I try google searches for software that is FREE for use and not pirated. When I find a source that is from the original maker of the software I feel safe to use it, however any software offered by someone else I am extremely cautious because this is the perfect piece of candy for hackers to lure people to trying and infecting themselves.
A habit I got into years ago is to create my own vendor store of free software and an offline copy of web pages and documentation associated with whatever software it is. As for software comes and goes and it stinks when you want something and its now gone. Additionally older versions of software that were free, the newer edition of that software might now be license only in which you need to buy the product. So for something i rarely use, I will continue to use their old edition that was offered by them free but by which they pulled the plug on free and now are charging for the latest edition. A Google Drive or other personal cloud storage location works well for a collection of legally free software to use. Mine I have on my Google Drive so the minute I want something i just connect to that and get it.
I when building up a new system if I need software that is no longer available, I will get it out of my vendor storage location which I know is safe and clean of malware. Example being DoPDF7 which if you dig for it you can still find it available for download at their website but someday it will be gone and I like that edition better than the newer free versions.
Be extremely careful when getting software from 3rd party sources. Avoid downloading software that costs money for free because its illegal and it could have malware bundled with it to infect your system(s).
Lastly... running older editions of software could make your system vulnerable to malware/exploits. I use to use Secunia PSI to look for software that had known exploits to patch the exploits. This tool is free and during setup gives you a choice to automatically update software with patches etc.
https://www.flexera.com/enterprise/products/software-vulnerability-management/personal-software-inspector/Just installed this to see what this system lists as for I expect it to flag down a few things. Sure enough it flagged down my use of older editions of software.
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