Texmod & Account Security

A few months back I downloaded Texmod from the official wiki for finishing off my cartographer titles. I was very reluctant to download it but eventually decided to go ahead with it and made sure to run an md5 checksum of the .exe to ensure that it was actually a legit copy.

I used it perfectly fine over the last few months and nearly finished Tyrian Cartographer. I got to the point where I only needed .2% more and then got distracted at Halloween and moved onto other things for a bit. Over the past couple days I decided to try and get the last bit and noticed some strange things with the program.

Texmod used to always start up within seconds of opening it but it now takes anywhere from 5-10 minutes to open. I tried to check the md5 of the file but my computer just ends up freezing. I am experiencing no slow down at all with any other programs. I was worried that somehow my clean version of Texmod had been replaced with a shady one. The only thing I can think of that has happened recently was when I was browsing either the PVX wiki or the unoffical Wikia (can't remember which one it was exactly....it was late at night). One of the popup banners must have been malicious and a pop up window came up saying that my computer was being attacked (It kind of looked like Windows Explorer and there was a status bar being filled up on it). I immediately closed the window thinking it to be a pop-up scam trying to get you to click on something.

I ran a full virus scan (using McAfee) on my computer after noticing the texmod issues and nothing came up. I've since deleted the texmod.exe file and shredded it (it even took about 15 minutes to right click on it and delete it).

Is it possible that my clean version of texmod was somehow hacked and replaced by a shady one? I'm kind of worried about it and am changing all of my passwords just to be safe. I'm very hesitant to attempt downloading it again from the official wiki.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this or heard of someone else having a similar problem? Or could the hold up with texmod be some other issue and I'm just being paranoid?

Texmod is clean. Although I'm a little surprised McAfee didn't pick it up as generic.trojan, since it usually does. McAfee thinks it's a virus, but it's not.

Anything that looks kind of like Windows Explorer and tell you you've been infected is a popup that's meant to fool you or a rogue, fake antivirus problem. If you're still getting the pop up saying you're infected, then it's a fake antivirus program.

I'd download MalwareBytes AntiMalware and run it just to make sure.

Texmod takes anywhere between 3-10 minutes to load up on my pc even when it was downloaded fresh. I've always assumed that was because it was taking its time hooking up what it needed to.

McAfee did pick it up but only when launching Guild Wars with Texmod which would result in the game not launching at all. I read thru some of the threads on this forum and found that I need to disable McAfee's autoscan while loading up the game thru Texmod as it identifies the clean version as a fake positive.

And yeah I assumed the pop-up window was something for a fake antivirus program which is why I just closed it and didn't click anything. That was a one time only occurence though while browsing the wikia. But it was the only thing I could think of that happened between the times of TexMod working normally and not working/acting suspicously.

Thanks for the tip on AntiMalware, I'll download it and run it just to be sure I don't have a keylogger buried somewhere that McAfee isn't picking up on.

It's always taken a while for me too to launch the game with texmod. But this 5-10 minute delay was just to bring up the window of the texmod program itself. Beforehand I seem to remember it opening up within seconds.

Textmod for me has been opening withing Seconds of double clicking its icon. Maybe yall need to run a defrag or cleaner to speed your system up.

keeping your browsers updated may help with the "virus" pop ups.

I run a defrag of my system every few weeks. And I'm experiencing no unusual slowdown from any other applictations. It was only with TexMod which went from opening within seconds to taking 5-10 minutes to open within a span of not using it for 3 weeks.

I also update my browser and windows whenever there is an update available. The only reason that pop up window that looked like Windows Explorer saying my system was being attacked seemed out of the ordinary was because I haven't seen a pop up (especially one like that) in a very, very long time.

Texmod itself opens immediately. Starting GW with texmod takes about 5 seconds longer than starting GW without texmod. This is using only the Cartography Made Easy Complete Collection. I've used it for about half a year and it hasn't gotten any faster or slower.

@Schnellburg: they are probably talking about starting GW with texmod, not actually starting texmod itself.

