How to spot and avoid fake search results.
 

BearShare is excellent for spotting the fakes because it can display loads of
info that LimeWire can't. In the search view enable all the columns except
"Type" and lay them out in an order that makes sense to you. When you
search for movies or other stuff that is often faked click on the tiny plus sign
icon beside the filename to see the details of all the sources and you will
quickly learn the difference between faked results and the real thing.

A few things to watch out for are:

• results that come from large numbers of LimeWire versions only,
• a lot of different IP addresses but the same GUID,
• long lists of sources but few with GUIDS (There should be at least one GUID
  for every ten without)
• or a complete lack of other nonessential data like created dates, browse or
  chat icons,
• and sometimes the filenames won't even match each other
  (worms are especially prone to this one).

You can also use this technique in the downloads view, which is a good idea
because BearShare will find a lot more sources as the downloads proceed,
uncovering a lot of sources whose file names don't match.

When you get a lot of results and fakes seem to dominate the list, sort by the
number of sources and start examining results that only get roughly 2-20
sources and a variety of software versions other than LimeWire. Right click on
each one and pick "Bitzi ticket" and your web browser will show you a report
on them. If it's the right one or Bitzi has no info, consider it a likely candidate.

When you find likely candidates:

• Click on the Size column for that file and hit Control-C on your keyboard to
  save the exact size.
• Click on the Advanced button (right beside the Search button at the top of
  the view) and the advanced search box will open up.
• Click on the Filters tab, activate the two size filters, use Control-V to copy
  the exact size into both and change the KB (which means kilobytes) in the
  units box beside each number to B (for bytes).
• When you click on the Search button to close that advanced search box only
  that file will be found and the fakes can't drown your search.

There may be a few extra files show up but concentrate on the one with the
most sources because the others with few or one source are probably just
damaged copies of the same file.

Wait for the search to finish and:

• Put a finger on the "F" key, (don't press it yet!)
• Double click on the file and you will go directly to the download view and the
  new download will show up immediately.
• Quickly right-click on it and hit "F" before the right click menu even shows up.
• Now click on the little plus sign and watch to see if the sources found still
  match what you wanted to download.

That will get BearShare to search for even more sources, but this time by the
precise hash instead of a filename. You'll have to be quick to do this because
BearShare will be trying to start the download and will ignore that "F" if even
one source has started downloading. Don't be surprised if that search which
gave you only a few sources at first turns out to have up to 1500 sources.
BearShare is especially good at finding more sources during downloads. :D

By the way. For the most dependable and powerful version of BearShare,
see this thread: Sticky: BearShare has been sabotaged.
This is my favourite version. I use it all the time. :cool:

Thank you. I understand only the text not related to Bearshare. I used to do the same treatment, and I nearly always discover the fake files.
It is

Most fakes that I find have a Limewire host as their first source, and scathes of other sources with no host listed.

Yep. I doubt that even the first address shown is genuine.
4B99BBA3DA2EBC29FDE28F5D1AED0F33 is usually the GUID too.

Sooner or later that one will be found and blocked. The developers have been
discussing how to counteract that kind of forgery for a while, and I expect the
experiments are about to begin. ;]

i dont even use bearshare ,and i still get many fake files,all from unknown hosts

how do i report these hosts?
thanks

general 1

Not much point. I already scan for them and put them in the [Hostiles List].

Your best bet is to use the list and check your search results with Bitzi before you download.

i do use bitzi ,but your answer does not help

ok i wont ask again, you to technal for me

What is a "bitzi"-sorry I am a dumb Limewire user, trying to use my somewhat intelligent brain to figure this stuff out.
Can anyone tell me why, for instance, J*hnny C*sh in particular seems to have all "corrupt files" or "trojans" or "quarantined Trojans"-
Why do people corrupt certain files by certain artists?
I have noticed that. At first I thought I was losing my mind, but every one of these "J*hnny C*sh files" was corrupted-and I DID see a pattern, like the same speed, same "4,087 kb" or whatever they use to measure whatever that number means.

I noticed a lot of things in common with a lot of the files, but I DID find some that looked perfect-T3, 3-5,000 kb(?) MP3, etc-and THAT file was corrupted.
In case you can help me, I am looking in particular for "H**t" by J*hnny C*sh, or "S**ner or L***r"
Any help would be appreciated so much! I know I sound like an idiot-not knowing the speed or "bitrate"-is that even a computer word? It just came into my head!
With respect for my fellow computer people.
Ashley
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Edited to comply with the House Rules.
Warez, copyright violation, or any other illegal activity may NOT be linked or expressed in any form. Copyright material may not be discussed on this forum.

From Wikipedia: Bit rate often refers to the number of bits used per unit of playback time to represent a continuous medium such as audio or video after source coding (data compression). The size of a multimedia file in bytes is the product of the bit rate (in bits/s) and the length of the recording (in seconds), divided by eight.

To learn who & why the network is spammed to stop copyright file sharing, see Beware of Fake files in search results. To see examples of spam sizes & sizes you should learn to recognise (you already are starting to learn by the sounds), see Virus thread: Typical virus spam file sizes - Make a note of them (click on blue link to see). This also shows the spam is auto-renamed to match your search criteria.

Other type of audio file problem, file corruption, see mp3 Bit-Rates Versus File Sizes (click on link). This is harder for the average person to compare, however if you notice the size of the file compared to bit rate & duration of song is different to others in search results with same bit rate, then you know something is wrong. These such corrupt files might show a bit rate of 192 or 320 kbps but after downloading & playing, they playback with a bitrate of perhaps 32 kbps & you either only hear silence or noise, or chipmunks or the file will refuse to play at all.

Bitzi mostly has video file reports, but some audio file reports do exist there. Bitzi is a site which has reports on p2p sharing files. People can list files there, make reports, etc. And likewise, others can check the files in their search results by doing a bitzi lookup to see if there are any reports on that file. ;) How to use Bitzi Web Lookup :) This way people can learn if there are problems with any files they find in their search results. If the file is not listed at Bitzi, then some doubt could be cast upon it. The more people who list their shared files at Bitzi or make reports on shared files they find, then the better for everyone. :)