Limewire

[mutt]

Using Limewire yesterday, searched for a specific song, most of the returns were advertisements for Gucci Handbag, when i did download a MP3, it turned out to be a hidden program that wanted to install inself in my PC.

Is this common on all music sharing sites?

Mutt

[airmuster]

YES it is quite common to see "odd" things alikeing themselves to songs etc. Best to only download the song and artist that matches and watch for a 3-5 star rating.

Remember, you can not get all the songs on Limewire.

[spannersatcx]

limewire is notorious for this.

[hellsbrink]

If you want a virus, use limewire. I banned it from here for that reason.

[SOTV]

Despite all the anti-virus programs and security I lost a shed load of research due to a virus from Limewire. Thankfully most was backed up on discs. Limewire is banned from any PC or laptop in the house. The PC expert I got to restore the computer said that it was a deliberately malicious add on to the music file.

Don't go near it.

:\

[Saab Dastard]

I have never gone near it, and never will, as I hear nothing but BAD things about it.

:yuk:

SD

[El Grifo]

Torrents are the boys :ok:

[preduk]

Rapidshare.com is the best, costs 54 euros for the year you get full download speed and you arent relaying on other people keeping their pcs on!

You just google the song/album and add "Rapidshare.com" and the end and it finds it for you... for example; "Led Zeppelin Mothership Rapidshare.com"

[SOTV]

You just google the song/album and add "Rapidshare.com" and the end and it finds it for you... for example; "Led Zeppelin Mothership Rapidshare.com"

Thanks, two days late with that post. Just bleedin bought it.

Got to keep the vinyl looked after. :)

[Tarq57]

I'm a happy Limewire user. The program itself is fine, but as indicated, there is no shortage of dodgy files available for download. Opening the wrong file can wreak havoc on your PC.
When searching for music, always use the "music" rather than "all types" in the search term.
Genuine music files should have an extension like .mp3, a bitrate from about 128 up to about 320, and be around 3-4 MB for a lower bitrate, increasing with higher.
I've never caught malware from the use of it.
But certainly, there are some obvious dodgy files available. Doesn't take long to learn to spot them.

[Jinkster]

generally if you imagine a song is about 2mb and a film about 200mb then you cant go far wrong.

If you see a song thats about 0.5mb then its likely to be dodgy!!!

[Atlas Shrugged]

Like SD, never used it, never will.

My 17yr old son used it all the time with one problem after another and after 2 complete OS reinstalls has given it away as well.

Stay well away from sites like this.

McAfee make a small program called Site Advisor which when installed gives some idea of what a site is like, what it's linked to and whether there are any suspicious downloads or links.

It's free and available at www.siteadvisor.com and can be used on IE & Firefox. Install it, google "Limewire" and see the results :yuk:

[exeng]

Tried it just once.


Regards
Exeng

[Tarq57]

Thing is with Limewire, is it's just another program with internet connection. Like a browser, or email program, skype, messenger etc.
This one for p2p file sharing. Which comes with its own particular vulnerabilities and potential threats, which can be severe. With Limewire (or other p2p) the setting-up of the program is important, so as to make sure the entire computer isn't open to the www,(quite common, that,) that the application is firewalled, and of course that the user doesn't open just any old file without scanning it first.
I've heard of users downloading cracked programs via p2p. They get all they ask for; a good deal of them are infected. Some movie files have code designed to exploit any vulnerabilities in a media player. There are huge numbers of movies about with a size of around 1 meg. Asking for it.
The program itself is clean. (Unlike some p2p applications that have come bundled with adware. eg Kazaa.)The download site is clean. The forums are helpful and contain good tips.
Downloading of copyright protected material is, of course, illegal. But that's a separate issue.
In my opinion, it's no easier to catch a nasty through Limewire than almost any other web application, if you click the wrong button, if your computer isn't up to date, if you don't have good security applications and protocols.
How many of the above "if's" do you think might be applicable to the average computer user, let alone one who is 17?
I've viewed a lot of HJT logs, (trying to get a handle on 'em).
Some of them indicate a p2p installation. But many many more indicate the presence of very out of date flash player, out of date Java, often multiple messenger programs, codec packs, and toolbars. All this indicates quite a pattern of behaviour on the part of the user.
Windows security is a fairly complex subject. I'm only just getting a handle onit myself. The average user wouldn't have a clue.

[seekayess]

I have been using Limewire for about two years now and have built up a rather sizable library of some beautiful music, ranging from pop on the one end to hard-core classical the other! :ok::ok:

It does take a while to understand what sort of file to click on and download and which ones to leave well enough alone.

IMHO, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Limewire, per sé. It is a matter of what you are prudent/imprudent enough to download through it!

Limewire gives you the option of identifying the files that are 'junk' and then, not download them!

All the offered d/ls that are anything less than 1 mb are almost certainly NOT music. If there is no bitrate indicated in the column, that is definitely not music.

Also, if you 'hover' over an item in the list, it is supposed to show you the details of the number, like Artiste, Album, Bitrate, Playing Time, Size etc. If that does not show, that particular item MUST be marked as junk immediately.

Just be careful: hey! If you were to get into a Merc and drive down to the whorehouse, surely it is not the Merc that takes you to 'bad' places!!!

:=:=

[MidgetBoy]

Never had a problem with Limewire before.

[gingernut]

Is it legal, sounds too good to be true?

[hellsbrink]

Limewire itself is legal, how you use it may not be.

As far as making sure you "get the right file type and size" goes, that means diddly. Anyone can make any file seem to be an mp3 or whatever at the "right" size but it does not necessarily mean it is what it says it is. Many times I'e seen people download what is supposed to be a "legitimate" movie and get porn, malware can be piggybacked onto things. Limewire is notorious for that sort of thing, you are best to avoid it like you would avoid herpes (unless that's the sort of thing you WANT to catch)...

[Twitcher]

I'll just chip in to say SHAREAZA is a similar product and I think is more popular, if not better, than limewire.

[seekayess]

Unfortunately, Shareaza is strictly for the Windows/Vista operating PCs and is not for the Mac.


Whereas, Limewire works on both the platforms.