VirusTotal Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

How to make sure your downloads aren’t infected with a virus

Posted on June 14, 2026

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Regular readers of this blog know I’m a huge fan of free software because I routinely recommend the use of freeware whenever possible to accomplish whatever the task at hand may be.

But as you probably also know there can be hidden dangers lurking behind the scenes every time you install a piece of free software.

The dangers range all the way from the installation of unwanted add-on software to installing viruses and other forms of malware right along with the programs themselves.

[Read more…]

How to make sure a downloaded file is safe before opening it (updated)

Posted on September 5, 2025

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Have you ever downloaded a file from the Internet and worried that it might be infected with malware?

That’s a real concern these days with all the malware that’s floating around the web.

It’s getting harder by the day to know exactly which sites to trust since malicious files are even making their way onto legitimate download sites.

Luckily, it’s pretty easy to determine whether any file on your computer is malware-free or not by running a couple of simple scans. [Read more…]

How to verify that a link is safe before you click on it

Posted on July 4, 2024

As you probably know, the Internet is home to a lot of scammy and fraudulent websites.

Truth be told, the percentage of “bad” sites is actually fairly low compared to the number of legitimate sites.

The problem is there are literally billions of websites on the Internet, and that means even though just a small percentage of them are “bad”, that percentage still amounts to a LOT of scam/fraudulent websites.

[Read more…]