Will my son’s music downloads slow my computer down?

Question: My son downloads lots of music from the internet. Will this slow my computer down?

Answer: In short, no. On older systems, playing music may cause a drain in system resources, but just having them on the computer doesn’t slow anything down. Large amount of music will however, use up significant space on your hard drive. The other thing to consider is the source of the music. You always want to be aware of the legal issues when downloading music. Downloading purchased music from online music stores is safe but be sure you understand their terms and conditions. However, caution should be exercised when downloading music from peer-to-peer software. Such P2P networks are often breeding grounds for viruses and spy ware. Additionally, much of the material obtained or shared is usually copyrighted. Computers are growing more and more centered upon media. With the boom in mp3 players, they have become critical even to portable music. Music is readily available on the internet, but as with any other activity that has legal or financial ramifications, care should be exercised.

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