Data corruption in all my downloaded .zip files

[Alphadogj]

this has been going on for about 6 months now. I had started using the
site Direct2drive.com back in 2006 and had great success with their
service. I had downloaded a few games from them, some fairly large
like Neverwinter Nights 2. but around March somewhere I began having
problems. I downloaded Oblivion from them and ended up having a
massive amount of corrupted data in the .zip i downloaded from them.
at the time i was using winrar for my .zips so i downloaded a winzip
trial but experienced the same problem all around. It really shouldnt
have mattered either way since the downloader for D2D.com has its
own .zip unpacker anyway. But ever since then I have been having
problems with data corruption in any zip files or bit torrents I
download. For some reason movies seem to be fine, but video games are
always corrupted in some manner. anyone know of what could be causing
this data corruption or what I can do to try and pinpoint what the
problem is? I did a scandisk and checked my hardrive for any damage
but it came back as being fine, and I've defragged it to complete
cleanliness.

 

[JAD]

this has been going on for about 6 months now. I had started using the
site Direct2drive.com back in 2006 and had great success with their
service. I had downloaded a few games from them, some fairly large
like Neverwinter Nights 2. but around March somewhere I began having
problems. I downloaded Oblivion from them and ended up having a
massive amount of corrupted data in the .zip i downloaded from them.
at the time i was using winrar for my .zips so i downloaded a winzip
trial but experienced the same problem all around. It really shouldnt
have mattered either way since the downloader for D2D.com has its
own .zip unpacker anyway. But ever since then I have been having
problems with data corruption in any zip files or bit torrents I
download. For some reason movies seem to be fine, but video games are
always corrupted in some manner. anyone know of what could be causing
this data corruption or what I can do to try and pinpoint what the
problem is? I did a scandisk and checked my hardrive for any damage
but it came back as being fine, and I've defragged it to complete
cleanliness.

Direct2drive.com is the one who is at fault. Much hacking and deliberate data corruption
form within and outside

 

[Alphadogj]

so what should I do then? wipe my hard drive and start fresh?

 

[Paul]

so what should I do then? wipe my hard drive and start fresh?

Are downloads corrupted from any other sites ? Or only from the
site you mention ?

One way to check for corruption, is to download files where the
sourcing website also includes MD5SUM for each file. That is
a checksum program. If the server with the file on it, has a
checksum next to the download link, a person downloading can
run an MD5SUM program on their downloaded copy, and compare the
checksum.

For example, on this site:

http://mirror.switch.ch/ftp/mirror/knoppix/

the contents of this file:

http://mirror.switch.ch/ftp/mirror/knoppix/KNOPPIX_V5.1.0CD-2006-12-30-DE.iso.md5

contains this one line of text:

77f0fcef3d7b143babc4784f331c63a5 *KNOPPIX_V5.1.0CD-2006-12-30-DE.iso

The hexidecimal string at the left, is the checksum of the file at the right.
This allows a person downloading, to determine immediately whether the file has
been hacked, or is different in some way than the original. If the author of
the file places an MD5SUM on his web site, it also allows mirroring of his
creations, without having to worry about hacking - the user simply checks
the author's web site, to get the magic string that tells you the file is OK.

There are some Nvidia chipsets with built-in Ethernet and some
kind of firewall, that corrupt downloaded packets. What hardware
are you using ? Perhaps you should do some Google checks, based
on the motherboard and its chipset. If you are using a separate
NIC card, then it probably wouldn't be a problem.

Paul

 

[frodo]

I would test your ram: memtest86+

 

[brian]

this has been going on for about 6 months now. I had started using the
site Direct2drive.com back in 2006 and had great success with their
service. I had downloaded a few games from them, some fairly large
like Neverwinter Nights 2. but around March somewhere I began having
problems. I downloaded Oblivion from them and ended up having a
massive amount of corrupted data in the .zip i downloaded from them.
at the time i was using winrar for my .zips so i downloaded a winzip
trial but experienced the same problem all around. It really shouldnt
have mattered either way since the downloader for D2D.com has its
own .zip unpacker anyway. But ever since then I have been having
problems with data corruption in any zip files or bit torrents I
download. For some reason movies seem to be fine, but video games are
always corrupted in some manner. anyone know of what could be causing
this data corruption or what I can do to try and pinpoint what the
problem is? I did a scandisk and checked my hardrive for any damage
but it came back as being fine, and I've defragged it to complete
cleanliness.

