OK, so I know the rule - never open an .exe file if you are not 100% sure of the source, and that might answer one of my questions.
My brother is trying some things with Photoshop and wants me to check out a plug-in (link here) that seems, on surface, to be harmless enough , but it does come from Russia and I have heard some things about downloading certain programs from Russia that might not be particularly legal nor safe for my computer.
Is there a “snopes” of sorts that allows you to check sources for downloads - in other words, is there somewhere that I could verify that their downloads are not full of viruses or other malicious bugs?
Assuming I open this .exe file and shit hits the fan, is it possible to simply do a back up, using my PC systems back up, to a point a week ago and get rid of it, or will it remain?
BTW, obviously if someone knows this site my brother is asking me to use, let me know if you have had any problems with their downloads.
Google the filename (try to excercise some common sense about the results - i.e. ignore those things that suggest it is a virus and “You need our scanning tool to remove this virus”) - Look at the most common explanation about the file.
If you have anti-virus installed, right click on the exe file and click ‘scan this file’.
ETA: Mcafee found nothing in the file.
I know it is always risky to open any .exe file - especially NEVER open one that is randomly emailed to you! However, this seems to be a site that appears to be legit and you have to search to find it - not like they are out there to cause havoc for no particular reason. Thanks for giving it a check as well.
There is a program called Sandboxie that is useful for this.
It is a program that allows people to run other program in a sandbox on their computer. That way if you don’t like it you empty the sandbox and all the files go away. It’s excellent for trial versions and things.
The free version only allows one sandbox, and the paid version allows many sandboxes, so I’d install the free version and try the program then run it sandboxed. When finished wipe the sandbox out and all your files are gone.
I wholehearted 2nd this program. If you have any doubts about it whatsoever, you run it in Sandboxie where it runs as a totally sectioned off process. If it turns out to be any type of malware, you just simply empty the sandbox and it is gone.
The only problem with it is if you are running a 64 bit version of Windows. There is no version of Sandboxie for that yet.