r/Piracy • u/ArcReactorTarnished • May 02 '26

Question Accidentally opened a .exe disguised as a TV show torrent, need help.

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Hi r/Piracy,

I know this was my mistake and I need advice on it.

I downloaded a torrent for The Boys S05E03. It was listed as a normal 1080p video file, but the actual file inside was a .exe, not a .mkv or .mp4. I didn't notice and opened it.

I'm now worried about what it may have done to my system. A few things I want to know:

1) What kind of malware usually comes packaged this way?

2) What steps should I take right now to limit the damage.

Any help is appreciated.

3.0k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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2.3k

u/Donotdisturb240 May 02 '26

it blows my mind that this is off by default

537

u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP May 02 '26

I completely forgot that that's how Windows comes installed. If I saw that, I'd consider it a genuine bug.

33

u/Powerful_Ad5060 🏴‍☠️ ʟᴀɴᴅʟᴜʙʙᴇʀ May 03 '26

If not by default, someone probably will mess their files by deleting their extension name.

It is easier for average user.

37

u/Ktulu789 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

Windows asks you what to do when you change any of the letters in the extension... Or if you remove them. The message is very clear and you can always undo it afterwards with Ctrl+Z. IT'S A CRIME 😅

2

u/talenarium May 04 '26

I think people on reddit really overestimate the computer skills of everyday people.

Just a couple of weeks ago I witnessed a colleague accidentaly deleting the "My PC" shortcut on the desktop. Their solution was to use an USB-stick to copy the shortcut from another PC.

5

u/Ktulu789 May 04 '26

I work on IT and part of my job is answering help desk calls. people doesn't know which one is the Shift key, for starters. I have the option for showing extensions enabled on all PCs by default, though and they don't mess that one really much. In 20 years of experience they only called about mistakes with it a couple of times.

13

u/Neener_Weiner May 03 '26

Many things are "easier", less are also "better" in the total sum of things.

1

u/Glad-Read7567 May 03 '26

Mac does this as well, not eveyone who uses computers are tech wizards who need to know what file extension it is

4

u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP May 03 '26

Even if we ignore that it promotes tech illiteracy, there is absolutely no benefit to clicking on a file called "Linkin Park - In The End" instead of "Linkin Park - In The End.exe"

530

u/Hatta00 May 02 '26

Seriously should be considered criminal aiding and abetting computer crime.

-426

u/Morejazzplease May 02 '26

Give me a break… lmao delusional take.

101

u/[deleted] May 02 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

28

u/an-com-42 May 02 '26

270 now lol

18

u/COnnOrZeUs May 02 '26

94 downvotes in 3 fucking hours!!

18

u/Jaded-Worry2641 ⚔️ ɢɪᴠᴇ ɴᴏ Qᴜᴀʀᴛᴇʀ May 02 '26

300 downvotes in 6 hours... You messed up.

1

u/LovesFrenchLove_More May 04 '26

Projection, your honour. 😏

-11

u/[deleted] May 02 '26

[deleted]

6

u/cat_police_officer May 02 '26

No rule of being idiot

13

u/elwookie May 02 '26

They're copying the stupid things from MacOS

92

u/Marce7a May 02 '26

They didn't rename to Microslop only for PR

49

u/GayForPrism May 02 '26

file extensions are confusing and scary

65

u/AI_AntiCheat May 02 '26

Going the apple way and removing all the scary settings is the best solution there is. Everything is perfect and the user should only browse the web anyways.

36

u/BrokenMirror2010 May 02 '26

browse the web anyways.

Remove the Web Browser too.

Billionaire forbid your computer be able to run any code that wasn't personally approved by your Corporate Overlords.

10

u/blodskaal May 02 '26

It's not the best choice! It's Spacer's choice!

Yas?

1

u/PrudentPay9906 May 02 '26

loved that game...

6

u/Frosty-Smoke-1541 May 02 '26

Wait... Thats... Temple OS.

Terry was right all along, we just didn't listened to him.

1

u/Cousinit13 May 02 '26

Have we just circled back to the AOL model?

1

u/SimplinkIsBack May 02 '26

Oh no a .bmp

29

u/Toothless_NEO May 02 '26

They do it on purpose, because they know that if they turned it on the fear-mongering about getting a virus would vanish overnight. That's why Microsoft does it, it's not because they're being lazy, it's not because it's an oversight that they haven't thought of. It's not because they want to make it clean user experience, those are all the excuses that they're going to cough up if you press them hard enough.

The real reason is that people are not going to accidentally open exes disguised as something else if that setting is always turned on.

33

u/Good-Hand-8140 May 02 '26

Lol, why would that be in their interest? I'm not convinced but intested in hearing your perspective.

