This Windows Foo showed it’s ugly head today for the first time and I was simply flabbergasted. Whatever I typed, only the first letter appeared correctly and from there on the system was showing consecutive numbers. Something like this for good ol’ hello world:
H2345678901
It happened first in a Java application so, I suspected a problem with Java and a virus scanner, etc. But nothing could be found. After some testing, I saw that it happened even in native Windows applications like the Powershell or AutoCAD.
Some further testing revealed that the tilde (~) and the back tick (`) seem to work fine and that pressing SHIFT plus any key gives the appropriate symbol for pressing SHIFT and the number that would appear. To make it even more fun the same happened using a remote session.
The whole behavior made me cringe and I thought already I have a key logger or some other kind of malware installed. But the virus scanner showed no problem and in general the system seemed to be fine.
After some more digging and asking repeatedly the great wise oracle with the googly eyes, I found the culprit: GuardedID. According to some other posts a tool from Comcast called Constant Guard causes the same trouble. After de-installing GuardedID, all was fine again. I did my good deed for this Monday.
And now my question to the GuardedID makers: WTF?! This tool supposedly should prevent keylogging. The least I can expect is good programming and not a TheDailyWTF moment. And even worse. After looking at your web site I nearly had to puke. Are you really marketing yourself as a serious product with “as seen on TV” and some actor’s quote?! How about investing your money into a good product rather in cheap marketing campaigns!