Hi Neelie amd Welcome to the Forums. :)

Limewire itself is Safe. Has NO Viruses, Adware or anything else. The issues you're experiancing is coming from the Gnutella Network. P2P means that you are downloading and sharing from other peoples computers, so the Nasties are from other Peers, Not LW.

There is Volumes of info here on these forums that will help you understand what to look out for and avoid becoming infected. However using a P2P program will always be somewhat risky. Make sure you have a good Antivirus program and ALLWAYS Scan EVERY File Before Opening.
Hope this Helps. :)

Thank you very much, I think that's where I made my mistake, by not scanning every file first, I think Limewire is a great site, I only check it out for music and I'm really missing it at the moment. Thanks again :)

You're very welcome.

Please take a look at the three links in Birdy's post above (#48). These links have some very good info and also some Free online Malware Scanners that are essential in my opinion. :)

I'm really grateful for your help. I have Norton 360 security on my computer, for which I paid nearly Euro 83 last November, sadly they wouldn't offer me any support re a potential virus unless I paid anothe Euro 99.99! Not to worry I think I've solved it with the help of another programme. Now I need to ask the following:_ I plan to re instal Limewire asap, and I know from past it will also instal my music that I already downloaded, is it possible that whatever virus I was infected with will be in my Limewire music already downloaded and I will start the problem all over again?

I'm not a windows user per se, but you do need to be aware that some music files themselves have viruses imbedded within them. So I'd suggest a very good scan of these is definitely needed with an AV with up to date virus definitions. A starting point: Virus thread: Typical virus spam file sizes - Make a note of them (click on blue link to see)

I do hope others add their suggestions here, since I am predominantly a mac OSX user, so need input from a windows user here. ;)

Hi Neelie,

If you don't feel confident that the program that you used was able to completely clean your system, I can only suggest that you use a few of the Free Malware scanners.

http://www.superantispyware.com/

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

Spybot - Search & Destroy

These are very easy to use and very good at what they do. Download them, update and run a Full scan.

Hi neelie,
The advice given by lotr, birdy and remoc with regards to viruses and trojans is excellent -- just connecting to the internet is a risk with all the nasties out there -- as long as you have an up to date antivirus program and a firewall this should safeguard you most of the time -- (as well as the programs that remoc has posted) the problem is that some people on LW dont regard security as high priority and others just haven't a clue -- this is where the risk is -- alot of these people dont know they have viruses and trojans and just pass them on with their music.

What can I do to help get rid of or limit the spread of these viruses. I just recieved one trojan horse in a ** Edit** song on Limewire and I just want to help anyway possiable to get rid of the people who make or spread these things knowingly. Also make sure I am not spreading anything unknowingly. These things are such a blithe on everyone. Anything I can do please let me know.

Hi Lance and Welcome to the Gnutella Forums.

Unfortunately many of the Nasties that are spread by means of the Gnutella Network are maliciously loaded by companies hired by the RIAA and the MPAA. They do this purposely to discourage file sharing.

There is very little that can be done against these criminals as their IP addresses change very frequently and is almost impossible to block.

Anyone can basicly put anything and everything on the network, which in turn puts the responsibility on us to protect ourselves. The forums are loaded with Great Information on what to be aware of and other suggestions that will help you have a favorable P2P experiance. :)

And just to add to what Remoc said - if you find an infected file then you can report it on Bitzi. That way, if people look up the file with Bitzi before download (a good thing to do) then they'll see that it's a crappy file & avoid it;)
There's info about using Bitzi in this thread: How to use Bitzi Web Lookup .. & How to use Magnet Links & Direct Connect/Browse/Chat

I have to say a great big thanks to everyone who's helped me on this forum :)
I didn't get any advise at all from the security system I paid 83 Euros for last November, they just kept asking for another 100 euros to remotely access my system and see if I had a virus.
I have yet another question....sorry :( ... I was told ages ago not to have 2 security systems at the same time as they would fight against each other, I've no idea if this is true, or if there are some that you can safely have at the same time. I downloaded Malwarebytes Anti Malware on free trial and it identified an Adware virus and got rid of it, I'm now thinking that I'll buy it, and replace the system I have, other than keep them both, can anyone say if this is my best option please? Thanks again for eveyone's help, I relly appreciate it.

