I know that some of you frequent this website and occasionally download the Giveaway of the Day (http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/).

What is your opinion - i.e. is it worth checking this site for their giveaways, any problems etc.?

to me is ok..ibut first i check ashra,or asfram's comments..and the rest of the comments.

Sorry aqua, what comments are you referring to?

When you proceed to the download page and scroll down a bit there is usually some quite honest assessment s by one of the guys aqua mentioned.

However since they changed the rating system

http://blog.giveawayoftheday.com/completel...-rating-system/

the comments seem a bit harder to follow.

I think Razz you have to just treat the downloads with the same caution you would anything else. Also do they install toolbars (without you knowing), are they full featured giveaways etc.

You do get the odd one which isn't bad.

when you go to the GAOTD...the first post is from Ashraf,who says the good,the bas and the ugly about the program.

You're right Hazel, good point.

Yup, and he's saved many people from the download the other day that's deemed a rogue software.

The same companies' Free Game Of The Day can be as hazardous. Take care out there. The word "Free" seems to follow a pattern of evil. Ever notice that?

The only software I have downloaded so far from the "Giveaway of the Day" website was RegTidy 2009. Hopefully this is not what you were referring to Andavari.

So Corona, it sounds like you think it's best not to bother with any of the free offers from this site, is that correct?

Well, I haven't been to Game Giveaway in a long time, just because. Maybe they've been getting their games from more reliable game builders lately.

Yup, that's the one. Don't run it, just uninstall it.

I check the giveaway site most days (have the rss feed on toolbar) and they do have an occasional good download on there. For me I'd say about 5% are usually of interest. Still have a a couple of programs that I use that came from there.

The game giveaway site is not a daily giveaway site anymore, only gives away games at the weekends now (one saturday, one sunday) and equally quite alot of duffers but the occasional gem.

You do have to be careful of the installers and pay attention to the tick boxes to make sure you don't install the Software Advisor (think thats what it's called). It's not malicious, just not of any use.

You are 100% correct JD. I ran a quick malware scan using Malwarebytes and it confirmed RegTidy 2009 to be rogue software.
I performed a complete uninstall. Hmm...the only software I selected so far from the Giveaway of the Day turned out to be rogue.

In their defence I've been following the giveaways probably for a couple of years and thats the first dodgy one I remember, dunno how it got through tbh, but hopefully it will have been a wake up call that it's not just malware they have to check for in giveaways. I always have a quick scan through the comments to check for any issues with the software before downloading anyway (that's how I know that one was a duffer, was stated in first post IIRC and backed up by a GAOTD forum moderator)

I said it before, avoid all apps that have a year in their name.

I will for sure read the comments in the future before I download anything.

Read the in depth reviews if they're available. Also helps to see if a software has trashed someone's PC there's been one of those on there before too that I avoided.

Thank you Andavari, I will for sure.