有很多免费的 Windows 软件(free Windows software)下载站点，但它们安全吗？每次下载某些内容时，您都可能正在下载恶意软件(malware)或病毒。当然，您拥有最好的防病毒应用程序(antivirus app)，但是让它发挥它不需要的作用是没有意义的。
在本文中，我们将讨论如何检查下载是否安全，我们还将提及一些我们最喜欢的用于下载Windows的免费软件的网站。
免费软件下载网站安全吗？(Are Free Software Download Sites Safe?)
只有两种方法可以知道下载站点(download site)是否安全。您可以检查其声誉并自己测试其下载。
有些企业对网站的安全程度进行排名。最受欢迎的网站之一是WOT或Web of Trust。WOT根据社区评级、评论和他们自己的机器学习算法对网站进行评级。Chrome、Firefox和Opera浏览器有WOT插件。如果您安装了插件，您可以查看下载站点(download site)。
您还可以在访问之前检查该站点。转到Virus Total并输入该站点的网址(web address)。它将与许多其他跟踪声誉和病毒的站点进行检查，并让您知道该站点是否安全。
这并不意味着您从该站点下载的内容没有恶意软件或病毒(malware or viruses)。有几种方法可以测试下载。
- 使用Sandboxie之类的沙盒 Web 浏览器(sandboxed web browser)进行下载。在沙盒Web 浏览器(web browser)中，转到Virus Total并提交下载以供测试。
- (Download)在虚拟机中(machine and test)下载程序并在那里进行测试。
适用于 Windows 的安全和免费软件下载站点(Safe And Free Software Download Sites for Windows)
为了编制这份清单，我们研究了WOT、VirusTotal、Norton Safe Web、URLVoid和ScanURL上的网站。在撰写本文时，没有一个下载站点在网站检查器上显示任何问题。
FileHippo自 2004 年以来在网络上排名第 625 位，Alexa 排名第(Alexa-ranked)625位。FileHippo表示，他们亲自挑选软件，并对其进行恶意软件和病毒(malware and viruses)测试。他们也不允许(t allow software)将其他软件捆绑到其中的软件或浏览器工具栏。FileHippo目前列出了超过 40,000 个程序版本。
如果您对FileHippo进行(FileHippo)网络搜索(web search)，请小心。有很多具有相似名称和URL(URLs)的站点。
尼尔软件(Nirsoft)
Nirsoft是一个免费软件实用程序站点(utility site)，由一个名叫Nir Sofer的人创建并运行。他一手编写了您在网站上看到的所有软件实用程序。
每个实用程序都是完全免费的，而且通常很小。这是因为每个实用程序都旨在执行一项任务且仅执行一项任务。例如，该网站上一些最受欢迎的实用程序是密码查看器，它将显示存储在您的计算机、浏览器等中的密码。
Ninite不仅仅是一个免费软件下载站点(software download site)，它还是一个软件包管理系统(package management system)。将其用作包管理系统(package management system)，Ninite可用于自动安装您喜欢的软件并使其保持最新状态，只需单击一下即可。这可能是列表中最安全的站点。
免费应用程序的数量是有限的。不过，它确实涵盖了您首先要在新计算机上安装的大多数软件。Ninite可以提供和管理的免费下载包括Chrome、Firefox、7-zip、iTunes、VLC、Malwarebytes 。
甚至比FileHippo更早，自 2001 年以来，Softpedia一直是软件下载的主要内容(software download staple)。Softpedia在自己的物理服务器上托管大量免费下载。这意味着他们可以从确保应用程序安全中获得更多收益。当他们有超过 120 万个应用程序、驱动程序和游戏可用时，这是一项艰巨的工作。
在一个易于阅读、易于搜索的站点中提供一些最著名的Windows 免费软件， (Windows freeware)Download Crew应该在您的列表中。Download Crew已经存在了 10 多年，拥有近 300,000 名会员，下载量超过 3300 万次。
它的姊妹网站是Download Crew Store，您可以在其中获得大幅折扣的专有软件。在两者之间，您将尽可能便宜地获得所需的一切。
对于免费软件下载(software download)网站，很难将它们区分开来。他们都做同样的事情。他们都提供下载。可能使File Horse 与众不同(File Horse apart)的是，他们还保留了该软件以前版本的档案。
因此，如果对您最喜欢的应用程序的更新产生了不必要的更改，您可以在此处下载旧版本并将其回滚。File Horse还策划了一个免费云(free cloud)应用程序目录。
不要让 2000 年初的设计愚弄(design fool)您。Major Geeks是一个合法的免费软件下载站点(software download site)。Major Geeks成立于 2001 年，是第一批测试他们提供的所有软件的公司之一，因此赢得了声誉。
首先，他们检查公司和软件的声誉，然后使用包括(company and software)VirusTotal在内的多种病毒扫描程序对其进行扫描。如果它通过了，Major Geeks实际上会在他们自己的VMWare 工作站(VMWare Workstation)上安装软件来测试功能。如果它符合他们的标准，那么该软件就会被列出。这种彻底性保证了他们的军事风格主题。
部分是网站，部分是可能已经在您的计算机上的应用程序，Microsoft Store确实有很多很好的免费软件。作为 Microsoft(Being Microsoft)，您已经享有盛誉，您会认为他们托管的是安全软件。
其中一些来自你已经知道的大牌，比如Netflix、Apple，当然还有微软(Microsoft)。有些是由较小的开发团队制作的，但可能非常有用。并非所有应用程序都是免费的。有数千个，很容易找到它们。只需搜索(Just search)“免费”即可。
除此之外，您还应该查看伟大的Sysinternals 工具(Sysinternals tools)，这些工具曾经是一个单独的站点，但被Microsoft购买了。这些工具仍在更新，但更适合极客。
还有好的免费软件网站吗？(Anymore Good Free Software Sites?)
