a bunch of weird Finder problems -- please help

[Gregg Dinse]

On Jan 23, 2008, at 9:17 PM, Arno Hautala wrote:

> On 2008/01/23, at 21:11, Gregg Dinse wrote:
>
>> When I got home from work today, my PowerMac G5 (running 10.5.1)  
>> was in a very weird state.  Here is a list of some of the problems:
>>
>> 1. several windows were open that were not open earlier
>> 2. some file icons on my desktop were re-arranged
>> 3. there were 3 "untitled" new folders created on my desktop
>> 4. there were 2 "untitled" new folders in my home directory
>> 5. the Finder was in Cover Flow view instead of Column view
>> 6. Toast was open, but it was not running earlier
>> 7. my 9-GB Pictures folder was copied to my Music folder
>> 8. a folder called Fonts, which had been in my home directory,
>> was moved to my Downloads folder
>> 9. an icon of my computer was shown in the Device section
>> of the Sidebar, but it had not been there before
>>
>> There was a panel open and asking for my Admin password to make  
>> changes in the Finder.  I clicked cancel since I had no idea what  
>> actions it was waiting to process.
>
> Just one question...
> Do you have a cat?
>
> Seriously though, given all those items this really sounds like  
> someone was on your computer.

Well, that was my first thought.  My wife is the only one with  
physical access to my computer and my first reaction was to ask her if  
she was messing with my computer.  She said no.  She said that she was  
working on her computer (in the same room) and noticed my screen saver  
go off at some point.  She said my desktop looked different, but that  
she did not touch anything.

We have 3 cats, but the cats are locked out of that part of the  
house.  I know you are joking, but even if a cat got into the room,  
most (if not all) of these things could not be done by even the  
smartest and most agile of cats.

I certainly hope that nobody has remote access to my computer.  I  
don't even access my computer remotely myself.  It is connected to the  
internet through a Time Warner Road Runner cable modem, with a Dlink  
router between the cable modem and the computer.

I think I left the security options on default, but I'm not positive.   
I just checked the Firewall tab in the Security section of System  
Preferences.  It is set to the middle option, which says Allow Only  
Essential Services.  In the box below, it says File Sharing (AFP).  In  
the Sharing section, both File Sharing and Bluetooth sharing are  
selected.  I just unchecked File Sharing, in case that was allowing  
some outsider access.  Could that have allowed people on the outside  
to access my computer?

I wish I knew more about which security options to use.  Thanks,

Gregg