# Help!  My icons are running away!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-icons-are-running-away/83107>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 21, 2001, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-icons-are-running-away/83107 "2001-09-21T22:30:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-icons-are-running-away/83107/1 "2001-09-21T22:30:33Z")

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Well, yesterday when I got home from band practice, I sat down on my computer to check my standard route of internet sites, and my stupid desktop icons kept moving away from my cursor. I rebooted, but still no dice. Does anyone know of the hack or virus that causes this, and how one could rid himself of it? Tis not horribly debilitating, but certainly annoying…

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**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-icons-are-running-away/83107/2 "2001-09-21T22:36:13Z")

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Well, off the top of my head I know this is a symptom of the W32/Magistr virus (I was looking that one up to help Gunslinger). It happens if your computer has been infected with the virus for two months: [http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.magistr.24876@mm.html](http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.magistr.24876@mm.html)

It might also be a symptom of a different virus. I dunno. I’m not too helpful.

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**Author:** ![Trenchmouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Trenchmouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trenchmouth)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2001, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-icons-are-running-away/83107/3 "2001-09-22T01:56:47Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Netbrian \*  
> \*\*Does anyone know of the hack or virus that causes this, and how one could rid himself of it? \*\*

Oh, spend the 30 bucks on an antivirus program, for God’s sake. They are usually much more painless than trying to manually edit your registry.

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2001, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-icons-are-running-away/83107/4 "2001-09-22T02:35:53Z")

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I got bit a few weeks ago by the W32Magistr virus that **racinchikki** mentions, and that _is_ one of its tricks. Others do that as well.

I got Norton SystemWorks (~$65) that includes Norton AntiVirus (NAV) and it found and removed the virus. Incidentally, if that’s the one you’ve got, the icon hijack is way down on its list of tricks. I wound up reinstalling NT.

The trouble with NAV is that it wants to install itself in Auto-Protect mode. My primary application comes out with a new version once or twice a week, so I’m constantly installing software. NAV does not like new stuff. You pretty much have to get rid of NAV in between virus battles.

Anyway, good luck with it.