3rd party Microsoft downloads: What risks are there?

[Ryan]

I have recently reformatted hard drive & this time taking extra
precautions w/all these hackers and spyware and viruses on the web.
I've learned a lot while visiting this group. Before I reformatted HD,
though, I made sure to download a copy of the Network ed. of file
xpsp1_en_x86.exe. However, I would like some feedback about installing
this file that I found on a 3rd party's website. In other words, I did
not get this file from Microsoft's Windows XP SP1a website. I really
thought that the court was wrong in ruling that the original release of
SP1 was illegal since MS implented there own JAVA script VM, which
explains why I consulted another source for Service Pack 1.
Could my file have been tampered w/by the 3rd party in ANY WAY. It's
on a CD just need to install it. Any assistance in this matter will be
greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Ryan

 

[Galen]

In Ryan <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Could my file have been tampered w/by the 3rd party
in ANY WAY.

Yes.

Galen

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Ryan;
Could it have? Yes.
Did it? Unlikely but the possibility varies depending on the integrity,
security etc of the download site.

Microsoft as well as other major software manufacturers go to great lengths
to ensure the integrity of their downloads.
That is one reason why Microsoft does not permit 3rd party distribution of
their software.
If SP-1 came from a source other than Microsoft, Microsoft did not authorize
it and can not attest to the quality, that is strictly up to the user.

 

[Robert Moir]

I have recently reformatted hard drive & this time taking extra
precautions w/all these hackers and spyware and viruses on the web.
I've learned a lot while visiting this group. Before I reformatted
HD, though, I made sure to download a copy of the Network ed. of file
xpsp1_en_x86.exe. However, I would like some feedback about
installing this file that I found on a 3rd party's website. In other
words, I did not get this file from Microsoft's Windows XP SP1a
website. I really thought that the court was wrong in ruling that
the original release of SP1 was illegal since MS implented there own
JAVA script VM, which explains why I consulted another source for
Service Pack 1. Could my file have been tampered w/by the 3rd party
in ANY WAY. It's on a CD just need to install it. Any assistance in
this matter will be greatly appreciated!

1) as Galen says.. "Yes". Not knowing the third party, I can't say if they
would have or not.

2) Leaving aside the legal rights and wrongs, the fact is the Microsoft Java
Virtual Machine has not had much work done on it lately and lags far behind
what the rest of the world is doing. If your intention is to be able to run
Java apps then you really do need to look at downloading sun's Java update
for XP. It's free and is linked from www.sun.com


--

 

[Ryan]

Thank you so much for your feedback, Jupiter Jones. Somehow I thought
guys/girls like you would have left this topic a LONG time ago. I
really appreciate your expertise on xpsp1_en_x86.exe.
In another forum, I asked some others about this file. Someone
mentioned about checking the file's checksum. If you would be so kind
as to assist me further, I would greatly appreciate it! What is a
checksum? What would the value of the checksum show me and how can I
display it?
Again, your help is always appreciated. Thank you!