Mostly files downloaded from the web will be safe from viruses. Mainly that's because when the owner of the web page gets complaints about a file, it will be taken down. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to be careful.

If you're downloading a file from an established company's web page, there's not much to be concerned about. The company's reputation is important to them and they are sure to have been careful.

If you're downloading it from an individual's web page, then it's a good idea to be as careful as you would be about opening an attachment to an email message from that individual. That means don't download and run program files or scripts, because there's no way to check them without running them. But downloading text files, including .rtf and .pdf files, images, sound files, and video files should be fine.

DON'T download illegal copies of software. You shouldn't be doing it because you're violating copyright law and the owner of the web page is also violating the law in most countries by providing the material. Also I have heard of such illegal software being infected by a virus. It's relatively easy to distribute a virus this way because the recipient is highly motivated to run the program and you can't really check to see that it is the right program or that it is OK without running it.

"Shareware" is software that you can try free and then pay for if you decide that you like it. It is unlikely that you will get a virus from such software, if it is legitimate, because the author wants people to use the software, like it, and pay him. "Freeware" is software distributed without charge. While there is more possibility of some unscrupulous person distributing a virus in freeware, much freeware is legitimate and useful. As a general rule, I don't just browse around and download any shareware or freeware, but instead I find references from people who have used it and liked it. Those may be references from individuals I know or from some well-known computer magazine's website.

Although such shareware and freeware may be free of viruses, it is important to be aware that if you download and install a lot of different packages, you can make your computer run slower than it should. If you have done a lot of this in the past and if your computer is slower now that you'd like, it might be a good idea to uninstall the programs you no longer use.

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Last updated May 7, 2000. Mary Parker