Any limewire fans out there? I dl'd the sofware but I sure am hesitant

[henslee]

about dl-ing random files. But people do dl from there often, dont they? Any bad experiences?

[Reverend_Smitty]

1. I've used Limewire

The files are much better than on Kazaa where it seems like every other file is a virus. But you still run a risk whether it be legal or virus when you do p2p sharing. My advice is to have a good virus scan on your computer, so far I haven't had any trouble with it (knock on wood)

[EstimatedProphet]

2. I use it

Never had any problems. One of the advantages is: if you're looking for a specific file, it lists the matching files by number of computers that have it. So, if you pick from the large numbers of files you're not likely to get a boobytrap.

[henslee]

4. you mean if a file with the same exact name appears on let's say, 11

diff. computers (like the one i wanted to dl did) chances are it is a safe file because it has been copied a bunch of times already, right?

[EstimatedProphet]

10. That's what I am getting at

Although I see your point.

[Jamison]

3. Use Frostwire instead

Just type "Frostwire" in Google and that will take you to a d/l page.

It's an improved Limewire client.

Oh, always scan things you d/l no matter what just to be safe.

[jeff30997]

6. What are the advantages of Frostwire vs Limewire ?

[henslee]

13. Frostwire is not working in a stable manner for me.Machine freezes.

Grrrr.

[bettyellen]

5. yes, i love limewire, but i have my setting on "not sharing"

because it's the sharer who's breaking the law, from what i understand.

[LynneSin]

20. I would do the same thing

Plus I convert all my MP3 into Atrac, which is used by Sony's SonicStage and 'MP3' players. Once converted I zapped out the old file. My Altrac3 files were in a folder that isn't shared out!

I liked Limewire because I was able to find some obscure stuff I was looking but after the first virus I hit I ended up removing all traces of the software from my machine!

[McKenzie]

7. I use it a lot - want some search tips?

If you are looking for political information, particularly film, I can give you a boatload of tips that will get you some excellent stuff.

I'd strongly advise NEVER d/load any programmes. It's illegal to d/load copyrighted software so I'd advise against it for that reason alone. Illegallity notwithstanding, anything in a zip file is probably a trojan. The giveaway is the file size - they tend to be around 815 k/bytes. (Anything apart from tiny third party utilities will be a few M/bytes at least) But I've seen files about 300 M/bytes that appear to be MS Office or OS's. They apparently contain trojans.

There is software that allows you to remain anonymous or you can run a proxy. If you want information on staying secure on Limewire let me know.

[henslee]

9. yes, i woud love some sound advice on staying secure and enhancing

my experience. Do you think they would apply to frostwire as well?
And what do you mean by tiny 3rd party utilities? This stuff is very interesting. Thanks.

[McKenzie]

16. Here is a primer to get you going on Limewire

I don't know about Frostwire so can't comment. Principles are probably the same though.

Resources

P2P Consortiom Home Page - They have various topic forums including one on security:

http://www.p2pconsortium.com/index.php?act=portal

Proggie that enhances P2P security - might be helpful for anyone sharing, or downloading, loads of music files. You might want to read the article and follow the hyperlinks for more info':

http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/peersharing/a/peerguardian.htm

Bogus files

You asked about third party utilities. "Third party utilities" is just a wannabe geek like me trying to sound clever rather than simply saying "programmes you install on your computer". Some of these programmes can be tiny, less than 500 K/bytes, but most of them tend to be 1 M/byte at the very least. If you run a search on Limewire for say, PGP, using the "Programs" search tab you'll inevitably get several returns that are ALL Zip files around 815 K/bytes in size. That shows they are almost certainly not genuine because the file size of PGP is into double figures. To reiterate what I said yesterday (and lecture you on the evils of file sharing...rant rave... lol!) I'd recommend staying well away from programmes touted on P2P networks - illegality issues and the risk of getting a virus/trojan.

Search tips

Add in any key words/phrases of your choice in the search fields of the audio, video and tabs. Try chomsky/palast/ruppert/911/corporation/nightmares for video and audio. Try chomsky/sutton/911/sprague for documents. BTW I have used the / as a separator. Another tip is to select a word from the title of any video/document/audio file you are trying to find.

Broken links

If the person(s) you are getting the file from goes offline the download will cease. Next time you log on to the net and open LW the proggie will start looking for the same file and resume downloading it if it finds a host who carries that file. If you start building up loads of these broken links and they clog up the status window, right click on them, one at a time, and select "cancel". If you do that you'll need to ask LW to run a search for each broken file you cancelled when you next log on because LW won't do it automatically. You'll soon get the hang of it.

File sharing

If you elect to allow others access to downloaded files in the LW directory I'd recommend moving any file that you don't want anyone to know you have downloaded into another directory, immediately after you download the file in question.

Have fun

P2P networks are one of the best sources of good material along with Usenet. I guarantee that once you start using LW you will be addicted - there is a gold mine of information out there. But be careful about what you download please...as another poster in this thread points out, LW gets close attention from the feds.

[henslee]

19. Awfully kind of you to lay all this out, thanks alot. It seems to me

that with pcs cheaper than ever, it almost pays to have a machine dedicated to P2P just so you never risk comtaminating your real pc... just a thought.

