Why would anybody use Limewire?

[TBoneit]

I'm scanning a drive from another computer, not mine of course and as soon as the AV scan hit the limewire shared folde rthe virus threats detected jumped form 40 to 959 and still climbing.

The computer was of course almost unusable due to Spyware and Viruses of course. Any computer I see Limewire on seems to be infested.

People wonder why I don't use P2P? One reason it seems to be infested with Malware. And the legality of it. Now up to 1243 and climbing. The files going by are all .zip and purport to be s/w, mp3s and videos. Ha! The speed they are being scanned at suggest small size. 1706 and rising.

Just amazing. This person will be paying for their "Free" software, Music, and Videos via the loss of the computer to use and the cost to clean. "Free" Ha!

My Two Cents
Cheers

2049 and rising

edit five minutes later and 2718 viruses found it is done with the limewire folder. Iterestingly yto me it didn't find any spyware in the limewire folder, all viruses.

[ROF]

The problem is not with Limewire or any of the other P2P programs. The problem lies with the people who surf those P2P and their habits with how they handle the files downloaded. The usual infestations are those small sub 30K files that people download in order to use the warez programs that go along with them. These files are riddled with viruses and worms. There are alot of good uses for P2P, even commercial P2P such as Limewire. If people would stop downloading those key code generators and warez product key text files, and other of their ilk you would not see the issues you and I deal with on a weekly or sometimes daily basis.

Unfortunately you can not stop the thievery that occurs therr. You also can not teach someone that they are never to open a file(even using the P2P software). They will never learn. The only thing you can do is tell them to stop stealing and use P2P properly. At a job I worked at a few years ago they had anti-virus software installed on every machine. Even so after several incidences they terminated all attachments to email. The company went under about 6 months after I left because the people working there could not perform their jobs without receiving and using attachments. You could have taught these people how to properly open attachments by scanning them first. And they did do this but too many morons considered it a waste of their time and instead would enjoy the times(hours and sometimes days) when the computer network would be down. It's sad that people do not even consider what they are doing and who they are harming when they open attachments or steal software.

[Conquest10]

ROF, the last place I worked's solution to that problem was to completely cut off regular workers' connection to the internet. Only our supervisors were allowed to go online. That completely inhibited us from doing our job as we had to keep asking our superiors to look item numbers up.

It amazes me how stupid management is on this subject. There reasoning behind it was that people were just spending their time online and looking up porn instead of working. I'm glad I don't work there anymore.

[TBoneit]

I could have sworn that Limewire itself is found as spyware by Spy Sweeper or maybe Ewido?

2 machines here right now for the same thing viruses and pop-ups.

I like Asus products but has anyone noticed how slow and RMAs are? The last one took over a month and they swore they were sending a new Mobo to replac ethe one that lasted a week of use. New? Ha! Dust build-up in the heatsink wher ethe CPU fan blows on it.

[ROF]

Yes it is considered spyware by most programs because it reports it's status and your shared folder(s) status to the servers each time it connects. That is standard for P2P. I have never had any problem with Asus and returns. They have always been quick to make returns. So I can get a quick return I usually do a hold on my card with them which allows them to ship a new board before they receive the old one back. That is usually the bottleneck with most companies return and a reliable company like Asus I trust to remove the hold afterwards. They are one of the few companies who do this before I have to call and remind them.

[TBoneit]

Glad you've had good luck with them. I don not know if it is because we are on the east coast and they are on the west coast. But we've had trouble even getting a replacement that worked. One had no video, two had bad built-in ethernet, well you get the picture. They are like Sony to my way of thinking.

IOW if you get one that works past the initial breakin it'll last a long time, if you get a dud, getting a good replacement becomes iffy.

As a follow up, just checked the computers and the one with tons of viruses is still running XP with no SPs!

[ROF]

IOW if you get one that works past the initial breakin it'll last a long time, if you get a dud, getting a good replacement becomes iffy.

This can be true in some cases. Sometimes it is just a bad motherboard design. It is also true I have had quite a few returns to Asus which is why I can say they have always treated me good. After the initial "breakin" period is when I have dealt with them. Before this I deal with the supplier.

[TBoneit]

I don't have the figures in front of me, I'm not even sure i could get them for reliability. However it seems from what I'm seeing that Asus reliability has slipped a bit. Foxconn seems to be solid and reliable so far.

[studtrooper]

Limewire is nice for people who actually care about (and know how to protect themselves) keeping their PC virus/spyware free, but like LW and all other p2p programs, tech-illiterate people keep downloading fake virus files and bitch about their PC wacking out. Hey, it's essentially free money to us system builders/fixers. I make quite a bit of pocket change on campus

[TBoneit]

However the same person who has kids that install Limewire or other P2P, Guess what usually their AV has expired and so on. And the kids are just searching for free.......

