New To Mac-Forums?

Welcome to our community! Join the discussion today by registering your FREE account. If you have any problems with the registration process, please contact us!

Get your questions answered by community gurus • Advice and insight from world-class Apple enthusiasts • Exclusive access to members-only contests, giveaways and deals

Join today!
 
Start a Discussion
 

Mac-Forums Brief

Subscribe to Mac-Forums Brief to receive special offers from Mac-Forums partners and sponsors

Join the conversation RSS
Switcher Hangout The place for switchers to discuss their new machines, and how to work with OS X. General support can be had here for newbie stuff, like "How do I restart my new iMac?" :)

Transfering music- viruses?


Thread Closed

 
Thread Tools
lmvo23
#1 (permalink)

 
Member Since: Oct 19, 2008
Location: Florida
Posts: 11
lmvo23 is on a distinguished road
Mac Specs: iMac

lmvo23 is offline
Old 10-19-2008, 07:54 PM
I'm getting a 20" iMac 2.66 Ghz in the next couple of weeks. Tonight I started organizing my files to be transfered and my boyfriend (who has been an apple user his entire life) mentioned something that got me thinking. Is it possible for my downloaded music files to have a virus that doesn't affect PC's but may affect a Mac?
Spork
#2 (permalink)

 
Spork's Avatar
 
Member Since: Jul 17, 2008
Location: Arizona
Posts: 182
Spork can only hope to improve

Spork is offline
Old 10-19-2008, 08:02 PM
More than likely, no. Most viruses are designed for PC but it would be possible to get a virus if it was ment for OSX. It's about a 1% chance you're going to get a virus from transferring your music.
lmvo23
#3 (permalink)

 
Member Since: Oct 19, 2008
Location: Florida
Posts: 11
lmvo23 is on a distinguished road
Mac Specs: iMac

lmvo23 is offline
Old 10-19-2008, 08:04 PM
That's what we figured. BUT I do have 16gb of music...which slightly increases my chances.

I may just delete all of it and start fresh.
Kash
#4 (permalink)

 
Kash's Avatar
 
Member Since: Dec 03, 2006
Location: Irvine, CA
Posts: 9,385
Kash has a brilliant futureKash has a brilliant futureKash has a brilliant futureKash has a brilliant futureKash has a brilliant futureKash has a brilliant futureKash has a brilliant futureKash has a brilliant futureKash has a brilliant futureKash has a brilliant futureKash has a brilliant future
Mac Specs: Black Macbook C2D 2GHz 3GB RAM 250GB HD iPhone 4 iPad 3G

Kash is offline
Old 10-19-2008, 09:04 PM
Spork actually exaggerated the number, there is a ZERO chance of you getting a virus when you transfer music from your PC to your Mac unless you actively went out there and purposefully downloaded a Mac virus and inserted it into your music directory.

I transferred music library much larger than yours from my PC to my Mac with no ill effects. No need to waste your time starting over.

June 2007
July 2009
Aeaus
#5 (permalink)

 
Aeaus's Avatar
 
Member Since: Oct 06, 2008
Posts: 38
Aeaus is an unknown at this point
Mac Specs: iMac Intel 20", 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, ATI Radeon HD, 250GB hard drive, 8x double-layer SuperDrive

Aeaus is offline
Old 10-19-2008, 11:59 PM
Are you slow?
There's no way to put a virus in a .mp3 or .m4a file...
It's freaking sound.
fungry
#6 (permalink)

 
Member Since: Jul 19, 2008
Location: China/Australia
Posts: 42
fungry is on a distinguished road

fungry is offline
Old 10-20-2008, 01:23 AM
Aeaus is correct. Your files are audio files. In other words, they would not contain any viruses -_-. Unless you have executable files within the folders which is beyond me because why would that be in a music library.
Eric559
#7 (permalink)

 
Eric559's Avatar
 
Member Since: Jul 18, 2007
Location: Central California
Posts: 3,185
Eric559 is a glorious beacon of lightEric559 is a glorious beacon of lightEric559 is a glorious beacon of lightEric559 is a glorious beacon of lightEric559 is a glorious beacon of lightEric559 is a glorious beacon of light
Mac Specs: 2.16GHz C2D MacBook w/ 2GB RAM & 120GB HD. HTC Droid Incredible.

Eric559 is offline
Old 10-20-2008, 02:24 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aeaus View Post
Are you slow?
There's no way to put a virus in a .mp3 or .m4a file...
It's freaking sound.
Haha. That is correct.

Viruses are usually found in exe files and such others.
lmvo23
#8 (permalink)

 
Member Since: Oct 19, 2008
Location: Florida
Posts: 11
lmvo23 is on a distinguished road
Mac Specs: iMac

lmvo23 is offline
Old 10-20-2008, 08:26 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aeaus View Post
Are you slow?
There's no way to put a virus in a .mp3 or .m4a file...
It's freaking sound.

It was an honest question. No need to be a jerk about it.

To everyone else:
Thanks for your input.
Aeaus
#9 (permalink)

 
Aeaus's Avatar
 
Member Since: Oct 06, 2008
Posts: 38
Aeaus is an unknown at this point
Mac Specs: iMac Intel 20", 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, ATI Radeon HD, 250GB hard drive, 8x double-layer SuperDrive

Aeaus is offline
Old 10-20-2008, 09:19 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by lmvo23 View Post
It was an honest question. No need to be a jerk about it.

