How Safe is Free Software?

May 05, 2011, By Ryan Tetzlaff 3 comments

There are a lot of great free software products out there that do anything from accounting and word processing to spyware removal and games. It's a good idea, however, to be cautious about what you download. You want to be sure it's safe. Also,what should you do if you have problems with free software?

Like life, when it comes to free software you get a mix of the good and the bad. Some free software is extremely useful and even worth your cold hard cash (or is a great way to try before you buy). Unfortunately, plenty of free software can also cause serious problems with your computer. Developers of free software often don’t have the incentive to go through and squash every bug leading to potential problems when you download and use their program.

To protect yourself, stick with reliable download sites like Cnet's Download.com, Tucows.com and ZD Net Downloads. If the site you are downloading from looks like the equivalent of a rundown neighborhood, steer clear. Also, keep an eye out for reviews. Most reputable download sites let users review or give brief comments on their experience with a download. If there are only a few reviews or mostly negative reviews, find something else to download.

Although prevention is often the best medicine, you can’t always know what you’re getting. Even extremely polished software can cause issues on your computer. Let’s say you jumped in and downloaded a great new free application, but you’ve noticed some performance issues with your computer after the install. What to do?

The first step should be to uninstall the application and reboot. This should clear up any issues the majority of the time, but what if you really wanted to use the application? You could always try reinstalling again. If you have an antivirus application installed and running in the background (you do have antivirus installed and running right?), after scanning the application for malware, try disabling the real-time scanning feature temporarily while you install the application.