Typical case I'm seeing is kids computer becomes unusable from viruses and malware (Spyware) so they borrow parents, install same p2p and do the same to parents computer.

Best ones I see are the Keygens for Antivirus/Anti Spyware software that are viruses. Social engineering at its best. along with the fake antispyware programs and things like winfixer and winantispyware that paniced users find when they search search for free s/w as a cure and end up making the problem worse.

TANSTAAFL!

[ROF]

I don't have the figures in front of me, I'm not even sure i could get them for reliability. However it seems from what I'm seeing that Asus reliability has slipped a bit. Foxconn seems to be solid and reliable so far.

Even PC Chips can put together a decent package these days at budget prices too.

I would have to say that more than half the PCs I fix these days when it is software related it is the P2P that is the root cause. It used to be that Porn surfers were the ones I would see alot of. That has dropped off in the last year or so. I still see an ocassional drive that is chuck full of the stuff and viruses too but they are not as common as P2P issues.

All it requires is safe computing. Operate with an active firewall and an active up to date anti-virus software. Perform ritual scans of your drives at least once per week(do a defrag too while your at it). Your computing experience should be alright even if you do visit the shady side of the internet or P2P servers.

[Wile_E]

You would be suprised how many people don't know about Usenet and newsgroups. These are the people I run into that use P2P sharing software. Even a so-called temporary "technician" at work never heard about usenet. He always acted big like he knew everything. I almost laughed in his face. Usenet has been around since the internet. Maybe it's best these people stay in the dark about it and keep using P2P software.

[CrayonEater]

Limewire used to contain spyware itself, or carry spyware with it, and may still do so. It would take you a subdomain of limewire.com (shop.limewire.com). Back at my old company, this would set off our IDS which was programmed to identify spyware services. I liked it for that reason. KaZaa was also easy to nail because it had BrilliantDigital/BDE spyware installed.

I like Asus products but has anyone noticed how slow and RMAs are?

I won't touch Asus products with a ten-foot pole because of their horrendous RMA service. And I've seen more than their fair share of defective motherboards, at least the P4 ones.

[classfour]

While I seldom use Limewire, I have found one consistency to files containing viruses: When doing a search, the hits that are in the low KB (30 or so) and the ones at 809KB (I believe) are infected.

That said: Alot of files found on Limewire are contaminated, some aren't what they say they are, some aren't complete rar or zip files or are corrupt.

Rather than download a virus or trojan, I've pretty much stopped using Limewire.

One thing that I did do, is set up a specific file for downloads; limit the number of uploads to zero; and minimize the bandwidth available to anyone who wants to attempt to download from me - not the nicest way to do it, but it maximized the amount of download that I could achieve in the least amount of time connected.

I haven't found or used any other sharing programs since I stopped - pretty much buy what I need - but I did not ever get infected while using Limewire: I always scanned a download with antivirus before unzipping, and never downloaded an executable.

[TBoneit]

Smarter than the average user then. I see so many with Norton Av 2 or three years old version that stopped updating signatures long ago cause they have a antivirus. They do not understand expired protection is little better than no protection.

[studtrooper]

You would be suprised how many people don't know about Usenet and newsgroups. These are the people I run into that use P2P sharing software. Even a so-called temporary "technician" at work never heard about usenet. He always acted big like he knew everything. I almost laughed in his face. Usenet has been around since the internet. Maybe it's best these people stay in the dark about it and keep using P2P software.

The first rule about USENET is that you don't talk about USENET

Seriously, since finding stuff on newsgroups can actually take more than 5 seconds as compared to a p2p/bittorrent search engine, that throws out 99% of the average file sharer. USENET is by far and away the best way to get what you "need" though

[TBoneit]

I'll go along with the 5 second rule....

My younger brother used to search for aviation and civil war info all over the www.

Now that I've educated him I see him on a newsreader all the time along with a couple of fishing sites where he checks to see what's happening at the shore.

Myself I like some of the humor, and in the past DBS/DSS NGs.

Even MS uses NGS for beta support.

MAybe the average NG user is more than a, I just turn it on and click p2p or as I've heard in the past when I asked what windows does your computer run? 97, no they only turn it on and go to Word97, now I'm hearing 2003 (Office 2003)

Of course there are spammers. I really don't wnt to see PayPal schemes and adult material posts when I'm looking for Satellite TV info. And of course even on a NG you gotta be careful. I see posts like Virus warning, ----- is a virus posted by someone else. I believe a lot of those are .scr files.

Another reason I use NGs may be that when I started on computers, 8088 and 300 baud modem you had compuserve and BBS's no www. I've even run a BBS. My first www use started with Internet in a Box s/w.