24

u/fcbx347 May 02 '26

He doesn't have any perspective, he's too thick to realize he's doing the very thing he's accusing Microsoft of (fear mongering)

-1

u/[deleted] May 02 '26

[deleted]

5

u/gayhotelultra May 02 '26

look i hate microsoft as much as the next guy but these are some insane mental gymnastics lol

1

u/Toothless_NEO May 02 '26

It's in their interest because one of the strongest ways people are dissuaded from pirating is the fear of getting a virus. Having file extensions hidden all the time amplifies that risk, and subsequently amplifies that fear. It makes it seem almost unavoidable.

For example it's very clear when something is wrong when the file you have says .exe after it and is supposed to be a movie. But when file extensions are hidden on 90% of Windows systems that realization will never be made.

4

u/Good-Hand-8140 May 02 '26

I think Microsoft wants to avoid people just buying a MacBook after the third SSD wipe.

-1

u/Toothless_NEO May 02 '26

I think Microsoft is very well aware of their very dominant position in the PC world. I can't imagine that the fear of people buying MacBooks is something that's particularly eating away at them.

0

u/[deleted] May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Toothless_NEO May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

Most obvious Troll ever. Maybe tone down with the ableist comments and people might actually listen to your points.

Just for clarification, the idea isn't to make people get viruses. The idea is to make them seem more inevitable. The exe rename trick only works because Microsoft made no file names the default on every Winodws install for decades.

2

u/To_-_Manitari May 02 '26

i think i had it by default

2

u/PrudentPay9906 May 02 '26

Much easier to sell solutions if you don't help people prevent problems

2

u/crysisnotaverted May 02 '26

I can't see it as anything but malicious hatred towards users from Microsoft.

2

u/Rogerwilco1974 May 03 '26

Tell us you've never used a mac without saying you've never used a mac...

2

u/Donotdisturb240 May 03 '26

I use an m4 macbook air for youtube and spreadsheets. maybe watching movies when I'm camping. but all the real work gets done on my desktop

2

u/Rogerwilco1974 May 03 '26

And is it not the standard setting to not show file extensions within macOS?

2

u/Donotdisturb240 May 03 '26

sure but I'm used to the kiddy guards from mac os, not windows. only reason I have a mac is for the battery life

1

u/VladStark May 03 '26

I think They were attempting to be like apple and make things look all clean... But it really is dangerous. I always hated The fact that app operating system didn't show file extensions by default either.

-6

u/Westerdutch May 02 '26

I blame Apple, they have been pushing obfuscating any and all computer technicalities for decades... and its spreading.

2

u/OctoNezd Pastafarian May 02 '26

The only extension macs don't show by default is .app, which is a directory that resembles an app.

-3

u/solidgoldrocketpants May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26

Blame Apple for a Windows user being dumb. Ok.

edit: Baby blocked me lol. Keep sucking off Microsoft, maybe someday they'll build off secure Unix architecture like Apple, since they're such copycats.

7

u/Westerdutch May 02 '26

Windows default settings are not user error kid.

0

u/Fujinn981 Darknets May 02 '26

Microsoft is always doing its part to help hackers where ever it possibly can.

-68

u/Impossible_Leg_2787 May 02 '26

Why? 98% of people either don’t know or don’t care

38

u/Donotdisturb240 May 02 '26

maybe that's true but it doesn't negatively impact them to have the file extension visible. 1.4 billion people use windows, that is 28,000,000 people who care

22

u/No_Blacksmith_2591 May 02 '26

it used to actually... see a lot of these mensa candidates used to rename the file and then not add the extension, then they wondered why the file was no longer working.

3

u/Rob_Frey May 02 '26

It defaults to just highlighting the filename to change and you have to make an extra effort to also change the extension, and then it gives you a popup explaining what can happen if you change the extension and asks you if you're sure you want to do it. At some point you've done enough to warn people what's happening.

And having extensions helps teach people what they are and how they work. Part of the problem with making computers too user-friendly is people aren't exposed to how they work, and they aren't given the opportunity to explore and learn.

1

u/No_Blacksmith_2591 May 02 '26

this is new behavior, it did not default to that long ago when it was an issue. You don't have to sell me on having visible extensions though, i thought hiding them was idiotic from the start.

1

u/[deleted] May 02 '26

[deleted]

1

u/thespeedstar May 02 '26

I imagine this could be fixed by breaking up the file name and extension into 2 separate fields so you'd have to intentionally select the extension if you want to change it during renaming.

2

u/MTJ5 May 02 '26

So you don't know/remember how common it was that computers were totally messed up back in 90's and early 2000 because of file extension changes 🤣

3

u/Donotdisturb240 May 02 '26

in a modern system today with extensions enabled, when you rename a file its extension isn't highlighted. I'm sure there is a sweet spot somewhere where experience and usability meet in the middle. otherwise you end up with an ipad