Where do you download your software from?

I'm looking for safe places to download software from, the amount of bad sites out there is a risk of getting a infection.

So far www.softpedia.com & www.download.com are the only 2 I know. Any others that are safe?

 

Only Softpedia or the manufacturer's site. I believe download.com is CNET right? I've heard they bundle adware in downloads, though I've never experienced this.

 

Filehippo or softpedia and sometimes cnet

 

www.downloadcrew.com and www.softpedia.com

 

http://majorgeeks.com/ is safe....

 

As you can see there are likely several...I personally usually use manufactures download link, drag a shortcut of it in an install folder so I'll always have it along with keeping a copy of the install exe.

I see a lot of people use filehippo personally.

 

same here, I ONLY download software from www.majorgeeks.com

It usually offers 2 download links, one from the developer himself (author) and one from their server unless it was an app they were only hosting such as the Win7Codecs as they have offered Shark007to host his codecs for him

 

Not much besides softpedia it seems

Is downloadcr3w safe?

 

Mostly from here http://fileforum.betanews.com/ for me.

 

I start at, or work backwards to, the manufacturer's site. The latest release will be there along with possibly important release notes and in some cases an alternative download I would prefer (such a generally portable version, a version without the adware or additional unwanted component, etc). Sometimes the manufacturer's site forces you to one of the software distribution sites or some other mirror. On occasion I have rejected the offered mirror because it looks a bit dicey and gone to Softpedia or MajorGeeks. Either way I get it, the download is scanned before it is opened.

<tmi>I maintain a local library of offline installers for the software I use in case I need to reinstall (when I don't have a net connection). Each program has a folder and in there I put a link to the place where I get it. In cases where you have to dig for offline installers, having such a link handy can save you some time. I also put a "Watch for unwanted components.txt" file in the program's folder if it comes with those. To remind me to be careful about which version I download and how I install it.</tmi>

 

Definitely safe

 

Not counting developer's site(s), most of the times I download from either Softpedia or FileHippo. Nevertheless, sometimes I also download from these sites:

Majorgeeks
FileForum Betanews,
AfterDawn (may be not so well-known but it has an 'All versions' history which can be useful for those software not listed at FileHippo)

Not to forget, SourceForge.

You can also try the sites listed here:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_shareware_sites.htm

P.S. I no longer favor CNET as a download portal.

 

Mostly download on Majorgeeks, but sometimes i use snapfiles
http://www.snapfiles.com/

rules

 

- FileHippo
- Softpedia
- Majorgeeks
- FileForum Betanews

 

There are safe for me:
-http://fileforum.betanews.com
-http://www.zdnet.com/
-http://3d2f.com/
-http://www.bestsoftware4download.com/
-http://www.filehippo.com
-http://www.filetransit.com/
-http://download.famouswhy.com/
-http://www.pendriveapps.com/
-http://www.freewarefiles.com/
-http://www.onlyfreewares.com/
-http://www.freewarebb.com/
-http://pcwin.com/
-http://www.scanwith.com/
-http://www.spychecker.com/
-http://www.tucows.com/downloads?hp=A2
Of course Majorgeeks, Softpedia, Cnet and some Polish sites

 

Neither do I

They don't always add/edit up to date programs, they leave too many old entries behind.

They incorporated their own installer

They have rogue programs in their database (I've seen them)

Too many tracking Ads

To me, I think they went completely down hill, they're not as good as they use to be.

 

I forgot to list snapfiles, definitely a good download site.

 

www.freewarefiles.com is one I check up on from time to time

 

Direct author.
Softpedia.
Majorgeeks.
Stinky Cnet - Like the commercial we bundle.

 

I don't use download.com CNET anymore, it used to be ok but not anymore (for me anyway) for the all the reasons given above, I like Snapfiles, Softpedia, or a software manufacturers own download.

 

MajorGeeks, BetaNews, FileHippo, Softpedia... I have used all of them for years. Zero issues. I no longer use CNET.

 

Developer's site, FileHippo, Softpedia, CNET, MajorGeeks, BetaNews, etc.

 

That link = Never again!

Though as others have said Majorgeeks can you always count on

 

I download from manufacturer's site, majorgeeks or softpedia. Cnet sucks. Filehippo does not offer Avs with latest definition database. For example, after downloading EAM from Filehippo and installing it EAM updates the whole database again which is nearly close to the size of the original installer downloaded the first time.

 

These are the ones I usually use to find software: http://fileforum.betanews.com/, http://sourceforge.net/, https://www.techsupportalert.com/, BUT I ALWAYS try and download software directly from the manufacturer.