[shelbyGT]

I've got limewire that I use occasionally (maybe once a month, probably less) and my regular Wednesday scan (virus/malware/spyware programs all run whilst I'm at work) haven't turned up anything in quite some time.
So... user error is what I chalk it up to.

[TooLFooL]

the majority of the people you hear about that have had any problems are the same people that are gonna have the same problems anyways because they click on ads, visit porn sites or malware sites, dont use anti-virus, and basically don't have any computer knowledge or even common sense. and most of those people don't know 'google'.

[TBoneit]

So does it bother anybody in these litigious days that using P2P also says here I am, I could be downloading copyrighted material? And I acknowledge that there are non infringing uses, However we are talking about a entity that sues grandmothers, Pre-teens and dead people. I just feel it is better to stay completely off of their radar rather than trying to fly under it or hope to be lost in the herd.

I'll also agree that too many computer users are rather careless. They do not understand that the Internet is a jungle, well stocked with predators. I see so many keyloggers and password stealers in the computers I work on.

Going online with a expired AV and no Antispyware software and then going to any site that pops up in a search engine, What can I say.

Penny wise and Dollar foolish

[ROF]

As long as you don't have copyrighted material in your shared list you should be just fine. I use P2P alot for many non-infringing sharing. It is a great way to reach a broad audience without the need to setup an FTP and advertise it's location. Just open the P2P APP, add a shared folder with your content, and walk away.

[Paul_G]

An idiot behind a keyboard can screw up anything.

Blaming Limewire makes you look like an idiot.

People wonder why I don't use P2P? One reason it seems to be infested with Malware

Again, makes you look like an idiot, it aint the software but the stupid bastards who are so obsessed with their free gooides that they get infected with loads of shit. If you know what your doing EVERY p2p software would work as it should (excluding them what show ads or install other wanky add-ons - but if the user stupidly installs those versions then they deserve everything they get).

[ROF]

If you know what your doing EVERY p2p software would work as it should (excluding them what show ads or install other wanky add-ons - but if the user stupidly installs those versions then they deserve everything they get).

I couldn't agree more, but I should add without these idiots my morning would have been slow. Just fixed a machine with malware installed.

[teegee420]

You would be suprised how many people don't know about Usenet and newsgroups. These are the people I run into that use P2P sharing software. Even a so-called temporary "technician" at work never heard about usenet. He always acted big like he knew everything. I almost laughed in his face. Usenet has been around since the internet. Maybe it's best these people stay in the dark about it and keep using P2P software.

You don't know how many times I've called up my ISP to complain about problems with their nntp server and the tech doen't even know what I'm talking about.

[kschang]

He-he-he. I used to run a majordomo. Now see how many of you guys go back that far.

[ranchhand]

Not to beat the subject to death, but I have noticed that someone/something is jamming virus postings and giving them legitimate titles. For example, on a search of "abcdef" I will see a listing of 10 or more files all labelled identically "abcdef" and all at 720k. I see this on just about every search for any title; the file size may vary, but there will be 20 or 30 in a row all the same size, same legitimate name, and every one is a virus. Seems rather wierd to me. So look at the file size of what you are searching for, and if it seems too small beware, especially if there are 20 others all the same name and file size together. I see this not just in Limewire but evey P-P that uses the gnutella network.

[teegee420]

If someone is looking for a song or a movie and they download a file with the correct name that's only 700kb, well then they deserve to get a virus.

[ranchhand]

Hi Teegee,

Actually, that wasn't the point I was trying to allude to. It is as if there is an organized effort from a single source attempting to disrupt the P-P file sharing networks. More that just some individual script-kiddy trying to boost his self-esteem.

[ROF]

Actually, that wasn't the point I was trying to allude to. It is as if there is an organized effort from a single source attempting to disrupt the P-P file sharing networks. More that just some individual script-kiddy trying to boost his self-esteem.

I keep a few false files in my shared folders for just such reasons. Not to disrupt the P2P but to discourage downloading of copyrighted material or at the very least upset those that do abuse the network by doing so. No viruses mind you(I do not want to support unsafe computing) but intentionally misnamed files that contain garbage data. I just wish I could see the face of the idiot who downloads that 400MB AVI false file from me. I laugh when I see the list of morons who grab it. Stealing is a crime. But making them waste their bandwidth is great fun.

[teegee420]

Hi Teegee,

Actually, that wasn't the point I was trying to allude to. It is as if there is an organized effort from a single source attempting to disrupt the P-P file sharing networks. More that just some individual script-kiddy trying to boost his self-esteem.

I got what you were saying, I just threw my two cents in. Some of these viruses(or is viri?) are trojans that are controlled by some hacker that is then able to send you pop-up ads and things of that nature. People are writing viruses for profit now.