Staying safe?

[merinarasauce]

Hello, friends,

I am not sure whether this is the correct forum to present this problem, but I will ask regardless.
I recently downloaded a torrent of Driver: San Francisco, but after attempting to open setup.exe, my antivirus program (McAfee) cancelled the setup and notified me that it had "blocked a virus". I am not sure whether McAfee detected actual malware within the program, or if it marked the software as potentially illegal. How can I be sure that the software I downloaded is safe, and if it is, how can I keep my antivirus from blocking and quarantining the files?
I would appreciate a response, or at least, help finding a better resource.

Thank you,

The Preservationist

[RobertX]

The answer depends on who you trust: the antivirus software or the site you downloaded the game from.

Both answers dictate a different response and we can't tell you who to trust.

But having said that, I never had a problem with pirated PC games; I have always discovered that my games were blocked due to the antivirus being very hypochondriac about certain shit.

[LZA]

The answer depends on who you trust: the antivirus software or the site you downloaded the game from.

Both answers dictate a different response and we can't tell you who to trust.

But having said that, I never had a problem with pirated PC games; I have always discovered that my games were blocked due to the antivirus being very hypochondriac about certain shit.

I agree. When I DL'ed Microsoft Office, I HAVE to shut down the antivirus to run the toolkit.

You can trust both, the AV doesn't know you are getting the file purposefully and by telling you it's dangerous its actually working.

Pirating, though, you kinda know these files can be used for purposes of getting the app/game to work.

SO, like RX says, who is the UL'er? Does he/she have a skull??? Do the comments seem fine or are there comments of fakes/viruses.

Again, if I DL from a trusted source, I'll temp disable the AV because it can cause a problem when installing something.

If the AV gets the files, I'll tell it to restore/ignore. But disabling when installing usually does it for me.

[waregim]

AV software is mainly a scam. McAfee in particular.
And it is a waste of resources.

Download everything to a particular directory (may need to symlink) and scan it occasionally with a scanner like Emsisoft.

Even the best of Scanners/AV wont catch a real zero day RATT, so it is best to wait till a prog is a few weeks/months old, scan again, and for good measure toss in a sandnox/VM and fire up.

In the scanners a rule of thumb is that if a booger is in a program exe to toss it.
if its a 'generic' type in a crack or a keygen, it is harmless. If its got a particular name, such as MOOBLEY.835 - then wipe it.
Ot block it in a sandbox. Best to wipe.

Oh. Never, Ever, EVER allow anything downloaded to activate. Always have it SAVE. Best to a sandbox.
Also: Disable BITS in Services, its an M$ booger.

[jaffer]

How do you shut down avast?
I know that I can shut down shields(7) but it seems to run something in background..
Because with exceptions it should make games running faster..
But instead it uses something to make them slower if turning off the shield?
BITS in services off on win 7 too?

[RobertX]

How do you shut down avast?
I know that I can shut down shields(7) but it seems to run something in  background..
Because with exceptions it should make games running faster..
But instead it uses something to make them slower if turning off the shield?
BITS in services off on win 7 too?

I thought you just select Turn off Permanently on the tray icon.