Note To All P2p Users If you use P2P read here

[illdevilinc 0]

Ive seen a lot of people using p2p. Most of them think that its "safe".P2P is has a lot of viral files. It also has a lot of spyware and ad's. On top of that 98% of the files being shared on it is illigal.If you plan to download files on P2P then be careful and follow some or all of the suggestions below.1)Have a UPDATED virus scanner and scan your computer every day. (recommended Nortan or McAfee Antivirus)2)Have a spyware removal program (spybot or ad-aware or any other good spyware program)3)Back up your important documents so that if something goes wrong you wont lose anything.4)have a clean start CD or hard drive as you may need to use these.5)CHECK IF THE PROGRAM THAT YOUR DOWNLOADING IS LEGAL!The P2P programs arent ilegal them selves and thats why this network is still active. But As i said before 98% of the files on the network are ilegal. Also 15% of the files on there are misnamed or viruses. Be careful on these networks as they open ports on your computer making it an open data box. Your safer just not to use these programs but they can be useful in legal ways. Again be careful about how you use them and read there agreements carefuly as the program may instal ad-ware on your computer.

[vblk 0]

OOH, Yes i know that Files in P2P programmes are illige. But here in sri lanka (i live in sri lanka) You can even by windows XP PRo for just Rs. 100 thats $1 and theres no law to stop IT! Also who doesn't want to get all that really good software for free! Anyway Amarican users beware YOU on the otherhand are in BIG trouble if you are caught using software illigely (they got ways to find out!)Just thought i'd share my knowledge Bye!!

[Sai 0]

If you are going to use p2p, it is wise to get a program like peer guardian to help hide yourself :)Personally, I believe that it is the users who download music, and films, who have the most to fear from the law.

[arnz 0]

I tend to agree that the Peer 2 Peer 'sharing' programs are legal, but as everyone in this thread said, pretty much the majority of the files shared on the programs are illegal.However though, there are some programs out there that are riddled with spyware, etc. I'd probably suggest getting a spyware removal program such as Ad-aware and scan for them (and eventually removing them).

[believer 0]

I sometimes use torrent and I'm not sure if that's P2P type, nonetheless most of the files available are copyrighted too so, careful downloading should always be done. As for the viruses, after my download I usually run a scan first before opening it and of course I have my trusted Spybot for those nasty spywares.

If you are going to use p2p, it is wise to get a program like peer guardian to help hide yourself
Personally, I believe that it is the users who download music, and films, who have the most to fear from the law.

first time that I heard this peer guardian software, can you provide some personal review on this, how certain are you that it really can protect? I know there's no full protection on peer to peer but I am also looking for something like this that can be used, hope you can give some personal insights, thanks.

[PunkGuitar 0]

I jsut quickly download the file then exit

[keysmaker 0]

I sometimes use torrent and I'm not sure if that's P2P type,

Yep, bit torrent comunity is a peer to peer program, like kazza, emule, limewire (my favourite), ares....

also if anyone want to see more information about peer to peer programs, you can visit :
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P2p ]

[ebula 0]

P2P technology is completely legal, but not all p2p programs. Emule0.46 is one of the safest and legal programs. Earlier, grokster or kaaza were nasty programs. it offered you to download music as if it were legal they use to come with spywares. But I found Emule as most userfriendly. Its a GNU project. You can download it here

http://emule-project.net

And about your privacy? You can use Hide IP or a proxy switcher to connect to public proxies in the world Your iP is not shown to public.. Emule supports this feature. Moreover, if you install a good firewall like Zone alarm and a lightweight antivirus like NOD32 (McAfee and Norton sucks the resources) I dont understand why you cant use p2p?
And my personal advice, do not share any illegal contents. Unlike in bittorrent Emule doesn't force you to share anything. Just download. If you share more, your download priority will be fast, not sharing anything mens your download starts in the morning if you have setup before bed.
Edited March 3, 2006 by ebula (see edit history)

[iwuvcookies 0]

i could get more viruses and spyware from going to those warez files sites with stupid porn ads and pops ups... lol.never go there. once they get on your computer they never wanna leave. if you get what i mean.I have used P2P programs before like Kazaa, Morphues, and used to long time ago Napster. Now i try to stay away from those programs. I don't feel safe. I think like if you see files like PAINTSHOPPRO.exe and its like 450kb. don't beleive it.. come on.. even if you compress it. it cannot go down to kbs. lol.

[illdevilinc 0]

Yes about the file types if you see any .exe programs my advise is to stay away from them as 99% of them are viruses. Another thing i have noticed is that programs that have any KB between 50 and 900 are adware or ad-ware toolbars. As for file types just block any types you see with 134.7KB as there file types, they are ads.

[amhso 0]

also, get peerguardian or protowall to avoid trojans and what not and government sites from spying on your computer. privacy is important

[Albus Dumbledore 0]

yup, a good note to p2p users, but i would suggest that yoy use limewire, because i have downloaded no viriuses from their program..and i have gotten soo many viriuses from other p2p programs...but i havent gotten one from LimeWire..lol but just be careful out there >_<

[Yin-Yang 0]

1)Have a UPDATED virus scanner and scan your computer every day. (recommended Nortan or McAfee Antivirus)

hey man, Nortan and McAfee are not all that great, I had norten for the longest time, and had no problem with my computer, then all of a sudden my computer got extreamly slow, so I scaned using my spywear protections like Spybot, and Ad-aware, got nothing, then I scanned with Norten, guess what? Nothing no virus, so I got Mcafee and got rid of Norten, I scanned I got One Virus!!!! got rid of it, but my computer was still running slow, so I was like "What the"? then I joined this one forum and they told me about these two antivirus softwear know as "grissoft AVG, and Advast Antivirus" I got those and I scanned using them, guess what? AVG detected 6 viruses and Advast found 4!

In my oppinion get AVG, and Advast. Yes I know they are free, and I know its hard to belive, but before you start to flame, download one and try it for yourself. trust me, it works

[Albus Dumbledore 0]

yes, avg anti-virius is awsome at it! my mom is a lawyer and she has these computer techs that recomend you get that and Spybot Search and Destroy for all computers lol, i had a dell tech at my house and he happened to look at my desktop to see AVG there and he said "Kool, not many people know about AVG...

[PeaceofMind 0]

Just because, I think P2P is some serious crap. But for people who really can't afford stuff. I kinda feel for them. Plus p2p are pure viruses, or worms, or whatever they put in them. In fact they could put a keylogger on it so you'll want it bad enough to put it on. So um yeah watch out and maintain your computer.