Webupon

Who said there’s no such thing as a free lunch!  Yes, there’s lots of free stuff on the internet that’s safe to download and use – no strings attached, no problems, no spyware, no hidden agenda but there’s also lots of stuff that’s definitely not safe.  So, how can you tell the difference?

Completely free and safe
Any software that is described as ‘opensource’ is made by a community for the benefit of everyone and so is usually completely free to download and use with no strings attached.  An example is the OpenOffice software, a completely free office suite similar to (or better than) Microsoft Office.  To find this software search for ‘opensource software’.

There is, however, one possible problem.  Whatever software you find, make sure that it’s available for Windows as a lot of opensource software is for Linux only.

There’s also a lot of free software being offered by the large companies like, for example, Microsoft but read on to make sure you know how to check this out first.  

Free but with a small string or two
This covers things like free email accounts or free webpage hosting and free software where you have to provide an email address before you can download.  Here you get a free product, but you give something valuable away in return.  Thus, your free software might mean that you suffer some form of spam from the address provider or their friends.

However, don’t discount these, the product is usually valuable and useful so it may be worth a little effort to protect yourself.

Before you sign-up or download, create a new email address you can use for these and similar products.  This is an email address that you use only to collect your message giving you the download location or serial number or to confirm that the address is valid.

Now, by using this address, you can happily give away your email in return for software or other goodies.  All you have to do, aside from the initial use, is to dip in once a week and delete the emails that are present.

Everything else
Think before you click must be your motto!  The internet is an exception for people do give things away for nothing but if it doesn’t fall into the two categories above, try to think what the giver might be getting out of this.  And also take a second to think what’s the worst that can happen if you take it?

Then, before you actually commit yourself, search the internet by putting the product in a search engine and adding the words ’scam’ or ‘problems’ or ‘review’ to see what other people have reported.  People are good at reporting things like scams and they are usually easy and quick to find.

If you decide to download free software or other freebies, it makes sense to use a big and reputable download source that you know you can trust or to stick to only downloads offered by major companies.  Beware, particularly, of the small ad that appears by email or by popup and offers what seems like miracle software or software at a miracle price. 

Out on the internet there are some great free things on offer but there are probably a good deal more that are not quite so free so be careful. 

And, finally, don’t be afraid of taking what is offered for nothing but make sure you know exactly what you are getting and exactly what you are giving away to get it!