ppc.txt with Italian words

somwhereoutthere · 02-27-2008, 02:35 AM

Firstly, I apologise if this is in the wrong section but I just found a ppc.txt file in Mac HD which contains a list of Italian words?!? I have tried to find out what this might be and have read it could possibly be a macro virus. It seems there is a discussion about this in Italian forums but nowhere else. Does anyone know anything about this?

Cheers

Las_Vegas · 02-27-2008, 04:08 AM

I don't know of any applications that run in Italian… Besides that, TXT files contain no macros. What you've found is a text file that contains Italian information.

benwiggy · 02-27-2008, 05:26 AM

Where did you find the file on your computer? Might the context of its location offer any clue?
Is it just a list of Italian words? Might it be a dictionary file? How big is it?
Or is it, say, a log file for example, that just happens to be in Italian.

There is a reasonable Italian Mac programming community out there, so perhaps you have installed something that was programmed in Italian but has English localisation so you might not realise it.

gingeradams · 03-14-2008, 10:47 PM

[FONT="Century Gothic"] I suddenly have a file of the same name on my hard drive. When I "check info" it says the file was created on March 7, modified this afternoon at 4:39, and opened this evening - when I discovered it I opened it to see what it was. Here is what it says:

stp->nstrings=17424 stp->size=414720

abassiale

autocatalisi

canederlo

condrioma

diplodoco

eritropsia

futon

impromptu

larviforme

meraklon

neotenico

pap-test

portachiatte

rappiccicare

scaldico

soprarazionale

tectonico

versus

stp->nstrings=17424 stp->size=414720

abassiale

autocatalisi

canederlo

condrioma

diplodoco

eritropsia

futon

impromptu

larviforme

meraklon

neotenico

pap-test

portachiatte

rappiccicare

scaldico

soprarazionale

tectonico

versus

Does this tell anyone anything? Because I can't figure what it's all about or how it got on my machine.

macosnoob · 03-15-2008, 04:23 PM

According to the chatter on Italian and French sites, what you're seeing is a bit of Microsoft coding that has been around since the beta days of Office 2008.

http://www.pcprofessionale.it/2008/0...oprarazionale/
http://www.tuttologia.com/macp2p/showthread.php?t=28475
http://bagigi.wordpress.com/2008/02/...-2008-italiano
http://forums.macgeneration.com/vbul....php?p=4602986

Everyone seems to think ppc.txt is innocuous, albeit annoying, and most users advise just leaving the file alone. There's a technical explanation of what the file appears to do here (in the comments):

http://fulcrumrr.blogspot.com/2008/0...ord-crash.html

But I'm not using Office 2008, so I can't test any of this. I'd advise you leave ppc.txt where it is.

02-27-2008, 02:35 AM	#1
somwhereoutthere Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1	ppc.txt with Italian words Firstly, I apologise if this is in the wrong section but I just found a ppc.txt file in Mac HD which contains a list of Italian words?!? I have tried to find out what this might be and have read it could possibly be a macro virus. It seems there is a discussion about this in Italian forums but nowhere else. Does anyone know anything about this? Cheers

02-27-2008, 04:08 AM	#2
Las_Vegas League Commissioner Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 5,875	I don't know of any applications that run in Italian… Besides that, TXT files contain no macros. What you've found is a text file that contains Italian information. __________________ Las_Vegas -- Ts'i mahnu uterna ot twan ot geifur hingts uto. -- Sometimes I wonder… Why is that Frisbee getting Larger? …and then it hits me. -- Disposable thumbs make me specialer than most animals…

03-14-2008, 10:47 PM	#4
gingeradams Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 1	ppc.txt Mysteriously Appeared Here Too [FONT="Century Gothic"] I suddenly have a file of the same name on my hard drive. When I "check info" it says the file was created on March 7, modified this afternoon at 4:39, and opened this evening - when I discovered it I opened it to see what it was. Here is what it says: stp->nstrings=17424 stp->size=414720 abassiale autocatalisi canederlo condrioma diplodoco eritropsia futon impromptu larviforme meraklon neotenico pap-test portachiatte rappiccicare scaldico soprarazionale tectonico versus stp->nstrings=17424 stp->size=414720 abassiale autocatalisi canederlo condrioma diplodoco eritropsia futon impromptu larviforme meraklon neotenico pap-test portachiatte rappiccicare scaldico soprarazionale tectonico versus Does this tell anyone anything? Because I can't figure what it's all about or how it got on my machine.

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02-27-2008, 05:26 AM	#3
benwiggy League Commissioner Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 5,071	Where did you find the file on your computer? Might the context of its location offer any clue? Is it just a list of Italian words? Might it be a dictionary file? How big is it? Or is it, say, a log file for example, that just happens to be in Italian. There is a reasonable Italian Mac programming community out there, so perhaps you have installed something that was programmed in Italian but has English localisation so you might not realise it.

03-15-2008, 04:23 PM	#5
macosnoob MVP Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,766	According to the chatter on Italian and French sites, what you're seeing is a bit of Microsoft coding that has been around since the beta days of Office 2008. http://www.pcprofessionale.it/2008/0...oprarazionale/ http://www.tuttologia.com/macp2p/showthread.php?t=28475 http://bagigi.wordpress.com/2008/02/...-2008-italiano http://forums.macgeneration.com/vbul....php?p=4602986 Everyone seems to think ppc.txt is innocuous, albeit annoying, and most users advise just leaving the file alone. There's a technical explanation of what the file appears to do here (in the comments): http://fulcrumrr.blogspot.com/2008/0...ord-crash.html But I'm not using Office 2008, so I can't test any of this. I'd advise you leave ppc.txt where it is.