# What's this file that straightdope wants me to download?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-file-that-straightdope-wants-me-to-download/264145>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [September 12, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-file-that-straightdope-wants-me-to-download/264145 "2004-09-12T17:32:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-file-that-straightdope-wants-me-to-download/264145/1 "2004-09-12T17:32:15Z")

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Everytime I try to go to [www.straightdope.com](http://www.straightdope.com), a box comes up asking me to save a 13.6 kb file named “straightdope”. What is it, a cookie? How come I never needed it before today? The only options on the box are “save” and “cancel”. If I don’t save the file, the website doesn’t open, so I had to find a link directly to the boards in order to post this, instead of being able to click on the link to the forums on the front page of the site. Is anyone else being asked to save this file?

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-file-that-straightdope-wants-me-to-download/264145/2 "2004-09-12T17:38:38Z")

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Sounds like you’ve got a browser hijacker of some sort. See the “Computer Questions” sticky in GQ for some solutions. It’s definitely _not_ a Straight Dope download.