Remove Virus Renaming your Media-MP3, MPEG, AVI to JPG: MediaControl.exe
Written by Pavan Kumar on April 14, 2009
MediaControl.exe is the recent virus which has been affecting a lot of computers all over. It renames media files like mpg, mp3, avi, dat, mpeg etc. to jpg extension. Note that only extension will be changed and not the file format. This process mediacontrol.exe will be running all the time converting the file extensions to jpeg format and hence you will see all your mp3 and avi getting converted to .jpg, but you cannot open them on image editors. You can open them on your normal media players irrespective of the .jpg extension.
To solve the problem, you need to follow these steps to remove the virus from your hard disk.
1. Open task manager [alt+ctrl+del] and move on to processes tab, find mediacontrol.exe. End Process. More on using task manager to kill virus here.
2. Now, Start > Run [keyboard shortcut: Winkey + R] > type msconfig > ok. Move to startup tab, find the mediacontrol.exe and uncheck it.
3. Goto System32 folder in C:\Windows [mostly, may vary based on your OS installation], find folder Mcont and delete. If not possible, you may need to use unlocer to delete the folder. Details here. If you fail in this step, you may start your computer in safe mode and try again.
4. Now, you have cleared your computer from virus. Its time to undo all changes it has done. Use Extension Renamer utility to rename file extensions back to their original file extensions. Some prior knowledge is requried for this about the type of file. You will find it difficult if you have kept all your songs and movies in a single folder.
Note: This virus may also be found in these names: 81308957.EXE, 39715419.EXE, 32454595.EXE, COPY.EXE, MEDIACONTROL.DOC, 23073198.SVD, 63532069.SVD. The file size may vary from 270 to 290kb.
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I am facing the same issue in my external hard disk as well. The .mp3 and media files are displayed as in JPEG Format. May I know the remedy for this?
Thank you
Basha