I hear lots of talk about "torrents" but aint got a scooby doo how you go about using them! Is there a software package that you can download to allow you to view downloaded torrents? Can anyone recommend?
And once you do have something do you download the films etc and "unzip" them like Winzip, or do they just play in the torrent player?
Any advice???
Torrent Advice
Torrent Advice
Alte Volat
"BFTB Elite??? Moi??? Ooooooo, Missus - Titter ye not!"
"BFTB Elite??? Moi??? Ooooooo, Missus - Titter ye not!"
Re: Torrent Advice
First of all, there is an excellent website capable of answering all your questions: www.google.com. What I was saying: you lazy bugger! 
Seriously, a torrentfile is nothing more than a reference file for a client program. The file itself can not be played or anything.
FAQ:
http://www.dessent.net/btfaq/
Extremely brief how to:
If you have a home network, you might want to forward ports on your router to improve speed.
Seriously, a torrentfile is nothing more than a reference file for a client program. The file itself can not be played or anything.
FAQ:
http://www.dessent.net/btfaq/
Extremely brief how to:
- Search on piratebay or any other site that publishes torrents. Searching is like using google
- Download torrent-files
- Put torrent-files in client program, I use Utorrent -> very lean & mean program, easy interface
- Your files will start downloading
If you have a home network, you might want to forward ports on your router to improve speed.
Re: Torrent Advice
I personally use isohunt as it browses through every torrent site. Always worth filtering your search results by the number of seeders for a quicker download. Demonoid is the best for comic downloads.
The torrent file you download is little more than a link to an online hub. Open the torrent file in your client of choice and your download will appear as a pop-up box listing the contents. There is a tickbox next to every file, just choose the files you want and confirm. Download speed is dependant upon how many users are connected, time of day and your internet connection. I also like utorrent, but there are many other clients; bitcomet, bittorrent, bitlord, bittornado, azureus - they are all freeware.
Torrent etiquette is to seed on a one-to-one ratio. While you download, you are a "peer" (some prefer "leech" but I dislike the negative connotations). Once your torrent reaches 100% you become a "seeder". Most people log off at 100%, doing a hit-and-run. This will rapidly get you a bad rep, some people will keep track of your IP and ban you.
The torrent program will create a Shared folder on your PC, this is where the torrents will download to. You can change the location of the folder within the program settings. People often kneejerk at the concept of a Shared folder (you will have to grant it firewall access), be assured that it is not an invitation for hacks. The torrent data is stored in the online tracker (or hub) and everybody connects to it.
Reseed Requests. Depending upon where the torrent was taken from, there will normally be a posts or PM system for contacting the torrent creator. The initial run of a torrent can be drawn out, as until everyone completes their download, there can only be one seeder. An obvious indication is when there is one connected user with 100% and 2000+ users all at 87%. 0-day reseed requests will most likely get you bitchslapped.
Be wary of downloading single .rar files, you have no idea what could be in them and there is no reason for the content to be hidden in this way. That said, software such as a PC game will be often be broken up and torrented as a set of 80-or-so corresponding .rar files. This is normal (you only need to extract any one of them), although more people are leaning towards .iso files instead. You can unpack and/or burn these files with Magic ISO or Power ISO.
That said, most torrent sites are moderated and dodgy files don't tend to stay online for long. It is always worth checking the feedback comments though, although most of them are noob cries for help (always look for the README file first - if it is in .nfo format, open it with Notepad).
If you are downloading games or software, you will most likely need to install the program as per normal and then apply a Crack file. Some overzealous AV programs regard these as viruses (they are digitally altered executable files, after all) and many of the torrent posts are false warnings to this effect - they are fine. I get my game cracks from Megagames, gameburnworld and Gamecopyworld.
My internet speed varies drastically throughout every 24-hour period. Between 4 and 9pm it is pretty poor, between 4 and 9am it flies along. This is normal web-traffic. Also bear in mind that to upload is a much slower process than to download, that applies to all internet traffic, not just torrents.
That's everything I can think of. Oh yes, your torrents will compete against each other. You can generally run one file at 100% speed or four at 25% speed.
