You get what you pay for. Unless you want it for free, then it's REALLY going to cost you

Despite all the FBI and Interpol warnings, I feel that copying DVDs, in certain cases, is justified. When I buy a new CD I always burn a copy and rip a copy on the computer, now I have 2 back-ups in case my CDs get stolen or my computer gets fried. Why can't I do the same with the DVDs that I've purchased? I have about 3 dozen movies/TV shows on DVD and if they get stolen or scratched I am SOL. With this in mind, I went to go download some (illegal) DVD ripping software. The software I got was easy to find and download, the problem is that it is NOT free. So in order to circumvent this I tried to find a keygen (registration key generator) that would provide the key for free. This is where I hit a snag. I KNEW that any software like this keygen would be crawling with spyware. I downloaded the ZIP file and immediately scanned it, SURPRISE...spyware. But the spyware was located in the actual program file and when I deleted the spyware I deleted the program. Now my rationalizing brain said that I could run it, my McAfee would catch any bad processes, then I could sweep my comp afterwards and clean it up. WRONG. Not only did I not get my free registration key, but I installed a boat-load of spyware. This would not aggravate me so much if my desktop computer hadn't gone on the fritz (the power button doesn't work). So now I have spent the better part of the last 4 days trying to clean up my own greedy little mess. Serves me right I guess.

UPDATE: I was running some diagnostics late last night and fell asleep during a long one. When I woke up I restarted and everything seemed to run like it did before...not sure why. I turned off my wireless and started my 29th consecutive scan before I left for work. Here's hoping I'll be operating at more than 50%


"Did that blow your mind? Because that...just...happened."