: More dangerously, "patched" files in pirated bundles sometimes refer to an included viewing software or an installer that has been modified.

We cannot sugarcoat this. Searching for puts you in a high-risk category for cyber threats.

In the world of rare digital collections, a "patch" was often a double-edged sword. It meant someone had cracked the encryption of an old, defunct distributor, but it also meant someone had been inside the code.

Large "collection packs" (often several gigabytes in size) are the perfect hiding place for malicious code. Because the files are often distributed via torrents or unofficial file-hosting sites, there is no quality control. You could easily download a Trojan or ransomware that locks your computer.