SillyDog701

by **Matthew** » Sat 12 Jun, 2004 9:38 am

Hello:

I need an unbiased opinion from some knowledgable people and these forums have been very helpful in the past.

I have a home network consisting of two computers. A primary one which we do almost all of our computing including web surfing, banking etc. The other machine is basically a secondary computer for my young kids to play games on and a backup hard drive for our digital photos and data.

If I install Grokster (or similar peer to peer program loaded with adware/spyware) on the secondary machine will any of the junk that comes with Grokster migrate over to our primary machine? Is there some way to set things up so programs/files etc cannot migrate without me knowing?

Thank you.

Matthew
p.s. The primary machine is running XP Pro and the secondary is running Win ME

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by **Antony** » Sat 12 Jun, 2004 10:23 am

Hello Matthew,
I will try to be as unbiased as possible :-)

From the Grokster website, I noticed that there's Grokster Pro, an ad-free, adware-free version of Grokster. NO banner ads, NO popup ads, NO extra software. For only $29.95.

Now, back to question. You might first want to tell us how your connect your network.
If you have one of the most logical connection...
(internet) - (modem and router) - then from router to two computers
you don't need to worry.

However if your secondary computer is connected to the primary computer directly (i.e. the primary computer shares internet connection), you will need to worry about the adware things then.

Matthew wrote:Is there some way to set things up so programs/files etc cannot migrate without me knowing?

Disable file sharing and remote access (or login), and remember to regularly update your Windows/Virus definitions in your primary computer, and you will be fine.
Only enable file sharing when you need to transfer files to secondary computer.

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by **Matthew** » Sat 12 Jun, 2004 10:37 am

You guessed correctly. My network is as you suggested and from the internet is connected to the modem, the modem is connected to the router and then each computer is connected independently to the router.

Having said that the $30 version of Grokster maybe a good way to do things as well. I haven't been to their site in quite some time and was unaware that option existed. Thanks

I will check out your other suggestions as well. Thanks again.

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by **DJGM** » Sat 12 Jun, 2004 10:56 am

If you want a free P2P filesharing program to connects to the same network that Grokster
does (FastTrack), that has no suspect spyware or annoying adware included, then you'd
be better off hunting down a copy of KaZaaLite. This program is pretty much the same
as the official KaZaa P2P filesharing client, but has all of the scumware that usually
comes shipped with the official KaZaa program, completely removed.

The only reason you'd need to hunt down a copy of KaZaaLite, is because the owners
of the official KaZaa (Sharman Networks) successfully imposed a "cease and desist"
order on the makers of KaZaaLite, on grounds of (ironically) copyright infringment.

Since most (if not all) P2P filesharing programs are used for the distribution of illegal
unlicensed software (warez) and copyrighted music and movies, then I'd personally
recommend steering well clear of all such programs. There is also the problem of
viruses being spread via P2P, so aside from all the potential legal problems,
there's also the issue of your computer security to consider.

If you're going to use any P2P program, you do so entirely at your own risk . . .

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by **Mandrake** » Sat 12 Jun, 2004 7:05 pm

Here is a download link for KaZaa Lite 2.4.3 (the last version they made), use at your own risk, of course.

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by **Don_HH2K** » Sat 12 Jun, 2004 9:39 pm

If you do decide to put any P2P client on any of your computers, get a firewall such as ZoneAlarm and have it filter local network access. Don't have it configure Internet access, because that will probably screw up your P2P program.

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by **djv1** » Sun 13 Jun, 2004 8:56 pm

I would go with WinMX, it doesn't bring in any viruses that I have found so far and I have had it for about 2 years, and trhe best part is that it is free.

Here is the link

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2230

it is only 723kb and once you install it is ready to go and connects fast (even on dial-up) and is twice as fast as grokster or kazza. To what I see anway.

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by **DJGM** » Sun 13 Jun, 2004 9:07 pm

I've tried WinMX. Sometimes it took several minutes to connect, other times didn't connect at all!

But that was about 18 months or so ago. Maybe I might just give it another go . . .

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by **djv1** » Sun 13 Jun, 2004 9:11 pm

I have had nothing but luck with it it takes any where from 3-30 seconds to connect and have never had a problem with it.

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by **Antony** » Sun 13 Jun, 2004 9:55 pm

Please do NOT turn this thread into P2P software recommendation.

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by **djv1** » Mon 14 Jun, 2004 6:26 pm

I'm not just trying to say that I like WinMX better than Kazza or Grokster

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by **Antony** » Mon 14 Jun, 2004 7:11 pm

djv1 wrote:I'm not just trying to say that I like WinMX better than Kazza or Grokster

You really don't know when to keep quiet, do you?
That's another way of indirect software recommendation.

I have many good reasons to ban recommendation of P2P software in SillyDog701.

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by **keith** » Mon 14 Jun, 2004 11:06 pm

what do ya mean by indirect software recommendation??
Keith.

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by **Antony** » Mon 14 Jun, 2004 11:32 pm

keith wrote:what do ya mean by indirect software recommendation??
Keith.

Couldn't you see it?

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by **DJGM** » Mon 14 Jun, 2004 11:36 pm

keith wrote:what do ya mean by indirect software recommendation??
Keith.

I guess, by saying he likes one particular P2P client over certain others.

A direct recommendation would be to say something like . . .

I've been using (P2P app) since (date) and I think it's great. You can get it from (website) . . .

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