Hi Neelie and congrats on sorting this out.

Security is something we all strive for and in my opinion, you can't have to much of.
Having more than ONE Firewall will cause them to conflict with each other and will actually be less secure. As long as you have one Good Firewall, all of the other security measures you take will only Help keep you relatively safe. Having several different security programs or utilities is most important as each program will catch things that the other might miss.

Be sure to have a Good Firewall and Anti-Virus program in addition to what ever other security programs you choose.
Hope this Helps. :)

Hi Remoc,
Thanks again for all the help. I've been told that Norton 360 is an Anti Virus and Malwarebytes is an Anti Malware, Norton has a Firewall but not sure about the other one, so seems I could probably keep both of them? I still have downloaded Limewire again yet, want to make sure my computer is clean before I do, I don't want to be guilty of spreading problems because of my ignorance! Not sure if I should also download CC Cleaner and Spybot, maybe I'll be overdoing it a bit? .....Neelie :)

Yes you can have Norton and Malwarebytes without issues.

I use NIS2009 with Malwarebytes and Spybot S&D and also SuperAntispyware. You may also look into Spywareblaster. Another security utility that I think is a necessity. SpywareBlaster® | Prevent spyware and malware. Free download.
All of these will work together without issues.

Ccleaner is a great little clean up tool. It's not a security utility. I use it several times a day just to keep things tidy.
Good Luck. :)

I have eventually downloaded Limewire again and can't wait to get started, I have only downloaded one music file, and per a post I read on the forum, I tried to scan it for potential viruses etc before opening it. I thought all I had to do was right click on the file and run a scan but I didn't get that option, could someone let me know where I'm going wrong please. After getting it wrong before I'm not confident to open the file :)

Hi neelie,

Whereabouts are you right clicking on the file that you want to scan? If you're right clicking on the file within LW's library then you won't find the option to scan - you need to find the file outside of LW:)

Which version of LW are you using? If you're using LW 4: Go to LW's library, click on Saved Files & then click Explore... your saved folder will open. Right click on the file that you want to scan & you should see the option to scan with one or more security programs.

If you're using LW 5, find the file outside of LW by using 'locate on disk': Using LimeWire 5 to find your files on your computer using 'Locate File on Disk' tool

When you right click on the file outside of LW, you should see options similar to the screenshot below;)
Click on thumbnail to enlarge the image
Attachment 4805

Thanks very much, I'm using LW 5. I found your help very easy to follow, so I've got it sorted now.
Thanks again :)

O, I just posted a new thread like hers, and although i located it on my disk, I still dont get the option to scan it. I have Trend Micro, and Im not sure about what to do. Can you help me please?

I don't know about trend micro, but the 2 scanners I have used embedded themselves into the shell of the OS...i.e. I can right click on the actual file and choose to scan it....

Likewise for my anti virus app for windows XP. Right-clicking the file gives option to scan as Peerless suggested. Re-check for yourself. ;)

Media Pass--playstreamsearchasong.net
 

So I am a newbie after a hiatus of a few years. I was downloading well and then when I go to open a file I get a prompt requesting me to run a pass for media pass authentication. I cannot seem to get any songs downloaded without this. Help!!!

dont know if ive been infected, but all i get in a search is spam.....

See if these tips help: How to find music :)

Got hit by malware
 

Guys

Just out of interest, I recently got hit by a piece of malware identified as "Windows firewall bypass" via Firefox.

Luckily for me this piece of cr@p was found and eliminated by Spybot.


UK Bob

thanks, ill try the spybot thing.

will do the same, thanks a lot!

nothing seems to work, pc is clean of everything,.