Rogue Code - please help (1 Viewer)

[Ceejay64]

Hi,
I've got a strange one here and I could use some assistance. I have a database in a multi-user environment run on several terminals. Someone has entered code somewhere on one of these terminals that causes one of the user's last name to change to a gibberish word when he selects it or types it in, assuming that it is written exactly so. This only happens on this one machine, and it affects any access database into which this name is typed, so I know that my database does not hold this rogue code. I was able to "bypass" this issue by entering his last name into the list with a capital letter in the middle of it, but would like to find and remove this code.
Does anyone have any idea where this code may have been placed to cause this behavior on this specific terminal? Any help would be much appreciated!!
Thanks in advance,
Ceejay

 

[Autoeng]

Depending on how the db is distributed to the machines it could indeed be in the db. Please detail the setup of the db. Is it a split db where the front end is on the users machine and the back end is on a server? Are these dumb terminals or are they pc's? As much specifics as possible please.

 

[Ceejay64]

Depending on how the db is distributed to the machines it could indeed be in the db. Please detail the setup of the db. Is it a split db where the front end is on the users machine and the back end is on a server? Are these dumb terminals or are they pc's? As much specifics as possible please.

Hi, and thanks. It is a split db, but both ends are accessible to anyone who wishes to find them. Front end appears on the users terminal via a desktop shortcut, but back end resides in the same folder as the front end on a common drive of the company server. Terminals are regular, fully functional PC's.

 

[Autoeng]

PC doesn't happen to have an old, programmable keyboard does it?

 

[Ceejay64]

How do you mean, old programmable keyboard? It looks like a standard style keyboard to me, but I suppose it could have options I don't know about. It is a "Dell QuietKey" keyboard.

 

[Autoeng]

Probably not a programmable keyboard then as I don't think Dell ever made one. I know Gateway did.

As the FE is on the server and not on everyone's machine makes me think that maybe this computer is using a different FE. Have you checked the shortcut to make sure it is pointing to the FE server location correctly?

Other than that I'm out of ideas. There are probably programs that you can use to create keystroke macros which maybe someone did on this machine to replace that users name (think of it as a keystroke sequence) with the gibberish.

 

[Ceejay64]

I was thinking that maybe someone had either inadvertently or purposely made a copy of the database, and that the shortcut on that machine was connected to it instead, but I checked it myself and it was correct. I then replaced it anyway just to be sure. When I figured out that this was happening on other databases from this machine, I was equally baffled.
Is there something in the files associated with the access program itself, sort of a master, that could have been tampered with to cause this? The guy (victim?) is really annoyed by it, and I don't blame him.
~Ceejay

 

[Autoeng]

I'm baffled. Nothing generic in Access, that I can think of, that would cause this.

What happens if you type his name in an Excel spreadsheet or Word document?

Look under Control Panel - Keyboard to see if there is anything funny there.

Got a Virus detection program on the pc? Is it current? Does this pc have ability to connect to outside information sources (email - internet)?

Create a new db with a form only containing a text box. Text box saves to a table. Have him enter his name. What happens?

 

[Travis]

Check to see if his name appears in the "AutoCorrect" List.

You can access this in MS Word under the Tools Menu.

 

[Autoeng]

Good one Travis. Didn't know that existed. Hope that's the problem. Nasty little bugger that would do that to a fellow though.

 

[FoFa]

Could there be one of those Keyboard macro programs running that looks for certain keyboard combinations and submits something else instead? Just thinking out load. We played a practical joke on someone once with one of those, everytime he entered DIR (OK, back in the DOS days) it would run a program that looked like a virus (but wasn't). Had him freaked out for about half a day before we let him in on it.

 

[Autoeng]

Fofa:

I thought the same thing 3rd post. I have no idea of what to look for or how to look for it. That's why I asked what happened if you entered the name in Word or Excel. Any macro program should have the same effect on a sequence of keystrokes no matter what program you are using at the time.

Ceejay hasn't posted back in awhile so we haven't heard whether he has identified any solution yet.

 

[Ceejay64]

Hi,
Thanks for all your suggestions. I work the graveyard shift, so my opportunities to get on and check out possibilities are a little off what most consider "regular schedule." I am here now, and plan to give that terminal a good looking over based on what you've mentioned.
Oh, yeah...Ceejay is a "she," not a "he."
Will post back shortly to discuss what, if anything, was found.
Thanks again,
Ceejay

 

[Ceejay64]

Solved!!

Ha! Y'all are BRILLIANT!
Yes, indeed, someone had set up an "autocorrect" that changed the person's name. When I originally asked him if this was happening in Word or Excel, he told me no, and I never verified it myself until now. Shame on me!
Anyway, next time I will know about this...I didn't before.
Thanks for all your help. I'm sure that the "victim" of this little joke will be very pleased...it's a shame I have to wait several hours for him to come in (day-shift worker); I'm dying to share the good news.
Thanks again,
Ceejay

 

[Autoeng]

You can access the AutoCorrect menu in the major program platforms of Microsoft but if you set up an autocorrect in Word does that same change affect the others (Access and Excel)?

Great that Travis found the solution for you CeeJay.

 

[Ceejay64]

I followed Travis's instructions and found it in Word, made the deletion, and it corrected it across the board in all the Office programs that I checked. Very interesting little trick, that one!
Again, I thank all of you for your assistance in finding the problem.
Cheers,
Ceejay

 

[Travis]

Microsoft made the AutoCorrect and Spell check Office product wide. Which basically means that when you set it up in one, all of the other applications gain the same correction.

In A2K up there is an option to not use the autocorrect (This feature can improve proformance, but it increase the posibility of typing "hte" instead of "the".