What types of downloads are generally okay and virus free? :D

[Foreverxever]

Gosh, I hope I got this post in the right place! Excuse me if I didn't! I am so sorry!

Sooo... I still live with my parents, as I am freshly graduated just last school year!

If they knew I was into this stuff, they'd collapse. XD

ANYWAY! This is my personal laptop, but I'm not very computer handy/smart. D: I'm terrible with them.

My computer has adequate protection, but my question is which downloads are okay? Like I saw an old forum post warning against... I think it was megaupload?

I am just looking for knowledge and good advice from those much wiser and more experienced than me!

Thanks.

[KarumA]

>facepalm

There used to be a virus lingering in the code of the pages on Megaupload, however if you have a good browser and adblocker then such a thing shouldn't affect you at all.
There is an obvious difference between visiting shady sites and for example visiting some here and between some torrent sites and some others (or the google file name with download, ebook or torrent and fall for the "download now here"-ish pages).
If you do not fall into your_favourite_movie.exe, click on all the adds (again adblocker to get rid of those) and read descriptions of what you download (comments can provide enough information if something is save or not) then you should be fine as long as you have the proper tools; virus scan (for windows 7 64bit recommended: Microsoft Security Essentials), save browser (no Internet Explorer), adblocker (such as the addon for Firefox called AdBlockPlus).

[dArkLovePiece]

My advice : Install Firefox (Mozilla Firefox Web Browser) and AdBlockPlus (Adblock Plus — for annoyance-free web surfing). Then before downloading anything, read the description. Make sure it's not *.exe, unless you're downloading a program/game you trust.

But from my experience, downloading random manga scans, BL games, drama CDs and yaoi episodes from the links in aarinfantasy are generally safe.

[chillerific89]

Aarinfantasy is about the safest place you can download from. And I nearly always use the Megaupload links on Aarin and had no probs so far. Mediafire is good to. And I sometimes use Rapidshare and Sendspace to. Not Savefile, Badoongo or other more exotic sites though...

By the way I use Firefox as my browser and AVG as my anti-virus.

[Milwaen]

Yeah, chillerific's right: aarin is one of the safest site for downloads I've never had any problems with downloading through that are posted here. Generally I prefer Mediafire (no pop-ups, no waiting time), but also Meagupload is ok.
What to download: well, I'd consider almost 100% safe music (mp3) and video (avi, mkv) files... Text files, too (pdf)... As for other stuff, it's always a good idea to run a virus scan on the stuff after download!!! And NEVER download exe files from sites you don't know or where's no trustworthy firm of the developer (Microsoft, Adobe, etc.)!!!!
I use Avira Antivir (which is a free antivirus program!!!) and AdAware (which is also a free software!!!) to block adwares and for on-line protection.