[Clintmax]

8. The Fed's are really watching Limewire right now...

I used to use it at one point, but I stopped a long time ago. I no longer need it. If you're wanting to find music, subscribe to Rhapsody. That's what I did. Almost everything you could want is there. I have found SOME artists not available yet, but just a few.

I suggest you steer away from all P2P.

[supernova]

12. I noticed some changes when I

logged on the last time. A dialog box pops up and asks you "are you using this file for illegal or legal purposes." :scared:

Before that I hadn't used it in months.

[Mutley]

11. I use it.

Only for a few months now, but I've had no problems.

[catmandu57]

14. Stay away from files that want you to open a license

I didn't and learned a lesson the hard way. My firewall tried to tell me not to open that sucker, but I did and got a machine full of nasties, it took me two months to sweep them all out.
The last time I went to download I noticed that they have a little box that says lic, stay the hell away from those.
Also they tend to use t1 or higher speed, and they all seem to be 103 bytes or somewhere in that neighborhood. There's timebombs ticking on all the p2p now.

[henslee]

15. the whole thing sounds too spooky. There is no one song i want

to dl that bad... and to get in trouble for dling a bootleg program would be foolish. I just want to understand the processes of what is out there. Dont want to be behind the technology curve.

[MiwSher]

17. I use Limewire all the time

I would just recommend scanning any files you d/l immediately, just in case. I've never had any problems though.

MiwSher

[ForrestGump]

18. I used to use it. Now I use Xfactor, instead. I think it

combines results from Limewire and several other such sources. Works well on my Macintosh.

Not that I ever really use such things, of course. "For entertainment purposes only" :P

[LynneSin]

21. Here's some information I received from the Tech guy at Circuit City

I spent most of my day trying to buy a computer but had to return BOTH of them because the computer would freeze up after I installed my Verizon DSL software.

Anyhow

As I'm standing around with the tech guy trying to figure out this strange problem, the other tech guy and I got to talking about stuff. I was asking about reliable of certain brands of computers and he mentioned the overwhelmingly main reason he's been finding for computers coming in for tech repair:

VIRUS

And he said just about every one of those computers had the Limewire Client installed on them. In fact he was working on two of them were riddled with Virus and both of them had Limeware.

I used to use Limeware til I got hit with my first virus. My software picked it up and cleaned it but after that I got rid of the software. Mainly because I didn't want to screw up my computer and some slight guilt over the fact that in a nutshell I kinda felt like I was doing illegal music downloads even though I share my CDs with friends - I don't handle guilt well, but that's just me.

But I will say that I was able to find a few very obscure songs from artists no longer together and whose works are out of print. Plus I found some great LZ songs not published and a copy of Green Day's remake of "We Are the Champion". But it was one of those rare LZ songs that brought the virus I also found a very bizarre trick that some folks hav done with Limewire. You'll find a song of your favorite band doing a remake of a really kickass song that you think would really be neat to own. You download it and check it out and it's not the band you thought it was but someone's gargage band trying to get their music heard by hoping suckers (like I was) will download their song because they think it's some well known band!

[LynneSin]

22. Here's some information I received from the Tech guy at Circuit City

I spent most of my day trying to buy a computer but had to return BOTH of them because the computer would freeze up after I installed my Verizon DSL software.

Anyhow

As I'm standing around with the tech guy trying to figure out this strange problem, the other tech guy and I got to talking about stuff. I was asking about reliable of certain brands of computers and he mentioned the overwhelmingly main reason he's been finding for computers coming in for tech repair:

VIRUS

And he said just about every one of those computers had the Limewire Client installed on them. In fact he was working on two of them were riddled with Virus and both of them had Limeware.

I used to use Limeware til I got hit with my first virus. My software picked it up and cleaned it but after that I got rid of the software. Mainly because I didn't want to screw up my computer and some slight guilt over the fact that in a nutshell I kinda felt like I was doing illegal music downloads even though I share my CDs with friends - I don't handle guilt well, but that's just me.

But I will say that I was able to find a few very obscure songs from artists no longer together and whose works are out of print. Plus I found some great LZ songs not published and a copy of Green Day's remake of "We Are the Champion". But it was one of those rare LZ songs that brought the virus I also found a very bizarre trick that some folks have done with Limewire. You'll find a song of your favorite band doing a remake of a really kickass song that you think would really be neat to own. You download it and check it out and it's not the band you thought it was but someone's garage band trying to get their music heard by hoping suckers (like I was) will download their song because they think it's some well known band!

[sleipnir]

23. Um..well, I'd be more worried about being sued on LimeWire

But that's just me.

I only dl from Usenet. Sure, it costs money for certain services, but it's 100% anonymous, there's virtually no way to track what you have downloaded, the server only records the amount of gigs you dl. Not to mention, they automatically block your IP from outside snooping and re-rout as a second measure.

There has never been a single person sued from using Usenet, but most lawsuits stem from BitTorrent, LimeWire, Kazzaa, and other free clients

Hell, quality is another thing all together, there's little true protection that anything you dl off of LimeWire will be good. It might just a be a fake copy placed there by the RIAA or other organizations.

But, it's 100-million times better than Kazzaa. Well, I'd recommend BitTorrent, but there seems to be a nice amount of John Doe lawsuits sitting in the docket waiting for judicial approval directed at BitTorrent users.

Usenet is the way to go, if you're 100% serious about dl.

[Madrone]

24. I agree.

www.easynews.com is my poison.

LOVE it.