HOW TO AVOID VIRUSES ????

[Bill D.]

Hello ;

HOW  can we be sure the files that we download from WinMx do NOT contain a Virus  or  an Embeded program that will send our Computers Info to a Hacker or something like that . ??

I have downloaded a couple of nice  PROGRAMS that say CRACK Included ,,  but they are almost DOUBLE the File Size of the same Program if  you  downloaded  it  from the Companies Web site where you BUY the Program .

I always  WORRY !  that maybe there might be a HIDDEN  program included that will copy and send some of my Passwords or  Secure Info  to a Hacker who might have supplied the Cracked Program  using WinMx to do that .

Regards
Bill D.

[Me Here]

Its true that you can just as easily download a virus from WinMx as you can anywhere on the internet.  Often times things that say they are cracks can be viruses or trojans.

It sounds like you already have a pretty good idea of how to protect yourself. 

Checking file sizes, making sure you always scan all files with a good antivirus program has always worked well for me.

Usually the things that are too small to be true are the ones to watch out for, often times things labled as cracks alone.

[SamSeeSam]

Always doenload the file and IMMEDIATELY run a virus scan on the file. Most importantly, configure your antivirus program to scan files as they are downloaded and also that they search thorugh compressed files like .zip or .rar.  This should take care of most of your problems. Don't download only cracks as mentioned above. All exe files less than 20kb are almost always viruses or trojans.

[Neutron]

I prefer downloading programs bundled with cracks/keygens, because these cracks are more likely to work with the program, and because many of the files labeled "crack" you find here are trojans.
There is no way you can be 100% sure that a file doesn't contain viruses, but keeping your antivirus software up to date should help a lot.
I don't use p2p to download cracks/keygens, I download them from websites such as www.cracks.am. But even cracks on here can be viruses, so be careful with these too.