Strangely named files appear on desktop

[gtackett]

I keep getting a lot of files with names like this appearing on my desktop:

2DF4E13B-58D9-4F98-A239-6AFF2F8CCF5B-311-00000024DF1FD99B
4C626D42-AEA3-440D-8E78-5D67D1BFD916-15412-0000057729783733
69AA3C3E-C1F2-4C85-8CD5-617D38EF0CBF-15412-0000057752AD2ED8
87FBD430-016F-420D-8A9A-4D90A3B9F1B3-15412-0000068655FC365E

You get the idea.

They are typically locked, but not always, usually have a creation date of Jan. 16, 2008, and are always 4.3 MB in size.

I think they may be associated with browser (Firefox) activity but am not completely certain.

Any idea where they're coming from and what to do about them?

[fryke]

How come you suspect Firefox? Did you download files that could've been saved to the Desktop unexpectedly (i.e. with these wrong filenames etc.)?

[gtackett]

Fryke,

I initially suspected Firefox because I first noticed the files appearing while just browsing--not specifically downloading anything.

However, I came across this thread about similarly named folders (not ordinary files) showing up when using You Control: Desktops. I am also using this virtual desktop manager and will try turning it off when I get home today.

If that doesn't do it, I have another line of thinking to pursue:

A couple of times recently I've had a specific kind of file (not an application) that, when launched by double click or by the browser, apparently causes Finder to die and restart. When this happens there appear a new half dozen or so of these strange files. (Whether it's Finder, or Desktops, that's crashing remains to be determined.)

Perhaps there is a corrupt file association. To check this I'd try rebuilding the file associations. I don't recall just how to do that, but it might be that one of one of the tools I have like MacPilot, OnyX, or Xupport might be able to do it for me.

Other ideas or suggestions are still welcome.

[Curiosity]

Is your download directory set to be your desktop? Those files have the name format of CLSIDs. They could be attempts at setting malware on your computer if they came from the Internet. The good news is that they probably do absolutely nothing to Mac OS.

[Chris B]

I had a massive influx of files appearing on my desktop last night, like thousands, coming in between 9:47 pm and 10:12 pm. I was using iTunes at the time, but also had Firefox and Twirl open. That's why I didn't see them right away.

Computer got MASSIVELY hot, and crashed. I shut down the Air Port first, to get offline in case it was botnet. But even worse, the crash was so bad, I had to let the machine cool down unplugged, with the battery out. It just couldn't get power to start.

Was able to start this morning, with the battery out, just off power cord.

Thus able to inspect the bizarre files. Most are 4 KB. Some are 80 KB and some are 32 KB. They have gibberish names with .xul.part at the end of each.

Anybody know what .xul.part is?

As I look at the time stamps on them, there are more than 100 at any given minute (bigger than a finder window), like 10:11 pm , for instance.

Some sample file names: AMqBvVnD.xul.part HaqMWatF.xul.part

I'd copy more, but I'm keeping that machine isolated and off the network right now.

Any thoughts on this bizarre event would be much appreciated!

Chris

[SGilbert]

http://www.fileinfo.com/extension/xul