I need some computer file-sharing advice for novice/non-computer savvy me

[Bombtrack]

ok, I'm downloading a very large( 187 megabyte) video file on Kazaalite. I'm on a dial-up so it's a day-long thing.

I had to disconnect, then reconnect, and I had difficulty getting another user to continue the DL (not a popular very file).

By sort of accident I hit the "search filter" option on the 'search field' menue. I unchecked the "filter files I cannot download due to firewalls" option just to see what would happen.

Just that moment, Kazza found a half a dozen files and started continuing the download.

Now I'm afraid that it will be a broken file or something because I don't know what a firewall is, and why I wouldn't be able to download them before.

anyway any advice would be well appreciated. BTW I'm downloading an old episode of a cancelled show that you can't rent so I'm not stealing from anyone. Thanks alot

[lcordero]

1. a firewall is something that helps keep the bad guys out

zonealarm is a firewall. If you don't have one then you might have some major issues with your computer soon.
http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/1001_zl/zaSetup_37_211.exe

Download this and set it up.

BTW...try shareaza and emule rather than kazaa

you can download shareaza at http://www.shareaza.com and emule at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/emule/

Let kazaa finish downloading the file

[Paul1574]

2. you NEED a firewall with kazaa

full of viruses/trojans etc....there are better apps out there as mentioned ~ also try imesh BUT get the clean version of it (no spyware or ad's) it multi-sources a download so even on dialup it should be ok

[Bombtrack]

3. are you sure KazaaLITE is not ok?

And it doens't already have a firewall?

anyway I like Kazaa because it's simple. I used to have something called AIMster, but that went away or something. Then I tried a few other's that were complicated as all hell and I settled on Kazaalite.

I think that it has the greatest selection. Do any others have that type of selection and are as easy to use?

[MojoKrunch]

4. Rethink KazaaLite unless you have *very good* AV software.

I finally switched to EMule because I got Trojan Horsed *bad* even though I have both firewall and up-to-date AV.
Too much crap on Kazaa... too many fakes and too many viruses.
But then I have broadband so I was DLing quite a bit.

I'm trying out Bit Torrent now, just to see and it seems to be working out ok for now.
It's a little more complicated than KazaaLite/EMule and just as quick.

Mojo

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

5. Actually, I always recommend going to KazaaLite

over Kazaa because it doesn't load any of the spyware crap the full version does. It's a wee bit more secure. For p2p I personally use LimeWire Pro. NO spyware, etc. at all.