TEEST (Text in Excel Every Single Time)

Disclaimer: Do not use or modify neither the program or the source code to make software violating the law. - whatever

How do I use it?

1. Head to https://github.com/cozyplanes/teest and download the latest release EXE file.
2. Windows may warn you with the missing signature. The file is a DEBUG file, so there isn't a publisher signature. You can proceed downloading anyway since it has been virus checked by the developer.
3. Type the message you want to display in the textbox.
4. Click Save text button.
5. To check the file, click Cancel button in the opened popup dialog.

What happens?

When an MS Excel file (.xlsx) has been opened, by using TEEST, two files gets opened.

1. The original file user opened
2. Excel file named message.txt with the custom message you have written.

message.txt excel file will open every single time a person opens a excel file.

In some older versions of Excel, the message may overlap with the user opened file.

Why does this happen?

When MS Excel program is executed, it is programmed to check the files in the following 2 folders.

• C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office[versionnumber]\XLSTART
• C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART

In normal conditions, there is no file in those folders (or the folders doesn't exist at all) but when you use TEEST and click Save text button, it saves message.txt file in the folders above. From MS Excel is executed again, it will find out there is a file in the folders above, so it will show those text files in Excel.

Where is this technique used?

There should be a lot of software using this trick, but it is widely known for ransomwares such as GandCrab and TeslaCrypt displaying decryption methods in MS Excel by this trick.

How can I disable it?

• With TEEST

1. Open TEEST again.
2. Click Save text button and click Cancel in the following popup.
3. Delete message.txt file in the opened explorer.

• Without TEEST TODO

Shut up for this bs and tell me how to do it myself!

1. Head to C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART
2. Create a text file of any name you like.
3. Write something.
4. Done.
5. When you want to delete it, delete it.

LICENSE

This software is under the MIT License. Refer to the LICENSE file for more information.

Contact

cozyplanes@tuta.io

Spam/Ads not allowed. Please only send questions or concerns about the software. It may take up to 48 hours to get a reply.