I think the issue is to do with infected versions of Rainmeter and skins for it being available, on Deviantart as well as other places most likely. Therefore, you should only download Rainmeter from the Rainmeter site. The bogus versions, as you'd expect, carry all kinds of nasties such as malware and the like. I'm inclined to think that the Rainmeter skins on here are not going to be infected as they have to pass through moderation. Just be careful what you download from Deviantart. If the comments are hidden on the profile it's a good indication that they're not to be trusted.

If the .exe file is small enough (max file size 20MB) you can always run it through Virustotal before you install it, just to be on the safe side.

thanks for the info SC

Yes Starcandy is correct DC. You would be better off downloading skins from here or the rainmeter group on deviant art. Never download a skin that has an .exe extension as the main installer unless you are 100% sure they are safe. Rainmeter skins for the most part are now packaged in the .rmskin extension. Some of the older skins are zip files which you extract and put in your skins folder.

The problem has been that some idiots were uploading rainmeter exe files that were infected. I think Karen who is a member here and heavily involved with rainmeter could better explain this.

thanks JC, and yes Karen did, i sent here an email from da well a note thanks you 2 here and karen there

I now understand better that some exe's are ok

I was just thrown a bit with don't DL any with .exe in them then I seen one here and had to know 

I would like to know what the 2 .exe do, in the help text it don't say .. and like I told Karen I trust the uploader here

config.exe

refresh.exe

just send an PM to the up loader

if anyone know what it does please say

thanks

 Oh and I have not installed RM yet am thinking about doing it

Just done a quick check, and I think I know which skin you may be talking about with regard to those two .exe files. I think they're maybe something to do with the weather module for that skin, though I can't be sure as I've not used that weather module. If I'm right, then the config.exe file will be for setting up location, and the refresh.exe will be for refreshing the settings to get the latest weather info. Nothing to worry about.

cool thanks SC

I think you are confusing 2 different types of exe files, DC.  When we're cautioned not to download a skin with .exe, they're talking about Rainmeter skins that END in .exe.  Rainmeter skins, like Windowblind skins, are zipped and then the .zip extension is changed to ".rmskin" for rainmeter and ".wba" for Windowblinds.  The exe files INSIDE the rainmeter skins (i.e, config and refresh) are mini programs inside to help config and refresh.  These files are in official skins that come with Rainmeter such as ABP to help the user configure the skin.

The skins you SHOULDN'T download, would end in .exe, rather than .rmskin.  Those are the ones that are hiding malware.

K10w3 thanks, that put the light right on it.   and yes I was confusing the 2 types of exe files.