Is Limewire Really Bad For A Computers Security?

Limewire is about as safe as downloading torrents.

I would be really cautious using Limewire. You never know what you are actually downloading, as many people disguise the names of the files you are downloading as songtitles, but they are really viruses and trojans.

If you can find the music you want to listen to on youtube, check out www.listentoyoutube.com. It lets you convert the youtube clip to an mp3 file, which you can then download and place on your ipod.

@buckyboy28 thanks, I’ll try the listentoyoutube.com option. Im guessing this will obviously not give me viruses?

I use it on my mac and haven’t gotten any viruses so far…Now on my PC THAT was a different story.

@desiree333 That is correct. It is simply a .FLV to .MP3 converter. I use it a lot for songs that I do not have the album for.

@buckyboy28 I just clicked on the URL space so I could paste the URL I wanted and right away a pop-up came up. Also on the top of my computer it says pop-up blocked and theres an option were I can allow the pop-up to show. Do I have to click this for the download or whatever to start? Will another stupid mega-click or poker-party pop up come up to?

@desiree333 When you put the url in, hit go, and then scroll down a bit and you will see “File Read for Download”, and then a link that says “download MP3” in orange letters. Click that and you should be all set…

And about the ads… it is a commercial site, so there will most likely be pop-ups every time.

i have limewire, i’ve downloaded 500 songs so far, nothing has happened….

@buckyboy28 okay one more question, sorry. So I downloaaded it and it worked great. Its playing right now on my Windows Media Player. Do you know how to get it onto my iTunes library? I tried dragging the song form the Now Playing bar on the side of the window but nothing happened.

@desiree333 It sounds to me like your default music player is Windows Media Player. Go to Start>Default Programs>Set Your default programs and then select iTunes from the list and click “Set this program as default” and then click ok. Now try to open the file again, and it should open in iTunes.

@buckyboy28 I would open the file again but I cant find where the song is. Thats why I tried to drag the song to my desktop so I could drag it to itunes. Do you know where I can find where the song is on my computer?

Or you can right-click the file itself.
Select “Open with…”
Choose iTunes then check the box that reads “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file.”
Click OK and you’re done.

Edit: Ya gotta find the file first though for this method to work lol

@desiree333 Go to the library in Windows Media Player and right-click the track and click “Open file location”, and the folder containing the file will open.

Get FrostWire. Works like LimeWire, but is much better.

Or…

Learn to use bittorrent.

You know how vampires react when someone pulls out a crucifix? That’s how you should react to Limewire.

I have never had a problem with limewire and I have downloaded hundreds of songs, but I know people that have had problems with it.

Let’s see… why shouldn’t you use limewire? Hmmm…

-It’s got more viruses floating around than you can count
-Slow speeds
-Just about every song you’ll download is missing its tags/art
-Bittorrent exists

@eambos when you say Frostwire is “better” you mean its not as bad for your computer virus wise right?

@desiree333: Frostwire is almost an identical clone of limewire, but there is no “speed cap” like that of which exists in limewire.

use soulseek its great.

Scan your downloads with anti virus softwares before running them.
I’ve used limewire for a while. It’s fine so far.

Ahem. I work as a tech consuitant, and roughly 1/11’th of our calls are the result of LimeWire. It opens a backdoor, and can get around any AV software you throw at it – bad idea. Just own your music. If you need to download more music every day… it’s time to take out the earbuds.

@Truefire good answer I guess, but no thanks I’m not going to own ALL of my music. The only CD I’ve ever not regretted spending money on was the Sweeney Todd soundtrack (from Tim Burton’s movie) Since your a tech consultant do you know of any programs that are free or have to purchased that are safe??

A little bit of common sense is really all you need. I have yet to hear of a virus embedded within an .mp3, so as long as you aren’t downloading applications, you’ll be fine.

I would still suggest FrostWire as a great alternative. It is nicer and inherently safer than LimeWire.

@desiree333 : eMusic is monthly, unlimited downloads, from what I hear. @eambos : Wrong. viruses can EASILY be embedded in an .mp3 file – all you have to do is take “virus.exe” and rename it to “YourFavoriteSong.mp3” That’s all. For pete’s sake, you bunch’a pirates. You get what you deserve.

Bit Torrent for PC & Transmission for Mac both work great. It’s not the same thing as Limewire but it’s pretty similar. Just download the program and then use sites like Btjunkie.org to find what you want. Click on the link and boom! Your file opens up and starts downloading.

It’s not Limewire that is unsafe, it’s what you download using Limewire that may be dangerous. Anything you download has the potential to be infected, no matter which program you download it with.

GA @qualitycontrol: My experience was exactly the same.

THe upside to torrents is that you can go to sites like mininova, the pirate bay, or iso hunt… and people have the opportunity to leave feedback. I have not had any problems with catching a virus with torrents. Sometimes a keygenerator will trip up my antivirus but that’s it. With Limewire, it was a mess every time, well back in the early 00s! Whatever you do, be sure you have malwarebytes, avg free, and some sort of spyware detector like those mentioned, or spybot search and destroy. Good luck

ok. you definatly need to use Bearshare. its legal, FREE, no joke, and if you want a song you click on it and it goes to your library. If you have an mp3 player, all you have to do it plug it into your computer, bearshare will recognize it and baddabing! no if you have an ipod like me..its just a tad* more complicated because bearshare doesnt recognize apple b/c apple is to smart. so all you have to do is burn a cd from your library on bearshare on the pop it in, run itunes and then itunes will burn it onto your itunes library! trust me! its free!!! no subscription crap!

the only downside is your have to buy blank cd’s. which will cost you money, unless you have an mp3, then it just burns right to that.

Bearshare and Limewire, and Frostwire run off the same network (gnutella), so it is just as risky because your are browsing from the same files just using a differnt client. Nothing in life is free so if you think you are swindling the system by stealing music you are kidding yourself. I use to work for a big entertainment corp. One of my jobs was to find out users that were stealing copywrited items and track their IP’s. and hit them with a court order. Your luck will run out, and you will be caught, and trust me your court costs will ammount to so much more than the music you should have paid for. Worse a hacker that is 100 times smarter than you will keep their illegal material on your machine for safe keeping. When the FBI notices that you are downloading child porn you will be the one who possesses the illegal material. For all the jokesters who are saying we used it and we do not have a problem think about this: If I were to make a program to steal your personal information I would make sure you did not find it on your machine. This way I could do all my dirty work through your computer. You people are a prime reason that the internet keeps perpetuating all this malware. Wise up or get the F@!K off the internet!!! Use Itunes or somthing you have to pay for that is not P2P.

I would never use peer to peer music downloading. Too many risks. I buy and download the mp3’s to my computer over at Amazon and iTunes. Much safe that way. Plus you can pretty much guarantee no viruses.