Limewire is a file sharing software that lets you download things off of other peoples computers, and them downloading from your computer. Of course you can choose whether to share and not to share things, and you don’t have to share anything at all. Limewire is totally legal, but it is usually used for illegal purposes, like downloading copyrighted content for free. If you are sued for downloading copyrighted content off Limewire, it could lead to substantiall fines. One way to avoid this is to use a proxy, or choose the option of not sharing any files on Limewire. Limewire is for sharing files with family or friends, like movies that are too large to email. Almost no one uses Limewire that way though, and there are endless viruses that are waiting to destroy your computer. Here are some guidelines you can follow before downloading off Limewire.

The first step is to scan everything you get with antivirus software. Some of the best antivirus software that I have used is Norton.] But if you want a really good free antivirus program, Avast antivirus is the way to go. Click here to download Avast Antivirus.

The next step that you should take be looking up the file on Bitzi. Every file on Limewire has this option to look it up. When you right click on the file and choose to look it up on Bitzi, you will be redirected to a website where other people that have downloaded the file can tell what it really is, and if it is harmful. I use Bitzi a lot, and it really works for most of the popular files.

The next step to make sure you are downloading the things you want to download is to see how many sources the file has. Usually the more sources a file has, the safer it is.

Files on Limewire are frequently mislabeled to mislead you into downloading them. Movies are usually mislabeled, and are not what you are looking for unless you want to download porn. Music is usually good. Be careful when you download cd cracks and other software that you would have to pay for, because a lot of times there are viruses packed in with the software.

Never download antivirus software off limewire because 90% of the time the files are viruses. When downloading off Limewire, use common sense, and be careful. I have had my computer messed up beyond repair due to viruses in the past, before I started following these tips, and I hope your computers stay safe, while letting you listen to music, and download software.

1. A firewall (blocks dangerous applications that could harm your computer)
2. A pop-up blocker (blocks advertisements that pop up when you click on a website. This means that any hidden viruses are blocked and you don't have a load of annoying adverts flying at you)
3. Email filter
4. An Anti-virus

So my last thing was an anti-virus. I am using the free edition of AVG Antivirus and it is great! They recently brought out the new edition called AVG Antivirus 8.0 (can get free by searching in a search engine and clicking on the Grisoft version [free.grisoft.com]) so you download it and then you follow the instructions to set it up. Once you have done all that you will now have AVG 8.0 Free Edition. With this you can start checking your computer for any viruses that you don't have. With this edition you are also checking your computer for spy-ware. When your computer finds any viruses or spy-ware it automatically sends it to the virus vault which you can check through and delete the files with the help from the program.

Also included with this product is a link scanner which when you search anything on a search engine it will automatically check the website to see if there are any viruses on it and if it goes green with a tick then it is to continue. The great thing about this program is that Grisoft are continuously updating and fighting the new viruses which come out every day so to make sure your AVG keeps up to date whenever you connect online you will be notified that an update is ready, so take a few minutes updating it and viola your system is ready to fight the latest viruses and the current and old ones if they choose to arrive. When you download any files you will always be at risk that the file has a virus in it so with AVG you can decide to scan it for viruses and if there is it will notify it. AVG is available for Windows and MAC computers and laptops.

So my third thing was to have an Email Filter. Now then AVG automatically scans all your emails when you receive them to combat viruses but that doesn't stop all the unwanted “junk” that comes your way so I have found a great little product called MailWasher. What it does is collect all your emails into the program then it waits for you to open the program and you then check through your emails and bouncing any spam that you don't want. Once you have figured out the spam from the genuine you can then set the program up so that it remembers the spam so that when you next receive it you get a little box saying “Blacklisted” and then you have others saying “Possible”. You now just bounce these emails and filter through your proper emails to read. Bouncing the emails basically means to send the same email back to the place where it was sent from so that this deters them to send any more to you. Mailwasher is free but if you want you can donate to it, search it in any search engine to download.

I also use a firewall which is run by Agnitum Outpost Firewall. This is the firewall which you decide what you want to block from being able to run without permission and what can run without permission from you.

I don't use any protection software; in my personal opinion, it's not anywhere near worth the downsides of prompts every 2 minutes and my computer running more slowly than usual. A few simple steps can be followed to keep you virus, worm, Trojan horse, and spy/adware safe.

• Don't open E-mails from people you don't know, especially those with an attachment.
• Don't ever open a file that ends with .exe .dll .bat or .zip unless you specifically downloaded an installation or update. That type of file would almost never use an email to send you the file anyway, it would be an online download.
• Don't visit any sites you know can harm your computer. A simple standard is ‘don't do it if you don't trust it.'

Various insertion methods used to trick you into opening the malicious files are:

• An MSN message saying "Hey, check out my new photos!" and then providing a zip download or link.
•  A crack website telling you to search for cracks or serials, then generating a contaminated EXE file under the name you search, no matter what the search. A search for "checkoutthisfakename for anarticleonviruses" came up with one match, a download for a file named: checkoutthisfakename_for_anarticleonviruses.exe.
• Music or video downloads on Limewire, Kazaa, Morpheus etc. that claim to be something you'd like to listen to or watch that are actually an EXE file that you open, and then have to basically wipe your OS clean in order to remove.

Protecting your PC is easy, it's much better to keep your PC clean than to have to clean it.

Don't open it if you didn't purposefully download it!

Don'ts

Never ever use you user name as the password. That is probably one of the first thing people try. Other things that peopletry as passwords are Calendar months i.e. March or week days i.e. Monday. you should also never use dates as passwords. So if you are thinking about using your birthday as password forget it think again. When choosing a password never use a sequence ie 22222222 or 12345678 or qwertyu.

If your password is in the dictionary of any language then there is a very good chance that some hacker will be able to break into your account. Password should be kept secret. Don't share them with anyone and don't write them down. If you have to give someone your password for whatever reason, make sure you change it asap after the person has finished with whatever he/she was doing. I have friends that use the same password on all websites that they use. Does that make sense? No! If one account is broken into all of them are broken into. Which leads us to the Does.

Dos

Make sure you use different passwords for different websites. make it as difficult as possible for anyone to simply guess your password. Use a mixture of UPPERCASE and lowercase letters and as many numbers and symbols (where allowed) as possible. Make sure you your chosen password is at least 8 characters long and remember the longer the better.

Microsoft has a website where you can check your password strength. (HERE) You might be surprised that your password is very weak. Change your password regularly. Every month if possible but at least every 90 days. I hope this will help you to keep your stuff save and secure.

As different web pages load you can see if it's a safe site. Agree bar means you're good to go.

• A yellow bar means proceed with caution.
• A red bar means use at your own risk
• A silver bar means that the site has not been rated by McAfee yet

If you click on the site advisor bar, a new window will open with all the details you should know about that site, the sites it's linked to, downloads, spam, email, spy ware, viruses, etc.

By far the best little ad-on I've come across.