uTorrent "this torrent contains files that may harm your computer"

[OpTicaL]

It is recommending me to upgrade to uTorrent Plus. Why am I getting this message other than the obvious? How does uTorrent determine if a file is harmful or not?

[mukunku]

Any exe file you open directly from utorrent, will cause this message to appear. This is because executable files can contain viruses and you should be careful before opening them.

[OpTicaL]

Ahh, I see. Strange how I couldn't find the answer when I punched in the entire message in Google :|

[agentbad]

I got kinda pissed when I first saw this message because this is a marketing tactic used by software makers to scare you into buying it. I like utorrent and have used it for some time for it's small filesize and cool options but this really needs to be either taken out or reworded. Otherwise this is going to piss off the community and have people jump ship which I probably will too if this isn't fixed.

[jbebad]

The point of the message is that none of the existing virus checkers will catch all possible virus'. They (the operating system) can either warn you or not warn you when you down load a file. If they don't warn you and you get a virus - you would say "why did they not warn me". Down loading files from someone other than those you trust is risky - and to some extent it is risky even from those you trust. You do not know if they have a virus on their machine and they are sending it to you (without their knowledge).

[OpTicaL]

Ok, the message popped up again but this time the folder did not contain any .exe files. The folder contains a few .avi files, one .doc file and one .pdf file. Is there is list of extensions that uTorrent gives warning to?

[Firon]

Just check the "do not warn me" box.

There's a list, but I don't remember it exactly off the top of my head. It's mostly the usual suspects: exe, bat, vbs, pdf, msi, probably a few others.

[jasonh666]

I got kinda pissed when I first saw this message because this is a marketing tactic used by software makers to scare you into buying it. I like utorrent and have used it for some time for it's small filesize and cool options but this really needs to be either taken out or reworded. Otherwise this is going to piss off the community and have people jump ship which I probably will too if this isn't fixed.

i totally agree. this error msg needs to be reworded. i run a free legal torrent site for legacy dos programs and my user got this error msg and accused me of trying to give him a virus.

we all use virus scanners, we don't need a warning to buy the 'plus' version.

[r3ck4h]

we all use virus scanners

I don't! That being said the notification message is highly misleading indeed.

[Andreasvb]

Ok, the message popped up again but this time the folder did not contain any .exe files. The folder contains a few .avi files, one .doc file and one .pdf file. Is there is list of extensions that uTorrent gives warning to?

Could be a file named something.avi.exe and if you haven't disabled the option to hide file extensions in Windows Explorer then it will look like an avi-file, which it's not.

[bajc1]

You got the message because of the PDF file. There have been many security holes found in the standard PDF reader, Adober Acrobat Reader, over the years that can allow a malicious PDF to take over your system without you ever having any idea, and then getting all your passwords and cleaning out your bank accounts or whatever. So it isn't good to trust it with a downloaded pdf. On Windows I recomment using one of the many third party PDF readers instead. They are all less bloated than Adobe Acrobat Reader so they start up faster. I am on Windows and I use Sumatra PDF. It is free of charge and I've never had a problem. Mac can handle PDF with its builtin software. Either way you can ignore the warning unless you are using Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you must use Acrobat, let it do its updates which it will want to do every week or more. It is for your own safety.

[tybomb]

This is ridiculous. People have enough trouble trying to disable their virus scanners so they can install a program they're trying to download and the comments sections under every program on sites like TPB are already filled up with nimrods screaming about trojans because they don't have a clue what's going on. Why add to the confusion?

I'm sure utorrent knows full well this is a completely useless endeavor. It's like putting a smoke detector in a smokers lounge. "OMG! There must be a fire! Everybody drop your cigars and RUUUUUNNNNN!"

[OpTicaL]

This is ridiculous. People have enough trouble trying to disable their virus scanners so they can install a program they're trying to download and the comments sections under every program on sites like TPB are already filled up with nimrods screaming about trojans because they don't have a clue what's going on. Why add to the confusion?

