Safest P2P program?

VizViz · #1 (**permalink**) 04-06-2007, 07:51 PM

I'm new to these forums, and this looks like the right forum though, so here you go.
What's the safest P2P program to use (Like one not full of adware and spyware, and one with the least potential viruses?)
I have Norton Internet Security, and a Spyware blocker, because I use AOL. What's the safest Peer-2-Peer program and would I need to take any precautions when getting files (by say, scanning them first somehow), and how would I do it?

All help is highly appreciated!

guyladouche · #2 (**permalink**) 04-06-2007, 08:00 PM

Hi. Welcome to Compuforums.

First of all, it depends on what you're downloading--can you give us a better idea of what you'd like to download?

**Ash** · #3 (**permalink**) 04-06-2007, 08:03 PM

Hi there VizViz,

Welcome to CompuForums. I hope that you can visit our forum often in the future and post - rather than just receive our advice, fix your problem and then disappear - doing so is unfair and considered rude, particularly to those who have helped you. We provide our help for free, and all we ask in return is that you participate in our forum and refer your friends, or consider a premium membership.

Firstly, you might want to ditch AOL spyware blocker and Norton - they are both ineffective, and hog your system. I recommend Avast! Home Edition [ Free antivirus - avast! 4 Home Edition Download ] along with Windows Defender [ http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...e/default.mspx ].

Both are fairly good programs, particularly Avast!. For example, if you are downloading an infected file, it will terminate the download before it's even complete / saved to your hard drive.

Of course, your best protection is common sense. For example, an ISO file [ ~700MB ] won't fit into a few kilobytes, and if you see one that is, it's likely to be a virus. Also remember that we only support P2P use if you are downloading publically-licensed items and/or you have permission from the copyright holder to do so.

VizViz · #4 (**permalink**) 04-06-2007, 08:04 PM

Mainly music, not any films or anything.

**Ash** · #5 (**permalink**) 04-06-2007, 08:06 PM

What sort of music? The sort of stuff you would normally buy on CD?

As I said, we cannot and will not support copyright infringement. Please confirm that you are not using P2P to download content that you need to purchase to legally have a copy of.

VizViz · #6 (**permalink**) 04-06-2007, 08:08 PM

I'll stick to itunes to be safe (and legal)

guyladouche · #7 (**permalink**) 04-06-2007, 08:09 PM

Hi again. I'm sorry, but we cannot discuss the illegal downloading of protected media--including songs (or any sort of file that you would otherwise have to pay for). Doing so opens up the Forum to legal issues.

EDIT--looks like Ash beat me to it--sorry for the repeat.

**Ash** · #8 (**permalink**) 04-06-2007, 08:11 PM

Just please clarify that you are only downloading content which you are allowed to download. We can't see what you are downloading, but we do not endorse or support copyright infringement.

VizViz · #9 (**permalink**) 04-06-2007, 08:19 PM

Yes, I am downloading safe and legal content.

narutohendrix · #10 (**permalink**) 04-07-2007, 01:31 AM

Hi. I'm also new to this P2P and have found that utorrent has been incredibly effective on my computer.

I'm using AVG Free edition and Comodo Firewall and find my self breaking 100kb/s quite often.

Also,this guide on the utorrent site is very helpful. It states that it really doesn't matter what program you use, it all depends on the torrent tracker. Also, the spyware and viruses come from the files that you are downloading.

To be safe, do not trust these files until you have scanned them with your Norton.

**Ash** · #11 (**permalink**) 04-07-2007, 01:35 AM

Comodo is great - and I reccomend it, but I don't recommend AVG. I've used it in the past, and I always used to recommend it along with Avast - until I uninstalled it and then run Avast on my cousin's computer. It picked up over around 40 trojans on the first scan. Of course, everyone has their preferences, but AVG isn't as effective as it used to be, particularly when it comes to trojans.

narutohendrix · #12 (**permalink**) 04-07-2007, 01:45 AM

Ash, why would the trojans want to hind in my computer? I'm not using credit cards, paypal, banking, porn passwords, etc. I say say trojans don't matter and should be ignored.

In all reality, your probably right, I do a lot of downloading, so something has to fall between the cracks.

**Ash** · #13 (**permalink**) 04-07-2007, 01:48 AM

Well, the thing about trojans is that hackers etc. can use them to inject far worse stuff - software, for example that sends out thousands of spam e-mails at their request - and when your ISP receives complaints, it's you who gets your internet cut off. As long as your are careful about what you are downloading though, any basic antivirus software is good enough.

narutohendrix · #14 (**permalink**) 04-07-2007, 01:54 AM

For all the complaints I have about my computer, the one thing I don't have is about spam. The only time I've seen spam on my computer is on my yahoo mail account. My Gmail account has seen none, therefore, Thunderbird has seen none.

**Ash** · #15 (**permalink**) 04-07-2007, 02:01 AM

Ah... what I meant was that hackers [often getting big money for doing so] actually send the spam from your computer using various clever tricks such as fake e-mail addresses. A trojan means it's easy for them to gain quick and easy access to your computer.

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