Look I run a full carto mod, and another UI mod, and GW takes MAX 10 seconds to start because of the carto mod. If i take that mod off, it starts in maybe 1-2 seconds.

I understand what they are saying, and to be honest I don't know what to say, outside of turning your Virus Scanner off, Starting GW w/ Textmod, and then turn it back on. Maybe that will speed it up, as your VS is scanning it before you run it. But idk.

I have the same problem. Whatever folder I keep Texmod in always takes up to 5 minutes to load. Then clicking Texmod itself I need to wait about another 5 minutes for it to start up.

(I scan and defrag my computer daily)

I'm guessing this is a normal problem guessing the other users have it. It only takes me 2-3 seconds to open texmod, and I downloaded it from Wiki.

Did Texmod always behave like this for you or was the slowdown something that just seemed to happen out of the blue?

Either way I'm glad to hear that others have had the same problem with no issues reported resulting from it. It just seemed weird to me that the program would begin behaving differently (opening within seconds of double-clicking the texmod icon as opposed to taking 5-10 minutes to open or even right click on) from the last time I used it a few weeks ago.

With the tales of accounts being hacked I guess I was just a bit paranoid and worried that the change in how the .exe was opening may have meant that it had been somehow modified or replaced.

I have no problem loading texmod, always takes max 10 seconds to load. The hypothesis of your texmod's version being changed by a popup (which could, at the most, add a malware on your comp) is pure fiction.

My idea on this is simply that your antivirus starts a scan on texmod and gw folders each time you load the game. Simply disable McAfee.

imo, these kind of programs (like norton too) are pure bull****, are built for average computer users, making everthing automatized, and are a pain in the rear. My comp lives very well with Spybot and AVG free, you should try these.

I agree that my hypothesis is most likely nothing more than delusional paranoia.

I was also disabling McAfee before opening TexMod as that was the only way for it to even work (If McAfee Viruscan is running it falsely identifies TexMod as a possible keylogger upon launching GW).

Thanks for the recommendations on the free programs as I'll likely have to switch once my current subscription runs out for financial reasons. I've used Norton in the past on an old computer and absolutely hated it (dumbed down automated junk that didn't really offer any real protection IMO). But other than having to disable McAfee for using TexMod (minor annoyance) I've had nothing but positive experiences with it. McAfee came with this computer and I was pleased enough with it to renew it a couple of times.

I kept my .RAR from the wiki when I originally downloaded it 2+ years ago. Pretty much a turn key operation...incase the in-use texmod.exe has a problem, its easy to recopy a clean version within seconds. Though, I haven't had any problems with TM, quite possibly..ever. I think we all know Texmod was never originally designed for GW, therefore having a virus to steal GW accounts would only be able to come into the program after it's development by a hacker which I believe, highly possible that OP maybe have been hit with a hacked script of some sort from that disease of a website called PvX where maybe the hacker knew how to infect Texmod with an injected code.. I dunno. Just re download Texmod and try again. I even have the original archive from when I downloaded it.

I actually USED to use AVG Free, but it HATED Texmod. I even added Texmod to the exceptions list for AVG and it still hosed Texmod up upon every launch. I thought AVG Free was great, but no one messes with my modding time, so bye bye went AVGFree.

I also had the original .zip file as well and re-extracted the .exe a couple hours ago. The newly extracted version worked perfectly fine. I was able to create an md5 checksum file as well without my computer locking up, and texmod once again opens up within seconds again.

All in all it was a strange issue and hopefully it was just something minor and random that caused the problem in the first place. Needless to say I've changed all of my important passwords as a precaution, most of them were due to be changed up anyways.

Everyone downloaded texmod from here right?
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Texmod
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L4N3A6SD

Im just worried because people can edit wiki easily and change the link...

I used the link in the text. The "Texmod can be downloaded here." part. Anyway, if you're worried, the Checksum is listed, so compare.

I run McAfee and it's incredibly slow starting up if I forget to disable virus protection before opening TexMod. I just temporarily turn off Virus Protection when I open TexMod since I'll have to turn it off to start GW with it anyway.

Never had any problems so far. *knock on wood*