Is there a safe way to do P2P file sharing?

I have done quite a bit of file sharing using Azureus and now seem to have quite a few problems with my Dell laptop including the Ardamax Keylogger which I keep deleting and finding again and the CIAdoor.M trojan. I read through and ran the whole READ ME FIRST post, but before we get into that I just had a few questions.

Before I hang up my P2P boots forever, I was just wondering if there was a safe way to do file sharing, like being able to scan a file for spyware / virus before downloading / installing? Or is it better just to avoid that stuff altogether?

I was considering just using the Dell system restore and bring my system back to factory setting (after backing up my docs to DVD) and deleting all the files I got from P2P. However if I do this before cleaning thoroughly all the malware is there a chance that the malware could have infected my legitimate files, like my Word docs, photos, etc. and the malware will hitch a ride on them and reinfect my freshly reformatted system?

Sometimes when I boot up the cpu is running at 100% and going really slow, so I have to restart it a few times before it will be right. It seems to happen when my laptop is physically cold (from sitting in my car), and I read that starting a really cold computer before giving a chance to reach room temperature can cause permanent damage. Is this 100% cpu a symptom of permanent damage or is it more likely caused by a virus? However I've never heard of a temperature dependent virus.

I set McAfee firewall to Tight and I noticed that little blue box keeps sliding in telling me that dads computers keep trying to access my computer. Is this normal network behavior because of printer sharing etc. or some sort of hacker activity (I know my dad is not trying to hack me, but could someone or some virus be coming through his computer)?

Also I wanted to backup my files to several DVD's and was wondering if anyone could recommend a good way to encrypt my files so as they could not be read if someone got a hold of the DVD. I have windows XP home edition that does not let me use Windows encryption.

Thank you

 

There is no safe way to use P2P applications simply because the networks contain too many baddies now days. The safest way is to buy the stuff legally.