Security → Beware: Never Download "CODECS"; or "PLAYERS" To Watch Videos Online

RIGHT ...."If a website asks you to download a codecs or players browser update &; to play a video, run the other way. You don't actually need to download this sort of thing ; the website is trying to infect your computer with malware."...[ »www.howtogeek.com/198492 ··· -online/ ] .... SORRY for the MESS, mea culpa {{{ GRIN }}}

Gees, keep it clean.....what are you saying?

Indeed they are YES........... I have ran into several of these sites and a simple scan of the source reveals the media link!!

Are there still safe codec packages available for download?
Do not think i have hade codec issues in years with windows. Linux on a new install yes.

As far I could remember, saw those messages in those Vista 32-bit era ...... but it is good to remind ourself to check the LAYER defences against oddity

Yea, codecs, flash and all other 'pop-ups' are to be avoided at all costs.
Download them from a reputable source and then if you get an alert to download what you have, as you say, run the other way.

Clear your browser cache as a minimum as you leave.
Or even better send an email to the admin of the site.

Fake codecs are always a problem.

Indeed, Randy ...... also "The Emulation Imitation" make some gamers got PUP
[ »blog.malwarebytes.org/fr ··· itation/ ]

Amazon told me I had to install something called "Silverlight" to watch their instant video, and I did it. Have I been had?

Nuke and pave. Might even need new hardware.

{{{ SMILE }}} ..... sure U R owned, cause I NEVER hear about "MICROSOFT_SILVERLIGHT"

I have run into pages like that also "YOU NEED SILVERLIGHT TO WATCH THIS" -- Fuck that crap...A simple scan of the source reveals the direct WMV/ASX link which I watch/listen with WMP!!



People blindly believe ANYTHING (Even wtih no proof of anything going on) w/o using thier own mind and looking into things and its sad!! (They have been so conditioned to be like this (Easy control for the elite))

Many sites go to a great deal of trouble to hide video/audio files to prevent the content from being copied (and uploaded to Ewetoob etc). In some cases you have to do a lot more than look at the page source. In other cases it's right there.

About 5 years ago I had a coworker who watched (perfectly work safe) videos that were published once a week. That said he only had a 28.8Kbps dial-up connection at home (lived in the boonies) and thus could only realistic watch them at work. The coworker asked me if I could download the video (as a file) so he could watch them at home.

The site in question went to a LOT of trouble to hide the MPEG files. The file URL was obfuscated with Javascript etc. Well there's more than one way to skin a cat I fired up Wireshark, captured the website traffic, and within minutes determined the URL of the .mpg file. A simple 'save as" downloaded the file which I gave to my coworker. It became a weekly, and quick, exercise

Yes very nice Stu

It can be FUN getting and extracting the links

Oh, and getting files that way often bypasses tracking (cookies etc) mechanisms

Of course not.

I only need to install codecs for videos I watch offline. And I've already done that. LUV teh LAV.

Are you good at this? Alawar recently went to stub downloaders. i used to buy their games til they did this. not clearly visible in hex ed

Ya a couple I have been buddy yes.....

Yep. I have came across those.

I don't think you have been had.
Silverlight is legit software.

...known about this since the early 2000s with kazaa codec pack, et al.Regards

I haven't ran on to any thing i can't play on windows and only wma on linux has ever given me issues in years.

I am big time in to emulators on android for playing all my old faves all games i still have the cds etc for. What i do know is this. PS2 is emulate-able on pc with multi core cpus. To emulate the ps2 on android will be a indicator that android just entered the big leagues. Developers who work on emulators said this on xda. That it will be easier to emulate ps4 than ps2. The ps4 is closer to pc architecture than the ps2. So while the ps4 is way higher in all specs it is easier to emulate (potentially) than the ps2. The ps2 could in fact possibly never be emulated on android. Same goes for ps3 and xbox 360. The one and ps4 are possible. as both are more like pcs than the other systems.

No emulator for ps4 or xbox one is even being worked on as far as i know. There have been some attempts at a ps2 emulator on android but in early tests it was back burnered/scraped. How ever emulation of older systems ps1 psp gamecube and even wii and below are all avail and all legal. The only catch to them being legal you must own the games them self. Obviously that wont stop people from playing who don't own them. Also for ps1 and 2 you have to dump your own bios as the bios is not legal to download.

I my self do not have a comp at home capable of ripping cds to iso to use for my emulators but i do have them so i just download them. Basically it comes down to this to be legal you must be able to if ever asked show proof that you do own the game you play on your emulator. But sony nintendo etc really do not care if you have the emulator. And the way some of these projects just showed up done over night esp for ps1 and ps2 i start to wonder if maybe sony did not just give the coders every thing they needed.

