Home › Forums › Archives › Computer Support › Online Privacy, Safety & Security › DP changed without me doing it
- This topic has 2 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 2 months ago by Doris Kenney.
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December 16, 2007 at 3:29 am #28052
Alright well I was using windows live messenger and I have a dp of a symbol with a white background I wasn’t paying attention untill my friend mentioned to me that I changed the background of my DP when I looked the DP’s background was black but the symbol was still the same and I know I didn’t do it because I have never seen it before.Am I being hacked and if so how do I stop it. Sorry to be a nuisance please help thanks.
December 16, 2007 at 7:02 pm #165701Doris KenneyParticipantHello and welcome to BBB! Because WLM display pictures are stored in a format other than .jpeg or .bmp it makes changing/editing them a bit tricky.
If someone did manage to hack your account, they’d have to snag your display picture, save it, open it in a photo editing program that will read the extensions, re-work a very small picture (which gets extremely blurry when enlarged), then save it back to a format WLM will allow, and put it back in. That’s an awful lot of work to do nothing but change a display picture.
More likely would be that something in the files where your WLM display picture are stored have become changed or corrupted in some way. The image is actually stored in a WLM folder buried layers deep, it does not pull directly from the one you have saved in your Documents or Photos folder. I assume you have the original file stored on your computer. Have you tried simply changing your display picture back to what it was?
Have you recently changed anything on your system? Upgraded WLM? Done any major cleanup of your machine? What version of WLM are you using? I’m not saying it’s impossible for someone to hack your account and do this, but most hackers cause far more mischief than that.
As long as you have a good firewall, and run regular virus and spyware scans with up to date definitions, I wouldn’t worry too much about a hacker. If however, your system is not properly protected – I’d certainly recommend doing so immediately. Remember that spyware and viruses can also cause odd behavior to occur so it may well also be worth a good cleanup of your machine as well.
-Doris-
February 15, 2008 at 2:02 pm #165700Jeff HesterKeymastergoooooooooooooood
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