I'm sure utorrent knows full well this is a completely useless endeavor. It's like putting a smoke detector in a smokers lounge. "OMG! There must be a fire! Everybody drop your cigars and RUUUUUNNNNN!"

I agree, tech geeks will know how to search google or utorrent forums and know it's a safety feature the average user will be confused and think they downloaded something malicious, but then again, people who use uTorrent (or any BT client) aren't your average users.

[vessto]

You got the message because of the PDF file. There have been many security holes found in the standard PDF reader, Adober Acrobat Reader, over the years that can allow a malicious PDF to take over your system without you ever having any idea, and then getting all your passwords and cleaning out your bank accounts or whatever. So it isn't good to trust it with a downloaded pdf. On Windows I recomment using one of the many third party PDF readers instead. They are all less bloated than Adobe Acrobat Reader so they start up faster. I am on Windows and I use Sumatra PDF. It is free of charge and I've never had a problem. Mac can handle PDF with its builtin software. Either way you can ignore the warning unless you are using Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you must use Acrobat, let it do its updates which it will want to do every week or more. It is for your own safety.

If a malicious pdf is the reason then should the antivir react too? I just got this message while dll-ing ebooks (pdf, mobi, ebup, doc, html, lit). The first time I got the message it was again with ebooks, same formats including a mhtml file.

Btw, I got this message with big upload packs, with over 100 books maybe.

[ciaobaby]

If a malicious pdf is the reason then should the antivir react too?

No, because anti-virus scanners are reporting on code that is actually found IN the file that either has a known "footprint" of a malicious script or the scanner has found code through heuristic analysis that could be used maliciously.

When Windows and/or other applications that warn that files MAY contain viral code it is simply a "dumb" response to a list of extensions or file types that CAN be used for virus transmission or infections.

[vessto]

Thank you! So MAY is about extension, not about really found threat.

I wonder why I got this message two times only after I dll ebooks everyday and most are pdf. Maybe it alarms about big batchs only.

Oh, I forgot, then if a pdf is really infected then the antivir will react, won't it?

[ciaobaby]

then if a pdf is really infected then the antivir will react, won't it?

It should do, unless you happen to be using Norton's which will probably miss any malicious code anyway.

[vessto]

I use Symantec at work and I dll here or if I receive a message at home I re-dll at work.

Thank you, now that relieved me! Unless Symantec tells me there's a prob I should be calm.

[ciaobaby]

Unless Symantec tells me there's a prob I should be calm.

Well considering that pretty much everytime I have to deal with a virus infection for friends, family and clients, Symantec HAS been their choice of anti-virus, I wouldn't go that far.

[vessto]

Well, but then at least I'm half-relieved.

As for Adobe Reader being vulnerable, before two weeks Kaspersky put few Adobe's applications in Top 10 of most vulnerable applications. That is why I wanna thank to the user that suggested Sumatra as pdf reader. I just installed it and it works perfectly. It also opens mobi and epub ways much easier than the heavy Calibre. Pity that it can't convert ebooks too.

[AltMay]

Hi! I didn't want to create another thread for this, so I'll ask here. I downloaded torrent containing an.avi + some .jpeg and an .srt

They usually go to a folder I've created, but this torrent wasn't there. So I went to "Completed", and saw that it had been downloaded into another directory. When I clicked "Open containing folder", it appeared this warning message that it contain files that may harm the computer blah blah. Now, it caught my attention the fact that even though I didin't change the directory route it downloaded somewhere else. I have Avira and it doesn't find any viruses or stuff when I run it. There are no hidden files and just in case, I deleted everything that's not the .avi file. But I still wanted to know if this has happened to any of you guys because it doesn't make any sense to me.

Thanks in advance!

[ciaobaby]

Read post #15 for why AV scanner FIND malicious code and why many Windows applications will show a WARNING that certain filetypes, when downloaded from the Internet MAY contain a virus or harmful code.

It is called "Mark Of The Web"