I'd begin by downloading from a site that is fairly reputable. Maybe
download something like Firefox or Opera (from their home sites) and
see if they work, or get something from Tucows (I never had problems
with their downloads). If those work, then you are getting stuff from
a bad site. Bit Torrent stuff can be pure garbage, and who knows what
Direct2drive has. (never been there). You can also download
pkzip/unzip (the Dos version), and see if that will unzip them. If
none of this helps, you may have a hardware problem.
I've goitten bad downloads, but most of the time they were bad at the
source. Re-downloading them just gave me another bad file.

 

[Love2Play]

Hey all,

I just wanted to let you know Direct2Drive.com is a licensed retaile
of online media. If you haven't seen it, please check it
www.direct2drive.com We have a wide variety of media.
We are owned and operated by IGN Entertainment, a Division of FO
Interactive Media. Reputable is our middle name !
We sell only licensed games and media. We work with many media owner
such as Ubisoft, Activison, Prima and FOX Studios to bring you the bes
in Games, Guides, Movies and Television.

To the owner of this thread:
We also have a full service support center. No need to ask on a blo
what to do, come on over and ask our experts. We provide first rat
support to our customers! For help using Direct2Drive, your account an
downloading games you have purchased please se
http://support.direct2drive.com

To be honest, the leading cause of corrupt downloads is a router tha
is truncating your files. I can't say for sure not knowing you
system, but that is #1. We have more info on our support center an
someone will woek with you personally on it if you wish.

I hope we see you soon!

Christine Henderson
Manager, Customer Service
IGN Entertainment-FOX Interactive Media Divisio

 

[JAD]

So this is what the thread was, an elaborate commercial? Very well done...now plonk!

 

[plonkity-plonk]

Hey all,

I just wanted to let you know ___SPAM___ is a licensed retailer
of online media. If you haven't seen it, please check it.
www.____SPAM___.com We have a wide variety of media.
We are owned and operated by IGN Entertainment, a Division of FOX
Interactive Media. Reputable is our middle name !
We sell only licensed games and media. We work with many media owners
such as Ubisoft, Activison, Prima and FOX Studios to bring you the best
in Games, Guides, Movies and Television.

To the owner of this thread:
We also have a full service support center. No need to ask on a blog
what to do, come on over and ask our experts. We provide first rate
support to our customers! For help using ___SPAM___, your account and
downloading games you have purchased please see
http://support.___SPAM___.com

To be honest, the leading cause of corrupt downloads is a router that
is truncating your files. I can't say for sure not knowing your
system, but that is #1. We have more info on our support center and
someone will woek with you personally on it if you wish.

I hope we see you soon!

You won't!!!!!!!!

Christine Henderson
Manager, Customer Service
IGN Entertainment-FOX Interactive Media Division

I see, this was just a cheap attempt at spamming. And for the record,
if your company is so great and reputable, that would mean to me that
you are computer and internet experts. Of course I cant think of any
expert in the computer industry that would refer to a NEWSGROUP as a
BLOG. They're not even close. It sounds to me like your company is
about as amateur as they come. Of course any idiot can set up a
computer in mom & dads basement, fill it up with corrupt downloads,
and claim they are the IGN Entertainment-FOX Interactive Media
Division (who ever the hell that is....)

And since I NEVER do any business with spammers, you and your website
just earned the royal PLONK.

 

[Love2Play]

On Sun, 5 Aug 2007 17:48:01 +0100, Love2Play

Of course any idiot can set up a
computer in mom & dads basement, fill it up with corrupt downloads,
and claim they are the IGN Entertainment-FOX Interactive Media
Division (who ever the hell that is....)

And since I NEVER do any business with spammers, you and your website
just earned the royal PLONK.

IGN Entertainment is a huge network for gamers. IGN.com, GameSpy.co
and many more sites. I'm sorry if you don't play PC games or Consol
games. Most gamers know us quite well. They get their game news an
walkthroughs etc... from us. We've been around over 10 years. GameSp
is the name you will find on game boxes like Battlefield 2 and Medal o
Honor for example. Direct2Drive is one of our many sites for gamers.
We don't have a basement

FOX Interactive Media division is a part of FOX News Corp. FOX SPorts
FOX Television, 20th Century FOX movies studios, MySpace.com and man
more. I regret you've never heard of us.

I'm not a spammer, I am someone who saw one of our customers in nee
and came to help. I saw mistated comments and corrected them. It's o
if you are not interested in our sites. To each his own

Have a great day