Yahoo & Google - purveyors of fine malaware

[Arab Nights (imported)]

A software program called irfanview is handy for some things that I do and was recommended to me. I was told it was available as a free download. So I went to Yahoo and clicked on the first listing. Instantly got all kinds of things downloaded to my computer. I tried Google and same thing happened. Eventually I tried a site, cnet.com I believe, which I had used before and actually got the program I wanted with no bull shit.

Meanwhile, I had my home page changed to some lame site and had to change it back. I also daily have all kinds of malaware and maybe worse that I have to remove every time I start up with spybot and malwarebites. I think I will have to take my computer to a shop, leave it for a bit and pay just to get rid of the bullshit.

My guess is that both Yahoo and Google list first the sites which pay them. My guess also is that there is no quality control. Pay and your site goes to the head of the line. From there you are free to distribute whatever to your heart's content.

It guess it comes down to you have to have trust in the site. Does anyone have other sites besides cnet where you can download things and not get a lot of crap?

[fhunter]

A software program called irfanview is handy for some things that I do and was recommended to me. I was told it was available as a free download. So I went to Yahoo and clicked on the first listing. Instantly got all kinds of things downloaded to my computer. I tried Google and same thing happened. Eventually I tried a site, cnet.com I believe, which I had used before and actually got the program I wanted with no bull shit.

Meanwhile, I had my home page changed to some lame site and had to change it back. I also daily have all kinds of malaware and maybe worse that I have to remove every time I start up with spybot and malwarebites. I think I will have to take my computer to a shop, leave it for a bit and pay just to get rid of the bullshit.

My guess is that both Yahoo and Google list first the sites which pay them. My guess also is that there is no quality control. Pay and your site goes to the head of the line. From there you are free to distribute whatever to your heart's content.

It guess it comes down to you have to have trust in the site. Does anyone have other sites besides cnet where you can download things and not get a lot of crap?

You probably got a "drive-by install", in many installers those days there are additional options for installing different "addons" (read crap, adware, etc.), which are usually on by default. IMO, on windows, everyone is guilty of that, just do not blindly click "next, next, next, finish" while installing software.

[Paolo]

I've installed it several times, upgraded it, and never had a problem.

Yes, you have to watch out for the stuff like "Ask" and "McAfee,", etc. that they sneak in.

Be aware of who you're downloading it from.

[Dave (imported)]

I will second Paolo. ALWAYS look for the most trusted source of a download.

Google or Yahoo the program and look for the author's website or a trusted site that is always good.

In IrfanView's case, there is C-Net, Tucows and an Official homepage.

[Arab Nights (imported)]

Those guys never have a url of clickhereandyouarefucked.com. They have something like irfanview/freedownload which for the barely computer literate of us sounds reasonable.

Thanks for the list, Dave. That is what I figured someone here could provide.

[Riverwind (imported)]

I have put ASK on my never load tab, I have a new one that I am trying to isolate and when I do I am going to spam the hell out of them.

River

[Prudence (imported)]

I've found it best to search for just the name. Don't add "download" before or after it. For example: Searching for "irfanview" gives you irfanview.com as the first result. Searching for "irfanview download" or "download irfanview" or "where can I download irfanview" will give you crap for the first few results. And heaven help you if you put the word "free" in your search -- that is just begging for trouble!!

Second, be *REALLY* careful with the first few results that come up in the search, because half the time the first 1,2 or 3 results will be ads!! Look carefully because usually there will be something to give that away, such as "Ads related to" text at the top or a small light-gray line or box separating the ads from the actual search results.

Third, the very best thing to do is try to go to directly to the source. The challenge is finding out what the source of a program is. Usually if you look the program up in Wikipedia you'll see a link for its website at the bottom. If you are in doubt, try the search result with the program's name .com (for example: irfanview.com ). Or the one with the company name in it (for example, Google Chrome is made by Google so the google.com link would be the best one to try first).

Last thing, if you do go to a download site and it is crawling with ads, DON'T CLICK ON ANYTHING, get the hell out of there (close the window / close the browser). Go back and try a different site in your search results. Some "download" sites that have a lot of ads are safe. Usually, though, if they have a lot of ads they are only in it "for the money" and will be trying to trick you into installing something (for example, with an ad that says "Download Now!"). Or, worse yet, a so-called "download manager" which is really just AdWare/SpyWare.

[Riverwind (imported)]

To add to that after downloading anything go to your start button at the bottom left of your screen,

where is says "search programs and files" type in "Add or remove programs"

Do a search by date and then delete everything you did not know you just loaded.

River