That's because you really didn't know how to fix it. Lets face it, if you aren't aware or don't know how to fix the problem, the first thing you do is wipe it. And almost every guy who comes over to fix problems with your PC only wipes everything and gives you a pirated copy of windows!I've had them wipe it after establishing that I don't have the time to search for the problem myself, but I first tell them to back up their crap. Secondly, I make sure they have their factory restore disc. Thirdly, pirated copies are usually given out by those who aren't full-time practitioners or don't charge for checking it.
I know, there have been times when I have thought that something was wrong with my PC and had it wiped out only to realise that I could fix it. And I have also had times when the tech guys weren't able to fix problems and were gonna wipe it when I was able to fix my computer easily. Wiping is a last resort for me. I do contact the tech people I know for advice, though I usually wipe in the case of a virus because I do not have the time to hunt it down
Limewire is no security risk, if you say that it lets others download your personal files, then that's not true. It has a specific shared folder which is often just not easily found otherwise that you could mistakingly put your files in it. And if you do put your files in a folder like that whose name is "Share" then you have to be totally dumb.
And if it puts all the files that you downloaded on sharing, then whats wrong with that, you just downloaded it! It is a backdoor into your computer, and it is wrong to assume that hackers don't exploit backdoors. Most of today's hackers are paid professionals who want to use your computer to send spam email and such, and they are dedicated to finding security holes. These aren't your for-the-fun-of-it viruses of old.
And if you talk about viruses, then i will remind you that only a minority of the files found on p2p sites has a virus. And most of them are software, and secondly those are generally the keygens and cracks and all those thing. With a decent anti-virus and a brain, you should have absolutely NO problems.Problem is most people don't have an AV program, knowledge of what's not a friendly file type, and have a tendency to download what's popular without looking at it's file type. And there are millions of files on Limewire.
The trash icon is there for a purpose, and limewire actually had a feature where you could check if a file is correct or not (some such option comes up when you right click) People actually mark downloads as virus infected and everything.Not everyone is aware of this, though.
But one thing is true, limewire actually has more virus files than any other p2p application.
The main thing is that you could actually download a virus from a website, it really doesn't have to be limewire. While true, both are security risks, and more people have a sense of what's safe on the internet as opposed to on Limewire. And hackers on both utilize a thing called social engineering.
And I actually have stopped using it because of extremely indecent speeds and no results for searches of many files and songs. Personally decent bittorrent trackers have comments which is a really great feature since people can easilly spot them. On limewire only a few files have comments because the option is not so easy to spot. Secondly bittorrent has godly speeds and it increases with popularity. There are actually serious seeders there, on limewire you find them one day and the next day they aren't there.Well, BitTorrent is the tool of those that want to stick it to the system but don't trust Limewire. Personally, I have a distrust of both, based on personal experiences, though my friends have never had issues with BT.
Nothing is illegal about it, you can't blame limewire because its users host porn (it is illegal in some countries, like india) or music or movies. The example of the knife, you can't blame the company because murderers can use them to kill people.I never said Limewire was illegal. I just said it's a terrible risk to security, especially in the hands of someone who isn't computer savvy.