Be careful of what you download.

[Petrena]

I am really new to the world of downloading, and upto last week my computer had no problems, however, I tried to download the basic software to get me started and all hell broke loose on my computer, my computer seemed under constant attack, I had what I thought was good Norton Internet Security Software, and Spybot. The both of these programs were going crazy, as well as my browser not working, and the computer felt as if it was going back to the stone age it was that slow to respond. First of all I had a Generic 128 Virus, Then there was the Bloodhound Sonar, and then there was the real pain called Virtumondi which completely attacked my registry making life hell for me. Lucky for me I had good technical support and I watched and listened to what he did on my computer and where he got the software etc to combat what was on my computer. Even then I had to reformat my computer and start all over again, but not just once but 3 times, and it was through downloading this software. The viruses were getting past Norton, because they were Malware, Spybot was very much having trouble too because the Virtumondi virus is such a pain it hides itself in what seems to be normal programs and as for Internet Explorer everytime I opened it I ended up with problems. To cut a long story without the IT Support guy I certainly would not be on the internet now.  I do have other software which the IT guy found that was free on the internet, of which I will tell you about if you want me to, however I don't want to upset anyone, or tread on any toes, because I am still learning, but I feel what I am learning I am willing to share with others if that will help.

Now I know I am just a nobody really, but with everything that is going on with the ISP's and the MPAA and all those other people who are against filesharing. With whats happening at the moment, this maybe me being paranoid, but maybe as well as targeting the owners of the Torrent Sites, when the MPAA and others are sending in the hackers, obviously they will be attacking the databases of sites, but what is stopping these hackers uploading viruses to the sites, and uploading viruses into popular torrent files, to make life so difficult for the file sharers that they give up especially if they are newbies like me, who are relying on public knowledge to get up and running.  Obviously torrent sites are vunerable, because on the one hand they need to be popular and on the other hand the torrent sites are being too open about the programs they use to protect themselves and what files the members need in order to set filesharing. So the hackers are having a easy time causing mayhem.






 

[WalknDave]

Don't feel lonely ,, I too caught all of the big ones and it crashed my XP Pro with Norton Corp and Spy Bot and Spy Sweep too but I opened the wrong EXE file and it took my PC for a big down hill ride to distuction....SOOOO I went and got another harddrive and put XP Pro and all my favorite programs and got it up and running in good shape ....Then took my old harddrive and copied the good XP Pro on to it and put the other one in a safe place just in case I ever had this happen agian and it works for me every time I need it ... When you do torrents and warzs you are going to run into some bad stuff ever so often. So be careful and try to read up on all the stuff you can before downloading and then run a scan before you open it too just to make sure ...But if all else fails just wipe your old harddrive and start over ... I just hook up my old one to be the slave and go in and get to My Documents and get all that and copy it to my 500 gig Back up and then I have all my important stuff still there to use ... If you are going to do all this you have to have a good operating system on stand by to over write your old bad system and start over fresh and clean ..... works for me !!! hope that helps    and happy hunting...

[fuzzytomcat]

Hey Parakaboy and Petrena,

Your very correct in being careful when downloading torrents -

1) Beware of any ".ZIP" files, there is usually a reason there zipped and most of the time it's bad. So try to choose another torrent if you can.
2) Use the Bit Che "OPEN PAGE" button and go to the torrent site and check the "COMMENTS", there usually is someone before you that downloaded the same thing and may have had problems.
3) Don't download anything that needs a special player they want money
4) Keep Windows and you Security always updated check weekly if possible.

Happy Hunting,

Fuzzy
 

[Jaxx89]

I completely agree with fuzzy

Do scan any zipped files that you have downloaded. ([ZiP, RAR are thoe most widely used formats])

What i would suggest is :

1.) Use a good AV and Firewall program. You can use Kaspersky instead of Norton as that is the best Internet security program I have come across and have been using since past 3 years.
You can also use ZoneAlarm as your firewall.

2.) Use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer.
I have seen my IE crashing a lot of times and even slowing down my system as it is more vulnerable.
To increase the Firefox security you can use an Add-on called WOT(Web Of Trust) Which will alert you of websites that you should not visit(Malware an stuff).

3.)Use a pop-up blocker as some warez sites open pop-ups that have adware or even trojans.


Do ask for any help if needed.

 

[texasboy]

  Great info folks. Sort that helps everyone that reads your posts.
Suppose I`d better get my finger out and click a few karma buttons.
cheers