Everyone else, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
I’m a very casual downloader. I rarely download and it’s usually older content like movies or retro games. But my personal method has been do a ton of reading. Find chatrooms, forums, etc, where people discuss this topic and read up on the various sites and people’s experiences with them.
Have a separate device if possible. One you’re willing to wipe if something went wrong. I’ve also heard of people sandboxing downloads to try and keep things safer, but I’ve never personally tried it. My assumption is that the older and less complex a download is, the better, but that could be pure ignorance on my part.
For example, if I’m grabbing a GBA game, it’s one single file. There’s less to visually scan, and it’s easy to see if there’s something that looks off. This isn’t always the case, though. For example, one .exe file could ruin your entire machine.
Something newer like a more modern PC game release, I would pick it from a list of sources that people claim are safe, and then basically hope and pray that I didn’t just infect my machine lol. At that point, I try to also look for any suspicious behavior, or if i notice any kind of slowdown, issues with the machine, etc.
Generally speaking, anytime I’ve infected my machine (that I know of), whatever virus protection I’ve been running has caught it and prevented issues. But generally speaking, I would assume that unless you’re downloading simple stuff, you’re taking some risk.
Dude, what you speak of is just plain silliness. Do you not understand that in the realm of pirating, you take risks just for simply downloading in what the laws say is ‘illegal’?
There is no such thing as ‘safe’ when it comes to downloading except getting a clue or a suspicion about what you’re downloading and where it’s from.
Again, it is common sense. Pirating is all about risk and reward. Risk, whether you infect your machine or get penalized by your ISP or get fined/jailed for your piracy. Reward, the files you acquire that aren’t a blip on the radar of your ISP and doesn’t contain malware or viruses.
Why the rudeness? I asked a simple question… downloading movies and tv shows is always safe because they are programs. That’s why I asked. Didn’t expect you to be a jerk.
There’s a few safe(ish) sites. Your best bet is Fitgirl and DODI repacks, and SteamRIP. Make sure you have the correct URLs. Also check out the FMHY wiki.
Keep in mind that not everything can be 100% safe, just lower risk.
It’s not always safe, and they’re not programs (in the computer sense). Despite not being executable files, a malicious media file can exploit a vulnerability in your media player and execute code. For example: https://www.videolan.org/security/sb-vlc3012.html
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Beyond trustworthy sites how else can you determine this?
Everyone else, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
I’m a very casual downloader. I rarely download and it’s usually older content like movies or retro games. But my personal method has been do a ton of reading. Find chatrooms, forums, etc, where people discuss this topic and read up on the various sites and people’s experiences with them.
Have a separate device if possible. One you’re willing to wipe if something went wrong. I’ve also heard of people sandboxing downloads to try and keep things safer, but I’ve never personally tried it. My assumption is that the older and less complex a download is, the better, but that could be pure ignorance on my part.
For example, if I’m grabbing a GBA game, it’s one single file. There’s less to visually scan, and it’s easy to see if there’s something that looks off. This isn’t always the case, though. For example, one .exe file could ruin your entire machine.
Something newer like a more modern PC game release, I would pick it from a list of sources that people claim are safe, and then basically hope and pray that I didn’t just infect my machine lol. At that point, I try to also look for any suspicious behavior, or if i notice any kind of slowdown, issues with the machine, etc.
Generally speaking, anytime I’ve infected my machine (that I know of), whatever virus protection I’ve been running has caught it and prevented issues. But generally speaking, I would assume that unless you’re downloading simple stuff, you’re taking some risk.
Thanks for sharing! I’m the same as you. Downloaded plenty of retro stuff but never dated modern games.
Those are some helpful tips! :)
Trusted scene releases with sfv checks or trusted repackers, which are usually just the scene release repackaged and thus less safe.
Dude, what you speak of is just plain silliness. Do you not understand that in the realm of pirating, you take risks just for simply downloading in what the laws say is ‘illegal’?
There is no such thing as ‘safe’ when it comes to downloading except getting a clue or a suspicion about what you’re downloading and where it’s from.
Again, it is common sense. Pirating is all about risk and reward. Risk, whether you infect your machine or get penalized by your ISP or get fined/jailed for your piracy. Reward, the files you acquire that aren’t a blip on the radar of your ISP and doesn’t contain malware or viruses.
Why the rudeness? I asked a simple question… downloading movies and tv shows is always safe because they are programs. That’s why I asked. Didn’t expect you to be a jerk.
There’s a few safe(ish) sites. Your best bet is Fitgirl and DODI repacks, and SteamRIP. Make sure you have the correct URLs. Also check out the FMHY wiki.
Keep in mind that not everything can be 100% safe, just lower risk.
Thanks! So one can trust Fitgirl’s to be safe then? That’s typically how I do my movies is only use my private trackers and a few public
Yup. Fitgirl is safe. Though I prefer DODI. They’re repacks are bigger, but they install MUCH faster.
Though that said, does anyone know why DODI no longer has the goated status on the megathread?
It’s not always safe, and they’re not programs (in the computer sense). Despite not being executable files, a malicious media file can exploit a vulnerability in your media player and execute code. For example: https://www.videolan.org/security/sb-vlc3012.html
Thanks for sharing that! I was unaware
removed by mod
What? I asked you an honest question. What is wrong with try you? Go back to Reddit with that.