To everyone else:
Thanks for your input.
Well not to be rude, but I never knew someone could be so computer illiterate.
MacFanBoy
#10 (permalink)

 
Member Since: Jan 06, 2008
Location: Hillbank, South Australia
Posts: 323
MacFanBoy is on a distinguished road
Mac Specs: 2 x 20" iMac Intel Core 2 Duo

MacFanBoy is offline
Old 10-20-2008, 09:52 PM
People have been known to rename xxx.exe files to xxx.mp3.exe and hope that you have the show files extension turned off in windows so it would show as xxx.mp3
MacInWin
#11 (permalink)

 
MacInWin's Avatar
 
Member Since: Jul 07, 2008
Location: Winchester, VA
Posts: 2,073
MacInWin is a name known to allMacInWin is a name known to allMacInWin is a name known to allMacInWin is a name known to allMacInWin is a name known to allMacInWin is a name known to allMacInWin is a name known to all
Mac Specs: 2011 MBP, 2008 iMac, iPhone 4S, iPad (Retina), 13" MBP and MacMini

MacInWin is offline
Old 10-20-2008, 10:13 PM
And, you can imbed executables in image files, so it is theoretically possible to do the same in audio files. Just for now, no one has done that (as far as we know).
Forum Shark
#12 (permalink)

 
Forum Shark's Avatar
 
Member Since: Mar 19, 2008
Location: Brantford, ON
Posts: 248
Forum Shark is an unknown at this point
Mac Specs: Base Model MacBook (White from early 2008)

Forum Shark is offline
Old 10-20-2008, 10:13 PM
Man, she had a question. It got answered, you didn't have to be a jerk about it. This is the switcher forum, so she obviously isn't a computer genius, she may even be a really casual user. (Like my mom. She can't even copy and paste.) Really, if you're not going to say anything nice, don't say anything at all. Didn't your mommy teach you?
Please follow me to Twitter! http://twitter.com/ForumShark
xstep
#13 (permalink)

 
xstep's Avatar
 
Member Since: Jun 25, 2005
Location: On the road
Posts: 3,231
xstep is a name known to allxstep is a name known to allxstep is a name known to allxstep is a name known to allxstep is a name known to allxstep is a name known to allxstep is a name known to all
Mac Specs: 2011 MBP, i7, 16GB RAM, MBP 2.16Ghz Core Duo, 2GB ram, Dual 867Mhz MDD, 1.75GB ram, ATI 9800 Pro vid

xstep is offline
Old 10-20-2008, 10:37 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aeaus View Post
Well not to be rude, but I never knew someone could be so computer illiterate.
LOL! Well then, you've shown your ignorance at least twice in this thread then. At least that is fixable if you are open to learning. Being rude, as you were, can be more difficult to over come. Good luck with that challenge.
CameraTime - Time lapse photography for novice and advanced users.

When asking questions, post the version of your software. You'll receive better answers.

Please post your results to the thread as it is good feedback.
xstep
#14 (permalink)

 
xstep's Avatar
 
Member Since: Jun 25, 2005
Location: On the road
Posts: 3,231
xstep is a name known to allxstep is a name known to allxstep is a name known to allxstep is a name known to allxstep is a name known to allxstep is a name known to allxstep is a name known to all
Mac Specs: 2011 MBP, i7, 16GB RAM, MBP 2.16Ghz Core Duo, 2GB ram, Dual 867Mhz MDD, 1.75GB ram, ATI 9800 Pro vid

xstep is offline
Old 10-20-2008, 10:38 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by jakerich View Post
And, you can imbed executables in image files, so it is theoretically possible to do the same in audio files. Just for now, no one has done that (as far as we know).
Exactly!
CameraTime - Time lapse photography for novice and advanced users.

When asking questions, post the version of your software. You'll receive better answers.

Please post your results to the thread as it is good feedback.
KeithTeeple
#15 (permalink)

 
KeithTeeple's Avatar
 
Member Since: Sep 02, 2008
Location: Burlington, Ontario
Posts: 450
KeithTeeple is an unknown at this point
Mac Specs: 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM MacBook, 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

KeithTeeple is offline
Old 10-20-2008, 10:50 PM
I wouldn't think you'd get a virus. Very very unlikely. From what I've heard, there are something like 10 known viruses for Mac.

Press any key to continue, or any other key to cancel.

There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who understand binary
and those who don't.

Thread Closed


« Question of MacBook Air users. | MBP 2.4Ghz- or 2.53GHz-version? »
Thread Tools

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
transfering music from iTunes to External HDD Blindinlight OS X - Apps and Games 4 04-09-2008 10:30 AM
Transfering music hotspur10925 iPod Hardware and Accessories 1 07-11-2007 05:13 PM
Week in Review - 10/13/03-10/17/03 Murlyn Apple Rumors and Reports 0 10-19-2003 11:51 PM
Apple, Analysts on new music service schweb Apple Rumors and Reports 9 04-30-2003 01:14 PM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:18 PM.

Powered by vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2014, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

Learn more about advertising opportunities across the iNET Interactive Network.

LiquidWeb
X

Welcome to Mac-Forums.com

Create your username to jump into the discussion!

New members like you have made this community the ultimate source for your Mac since 2003!


(4 digit year)

Already a member?