Stock Viewer in Control Panel

drevin

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Sep 5, 2010
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I just noticed I have a new icon in Control Panel: Stock Viewer Settings. Screenshot below. When I double click it, a somewhat suspicious window opens. It has two options:

-Download Current and Past Stock Prices
-Download Future Stock Prices (Requires 64 TB RAM and 6800 GHz Processor)

Could this be some sort of malware, or maybe just some bundled app installed along some other program. I don't recall ever installing anything like this. I also checked the add/remove programs list, and there is no Stock Viewer there.

stockq.png
 

drevin

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Sep 5, 2010
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Okay, I think I found the culprit. I found an executable called StockViewerControlPanel.exe in the directory of Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit, which I had installed a few days earlier. Apparently it's some kind of a "demo application" bundled with the toolkit..

The full path of the file:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit\Compatibility Administrator (32-bit)\Demo Application\StockViewer
 

cliffsteinman

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Aug 10, 2011
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Really?...It's an Easter Egg. I think it comes after you add the desktop gadget for stocks. Not malware. Someone at Microsoft has a sense of humor and it's obvious you won't be able to click the future stock prices radio button...1. how would it know the future stock prices and 2. where are you getting 64 TB of RAM and a 6800 GHz processor? Are you serious? It's a joke, not a demo app or malware. Laugh and enjoy it.