all of the folders on my desktop disappeared

i did a google image search.
found an image, viewed it, saved it as .jpg to a folder on my desktop.
noticed it wasn't a jpg.
clicked on it, illustrator automatically opened it.
closed it.
all of the folders on my desktop disappeared. i can still find them using the search, and the folders say they are on my desktop but they are invisible.
there are still other files (.xls, .tiff) that remained on my desktop.

is this a virus? how do i get my folders back where i want them?

thanks for any input

No, it isn't a virus.
If anything, it would be a trojan.

Either way, reboot the computer before you do anything else.
If all comes back to the way it was before this incident, then you have nothing to worry about.

try relaunching finder also

D3v1L80Y said:

No, it isn't a virus.
If anything, it would be a trojan.

Click to expand...

How would a trojan affect a Mac?

hagios1972 said:

How would a trojan affect a Mac?

Click to expand...

That depends greatly on what the trojan was designed to do.

Unlike a virus (which is self-transmitting, self-spreading, self-extracting, self-executing and requires no input from the user in any way to work), a trojan is a file disguised as something that would otherwise be considered 'innocent'.

As such, trojans require input from the user in order to spread and to even work... meaning, the user has to click on, open, give permission to run or otherwise activate something.

Once the user has done this, the trojan is free to do whatever it was designed to do.

thanks. that has been a very helpful information.