I am done with 4-shared

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jfugina
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I am done with 4-shared

Post by jfugina »

I have decided that from here on out, I will no longer participate in blog hops for digi freebies. The designers put out some really nice stuff, and I am thankful that they are willing to share. However, most of them put their stuff on 4-shared. And today, at work, I downloaded some malware that could not be gotten rid of. It was one of the nastiest pieces of work I have ever seen. It installed itself automatically, and disguised itself as anti-virus software. And it blocked my ability to run anything that would let me kill a process. And the only web sites that it would let me get to were the porn sites they inflicted on me.

The worst part about all of this - I didn't actually click on anything. This happened with nothing more than a mouseover. Trust me, I watched it happen. I was horrified.

I have no idea if the tech support guys were able to get rid of it or not, because I had to go to a meeting, and then I left for the day. On one hand, I shouldn't have been surfing for digi files at work, but on the other hand, thank goodness it was at work, because at home, my only choice would have been to wipe out everything and re-install windows. At least the guys at work can get in with other types of logins and run other tools that might recover my workstation. Getting a new PC with all of my development tools is a process that can take days.

So anyway, I'm just passing this along, because I know there are others that get stuff from 4-shared. I'm done with digi freebies, except those that I can download from a store site that I trust. And ultimately, I'm happy to pay designers for their work anyway. I have more than enough freebies that I should really only need to look for very specific things for a very specific project anyway.
Julie Fugina
#26 in the order of the PAO
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mpizzazz
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Re: I am done with 4-shared

Post by mpizzazz »

Thanks for the warning, Julie.
marianne
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Paula
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Re: I am done with 4-shared

Post by Paula »

Thanks for the heads up on that Julie. My son warned me awhile ago that if you have to download something--you don't need it! I've never done 4shared, but I have been tempted. Really scary that all it took was a movement to let it in.
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pbp908
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Re: I am done with 4-shared

Post by pbp908 »

I don't do 4shared files any more because of the interminable wait. The only files that I'm downloading at this time are from designers that I've known for years, and only then if they don't use 4shared. I've gotten very picky about the files that I'm keeping now anyway.
Pam P.
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EDelValle
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Re: I am done with 4-shared

Post by EDelValle »

Julie, I had the same thing happen to me
2 weeks ago, when I was searching for
a medical code that I needed, I clicked
on a site that I knew and trusted and
had been to before and as soon as I clicked
the mouse, I knew I was in trouble.

It took 4 different techs, each with their own favorite
mal ware program and 4 days, to get me to the point where I can use
my computer at work without waiting forever for a program
to open. It had installed some instruction on my computer
that had it continually trying to execute. It infected
my online access and they finally had to give me a work
around so I could access our on line programs that we use
everyday. They actually would have reformated my hard drive
but there is one program that I need every day, that can not be
saved or backed up and continue to work properly.
It was some Russian concoction that was very hard to isolate.
Be Yourself, Everyone else is taken

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Elizabeth in Brooklyn
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jfugina
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Location: St. Louis

Re: I am done with 4-shared

Post by jfugina »

Wow Elizabeth! I hope I'm not out of commission for that long! I'm sure they can get a machine back up for me pretty quick, but getting all of the programs I use installed again would likely take 4 days. Luckily, a lot of what I do is web browser based, so as long as they could get me a PC or laptop with an internet connection, I'd be mostly back in business.

I didn't go back to work after my off-site meeting, so I don't know if they were able to fix it. I figured better to hope they fixed it and not let it ruin my weekend. Of course, I just completed a repair of my PC in the craft room (and I still don't think it's quite right), so I guess it was just a day for tech problems. :angry42: And to think, my PC repair tonight started because I wanted to boot the machine and update my gypsy so I could make some cuts with a new cart. Three hours ago, I had every intention of being crafty, and I spend the night trying to update software instead. Grrr.
Julie Fugina
#26 in the order of the PAO
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jmp1022
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Re: I am done with 4-shared

Post by jmp1022 »

I've never actually had any problems with 4 shared.
Guess I been lucky

But I keep my antiviuus set pretty high evcept when I want to watch video at CS
Jill P
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LadyJaine

Re: I am done with 4-shared

Post by LadyJaine »

I won't download from 4-shared, either. There were too many horror stories about it. Some of them, I thought were just user error, but Julie, I know you didn't goof up. If you got a virus with a mouse-over, I don't even want to open a 4-shared webpage.
bethrich

Re: I am done with 4-shared

Post by bethrich »

Julie, I'm so sorry that you had this experience. I hope you let the blog train organizer know. And I appreciate the heads up. I also have strong security on the PC where I do downloads, but I'm sure you do, too. This is scary and is making me think twice about whether it's worth the risk.
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