Wherever you look on the Internet you will find free and trial software that you can download and use. I often try software I’ve come across on forums and blogs either for my own use or to recommend to clients.

I was discussing this with a friend a few days ago and he was horrified! He said that he would only ever download files from major software companies or established download sites like Tucows or ZDNet. I told him that I too used these sites where appropriate but in any event I never opened any file I had downloaded without checking it out with VirusTotal. This is a free online service that checks software with a whole range of virus checking tools.

If you are not using VirusTotal then you should be – even if you have downloaded files from what you think is a safe source. All you need to do is download the software onto your hard drive but before you run it open VirusTotal in your browser and upload the file to it. VirusTotal will scan the file and give you a detailed report.

Bookmark VirusTotal today. It is a very useful and free service.