Sadly there are spammers in the Gnutella network which try to get you to download fraudulent material.
Steps to avoid that:
Never download any .wma file
They can control your computer to some extend, for example opening websites.
The same is true for .wmv and .mov files, by the way.
If you want to be safe from that, only download the following kinds of files (for video and audio - pictures and text aren't included in this list, though most are safe - not ".doc", though!)
.mp3 - MP3
.ogg - Ogg vorbis audio (better quality than mp3 and free)
.flac - lossless and free
.avi - standard movie format from before there were embedded links
.mpg - standard movie format from before there were embedded links
.mpeg - standard movie format from before there were embedded links
.ogv - Ogg theora video: a free format
.ogm - Ogg theora video: a free format - alternate container
.mkv - Matroska Video - a recent cross format movie container.
Don't use Windows Media Player for downloaded files
Use VLC or similar simpler players instead - those don't forward you to porn sites.
VideoLAN - Free and Open Source software and video streaming solutions for every OS!
Using Windows Media Player for these files is an invitation for spammers and malware to infest your computer.
Remember that in Gnutella you find the files otehrs share - and not everyone in this whole wide (digital) universe has only your wellbeing in mind (but most people are honest and well-meaning - else you wouldn't find any good files in p2p networks).
If you get a bad file, ban the host
You can expect a host which has one bad file to have many more - banning it avoids seeing that host again for some time.
Remember the files - and don't fall for the same trick again
You can't avoid Gnutella spam completely, just as you can't completely avoid email spam. the way to be safer is to learn to recognize it - it isn't that hard
- Check the filesizes, if they are realistic.
- If many different songs have the same filesize, don't trust them too easily.
- Check the source - and ban bad sources.
- In Phex create your own custom filter rules based on the stuff you search for.
- When you download a file, listen to it with vlc before passing it to any other media player - vlc doesn't point you to porn sites:
VideoLAN - Free and Open Source software and video streaming solutions for every OS!
Best wishes and happy sharing!
Arne
PS: Please only share stuff you really want to share - and watch your local copyright laws.