还有一些更好的安全免费软件站点，但是如果您在上面的站点上找不到您需要的东西，那么它们不会有太大帮助。随着时间的推移，您将了解拥有所需软件的您喜欢的网站。
请记住始终使用您的(Remember)防病毒应用程序(antivirus app)或通过Virus Total检查下载的文件。如果可能，请在虚拟机或沙盒环境中 测试程序安装。(program installation)
8 Safe Free Software Download Sites for Windows
There’s a lot of free Windows software download sites, but are they safe? Every time you download something, there’s a possibility that you’re downloading malware or viruses. Sure, you’ve got the best antivirus app, but there’s no sense making it do work that it doesn’t have to do.
In this article, we’ll talk about how you can check whether a download is safe and we’ll also mention a couple of our favorite sites to download free software for Windows.
Are Free Software Download Sites Safe?
There are only two ways to know if a download site is safe. You can check its reputation and you test its downloads yourself.
There are businesses that rank how safe sites are. One of the most popular sites for this is WOT or Web of Trust. WOT rates sites based on community ratings, reviews, and their own machine learning algorithms. There are WOT plugins for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera browsers. If you have the plugin installed, you can check the download site.
You can also check the site before you go to it. Go to Virus Total and enter the web address of the site. It’ll check with a bunch of other sites that track reputations and viruses and lets you know if the site is safe.
That does not mean that what you download from the site has no malware or viruses. There are a couple of ways to test the download.
- Use a sandboxed web browser like Sandboxie to download it. In the sandboxed web browser, go to Virus Total and submit the download for testing.
- Download the program inside a virtual machine and test it there.
Safe And Free Software Download Sites for Windows
To compile this list, we researched the sites on WOT, VirusTotal, Norton Safe Web, URLVoid, and ScanURL. At the time of writing this, none of the download sites showed any issues on the website checkers.
On the web since 2004 and Alexa-ranked at 625, FileHippo is solid. FileHippo states that they hand-pick the software, and test it for malware and viruses. They also don’t allow software that bundles other software into it or browser toolbars. FileHippo currently has over 40,000 program versions listed.
Be careful if you do a web search for FileHippo. There are a lot of sites out there with similar names and URLs.
Nirsoft is a freeware utility site that was created and currently run by a guy named Nir Sofer. He’s single-handedly written all of the software utilities that you see on the site.
Each utility is completely free and usually very tiny in size. That’s because each utility is designed to perform one task and one task only. For example, some of the most popular utilities on the site are the password viewers, which will show you passwords stored on your computer, in your browser, etc.
More than just a free software download site, Ninite is also a package management system. Using it as a package management system, Ninite can be used to automate the installation of your favorite software and keep it up to date, with just one click. This is likely the safest site on the list.
The number of free apps is limited. It does cover most of the software that you’d install first on a new computer though. Chrome, Firefox, 7-zip, iTunes, VLC, Malwarebytes are amongst the free downloads Ninite can provide and manage.
Even older than FileHippo, Softpedia has been a software download staple since 2001. Softpedia hosts a lot of free downloads on their own physical servers. That means they have even more to gain from making sure the apps are safe. That’s a lot of work when they have over 1.2 million apps, drivers, and games available.
Offering some of the most well-known Windows freeware in an easy to read, easy to search site, Download Crew should be on your list. Download Crew has been around for over 10 years, boasts almost 300,000 members, and over 33 million downloads.
Its sister site is Download Crew Store, where you can get deeply discounted proprietary software. Between the two you’ll get all you need as cheaply as possible.
When it comes to free software download sites, it’s hard to tell them apart. They all do the same thing. They all offer downloads. What might set File Horse apart is that they also keep archives of previous versions of the software.
So if an update to your favorite app makes an unwanted change, you could download the older version here and roll it back. File Horse also curates a directory of free cloud apps.
Don’t let the early-2000’s design fool you. Major Geeks is a legitimate free software download site. Founded in 2001, Major Geeks built a reputation by being one of the first to test all the software they offer.
First, they check the reputation of the company and software, then they scan it with several virus scanners, including VirusTotal. If it makes it past that, Major Geeks actually installs the software on their own VMWare Workstation to test the functionality. If it meets their standards, then the software gets listed. This thoroughness warrants their military-style theme.
Partly a website and partly an app that’s probably already on your computer, Microsoft Store does have a lot of good freeware. Being Microsoft, there’s already a reputation in place and you’d like to think they’re hosting safe software.
Some of them are from the big names you already know, like Netflix, Apple, and, of course, Microsoft. Some are made by smaller development teams but can be very useful. Not all apps are free. There are thousands that are and it’s easy to find them. Just search on ‘free’.
Beyond that, you should also check out the great Sysinternals tools that used to be a separate site, but Microsoft purchased. The tools are still updated, but are geared more towards geeks.
Anymore Good Free Software Sites?
There are a few more good safe free software sites, but if you can’t find what you need on the sites above, then they’re not going to help much. Over time, you’ll get to know the sites you like that have the software you need.
Remember to always check the downloaded file with your antivirus app or through Virus Total. If possible, test the program installation in a virtual machine or sandboxed environment.