If i can ever find a copy of it im buying dirge of Cerberus for ps2 and a ps2 to play it on lol. All because i played ff7 and crisis core on my emulators after years of the systems being dead and the cds etc just sitting in a box.

Fact is i plan on contacting Sony Nintendo etc during the course of my development of my own tablet. I would love to have a Sony Nintendo and Microsoft logo on my boot animation with emulators preloaded for their systems. It would give them a nice sales boost and me as well.

Sony and Nintendo have both not made so much as a half hearted threat to developers of legit emulators.

BTW the legit ones for ps1 psp and ps2 are as follows
epsxe ps1
espxe2 ps2
ppsspp psp

for nintendo
dolphin both wii and game cube
snes do i even need to say? super nintendo
pretendo nintendo 64

You may want to check perms for the android versions of the free as most are add supported. So they will leak some information.

And remember guys if you like these apps consider buying the pro etc vers.

Im not shilling for these guys but still if you like it and can buy it. It helps them to improve it.

Systems to the best of my kowledge that are not currently being worked on are
ps2 for android or ios etc
ps3 nothing in the works for any thing pc android or ios
ps4 same as ps3
xbox 360 or xbox one
I think there was a emu for the original xbox long dead now though and was only for pc and partially functional.

Even though ps4 may be easy to emulate don't expect one that is legal or even safe to use till the next gen play station comes out. The legit developers wont touch it. They do not want to piss off sony by stepping on their check book. As it stands now sony lets us the gamers have our way with their older systems with out threat.

Any emulator download that requires surveys or other "unlocking of downloads" you need to steer clear of. No legitimate develop uses this sort of crap.

as for me i may have to get my self a new more powerful tablet. Some of my psp games just wont play well on my current one hehe.

LOL

Sarcasm aside sense some may miss it silver-light is legit. Now do you want it installed that is a different animal all together.

That said when i have a good system i tend to dual boot 2 windows installs. One is very stripped down other than things like media players and in the old days every codec you could find. Flash etc all installed fully updated. Every service i do not need to watch a vid turned off and that's all that install ever gets used for. Main boot i have flash some what updated for things like youtube etc for the few sites that make use of it and java that's about it. I use a white list to let it run only where i trust.

Before who ever wrote flash get got threatened or what ever. It use to have a way to browse a websites directories. It was damn easy to grab video files with it. Was browse click download and go.

If you never used flashget while add supported it is a damn handy little sucker. It sort of acts like torrent for non torrent downloads. It can speed up your downloads drastically.

Sense most file sites do not let any one downloader go above x per sec flash get creates multiple connections and pulls the file in chunks and then re assembles. It also lets you resume dls on many sites that do not support it.

As for flash gets adds you can simply block with hosts file if you want.

Oh yes. I love flashget.

FTFY.

Its funny when .flv, wraps AVC1 or AVb (PITA) into the video container :P and AAC audio for HD Youtube, then your sol for it.

You are better off finding the 'codec' the "media" requires and downloading a stand-alone decoder then following a pop-up on your media page. Politics about "codec packs" aside of course as HTML 5 will likely do away with intermediaries due to direct contact with media systems on the machine.

However the article is misleading, and by making such a blanket statement borders on anti-MS (Silverlight which has rendering for ActionScript and some 3D stuff-- hence its instability) and anti DRM politics.

Companies like "DivX" have been using proprietary codecs requiring "specific" players for a very long time. (Unity Player as another... ). Many online 'free' games have a TERRIBLE habit of PUPs and other things and without knowledge it could lead to problems.

Once again its all about researching what it is, then returning to the site to view if desired. You do this before clicking the OK button.

And ensure your download source is trustworthy.

you are misunderstanding what they are saying.. they are not saying to never install codec-packages.. (the title of the post is confusing)..

what they are talking about is, if you are browsing the internet and, one way or another, you are prompted to install a "codec", or to update "flashplayer", or to install anything else, you shouldn't install it, that it is a scam, trying to get you to install malware on your computer..

are there some exceptions? i would say yes, but you have to use your good judgement.. i have been prompted to install "players", before, in order to watch videos at particular websites, and have installed them.. (those "players" actually were just something that would run within adobe "flashplayer" ).. in other words, if you are at a website that you trust and they require that you install a "player" in order to watch videos at the website, then i would expect the "player" to be OK.. again, in a case like that, i would expect it to be something that would run within adobe "flashplayer", maybe just with a customized GUI..

generally speaking, if you are surfing the internet and, one way or another, if you are prompted to install something, you shouldn't install it because it most likely is just a scam, trying to get you to install malware onto your computer..

Your description is NICE -simple -CLEAR, political correct {{{ SMILE }}}