Safe download sites

Hello Everyone, quite often on these forums I read posters saying they have downloaded an antivirus or antispyware software from a random internet site or from a file sharing site then wonder why they start having pc problems and why their new software is not working as it should. All two often it is easier to blame the software. If you are going to download any software stick to reputable sites such as download.com, or Major geeks.com. At least you know the item you are about to download, has been checked spyware free.

 

no,

if your going to download anything regarding a security product, ALWAYS get it from the vendors website.

majorgeeks / download.com etc are reputable websites, but i recommend them for non-security products.

 

I have never read that on wilders But yes, of course its best to download from trustworthy sites instead of rapidshare or torrentsites etc.

 

Also, check that the version you have downloaded is the latest version. Don't assume that download.com (especially!!) has the latest version, even if they are referred from the antivirus web site.

 

I am of course referring to newbies and the computer inexperienced, not experienced pc users and experts, when I say downloaded software randomly. There has been a few posts on here where some posters have explained where they have actually downloaded their software from. Some are very suspect sites. So I thought a pointer to more reputable sites may be of some help to them.

 

I've experienced at least one download from download.com that was not safe.

A few more from Majorgeeks !

 

otoh, I have rarely seen an "unsafe" warez. Depends on what you consider to be "safe".

 

How do these sites verify that safe products have been submitted for listing?

 

Never Assume something Is safe even from a vendors site though most time it is.Assumption Is the mother of all F Ups.

 

Exactly, there is no place for assumption in security. But we can Assume this thread's conclusion at least -
Never Assume, always use precaution.

 

You can try HashTab (just right click on a file and select properties) to speed up checking checksum.

 

One place I like, primarily for games but they do have some other useful stuff, is CFS (Completely Free Software). Obviously you want to scan any download yourself while and/or after downloading, but they've so far done a great job of keeping a "clean ship".

One thing I like in particular is that their weekly newsletter (as well as the full description on-site) includes warnings if the game includes adware or nagware, and whether or not that can be removed and still permit the game to play properly. And if it can, often there's info on how to do it, sometimes no more than an additional program which comes out neatly via add-remove.