a Mac and saved to a flash drive that I use all the time. The only time a PC was involved was to test if the flash drive and SD card files would open, after they had turned to exec files. Which they did on the PC.
I still need to know
A) how to recover these files for my Mac
B) if this is a sign the files have been corrupted by a device
C) what corrupted the files
Okay, but I had to guess. You didn't say which computer you originally used to write the files to the flash drive. Just that they were .lnk files and you couldn't open them on the Mac, but could on the PC.
You may have a issue on the Windows side that hides the actual files and creates the .lnk files. See this topic. Essentially, the real files get a hidden attribute applied to them. The command given by jack4all unhides all items on the target drive. So if the flash drive appears as drive E: when mounted in Windows, you would type in:
attrib -h -r -s /s /d e:\*.*
It's possible you have a virus in Windows that's causing this. It's certainly nothing that would happen otherwise. Windows doesn't do that by itself. You can kind of confirm that by doing a Properties on a .lnk file while it's plugged into Windows. If it says the .jpg file (or whatever file type it is) is on the flash drive, then that's what happened. The real file was hidden and a .lnk file created. Why anyone would write a virus to do this, I don't know.
You could also test it on the Mac side. To view all files on your Mac, open the Terminal and enter the following two lines, pressing Enter after each one.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder
This will allow you to see all hidden files and folders on all drives. When you're done, type in the same two lines, except change TRUE to FALSE to return file viewing to normal.
If you can now see the real files (they'll be shown in gray text to denote they're hidden objects), then you very likely have that virus on your Windows computer.
File folders turn into exec files