The torrent file you download is little more than a link to an online hub. Open the torrent file in your client of choice and your download will appear as a pop-up box listing the contents. There is a tickbox next to every file, just choose the files you want and confirm. Download speed is dependant upon how many users are connected, time of day and your internet connection. I also like utorrent, but there are many other clients; bitcomet, bittorrent, bitlord, bittornado, azureus - they are all freeware.
Torrent etiquette is to seed on a one-to-one ratio. While you download, you are a "peer" (some prefer "leech" but I dislike the negative connotations). Once your torrent reaches 100% you become a "seeder". Most people log off at 100%, doing a hit-and-run. This will rapidly get you a bad rep, some people will keep track of your IP and ban you.
The torrent program will create a Shared folder on your PC, this is where the torrents will download to. You can change the location of the folder within the program settings. People often kneejerk at the concept of a Shared folder (you will have to grant it firewall access), be assured that it is not an invitation for hacks. The torrent data is stored in the online tracker (or hub) and everybody connects to it.
Reseed Requests. Depending upon where the torrent was taken from, there will normally be a posts or PM system for contacting the torrent creator. The initial run of a torrent can be drawn out, as until everyone completes their download, there can only be one seeder. An obvious indication is when there is one connected user with 100% and 2000+ users all at 87%. 0-day reseed requests will most likely get you bitchslapped.
Be wary of downloading single .rar files, you have no idea what could be in them and there is no reason for the content to be hidden in this way. That said, software such as a PC game will be often be broken up and torrented as a set of 80-or-so corresponding .rar files. This is normal (you only need to extract any one of them), although more people are leaning towards .iso files instead. You can unpack and/or burn these files with Magic ISO or Power ISO.
That said, most torrent sites are moderated and dodgy files don't tend to stay online for long. It is always worth checking the feedback comments though, although most of them are noob cries for help (always look for the README file first - if it is in .nfo format, open it with Notepad).
If you are downloading games or software, you will most likely need to install the program as per normal and then apply a Crack file. Some overzealous AV programs regard these as viruses (they are digitally altered executable files, after all) and many of the torrent posts are false warnings to this effect - they are fine. I get my game cracks from Megagames, gameburnworld and Gamecopyworld.
My internet speed varies drastically throughout every 24-hour period. Between 4 and 9pm it is pretty poor, between 4 and 9am it flies along. This is normal web-traffic. Also bear in mind that to upload is a much slower process than to download, that applies to all internet traffic, not just torrents.
That's everything I can think of. Oh yes, your torrents will compete against each other. You can generally run one file at 100% speed or four at 25% speed.
Re: Torrent Advice
Thanks guys! I'll be torrenting away before I know it!
Thanks again!
Google you say? Never heard of it. I shall to investigate it further...(I tried, but it was sending me round in circles and brings up too many hits - mainly wanted an idea what guys on here use as the software as I respect your opinions, rather than just taking a shot in hte dark)Lady Jaye wrote:First of all, there is an excellent website capable of answering all your questions: www.google.com. What I was saying: you lazy bugger!
Thanks again!
Alte Volat
"BFTB Elite??? Moi??? Ooooooo, Missus - Titter ye not!"
"BFTB Elite??? Moi??? Ooooooo, Missus - Titter ye not!"
Re: Torrent Advice
At the moment my downspeed is 50Mb/s and upspeed is 5Mb/s. Of course this is all theoretic speed. In reality I hardly ever reach maximum speed, even with enough seeds. Still, movies are coming in quicker than I can watch them, so I am not complaining. 
In uTorrent I have cut down the downspeed to 75% to make sure all other computers in my network are still able to access the internet. If you have other computers that are being used at the same time as you download you might want to do the same. When using uTorrent I don't use any other download program to avoid cluttering of the network. In uTorrent sometimes I have over 25 downloads running simultaniously. It is true that all downloads share total speed, but if I really need something quickly I simply put the other stuff on hold.
The Baron is right when it comes to sharing: share as much as you receive. That way you will keep the system working. Hit & Run is a cool GI Joe figure, but not appreciated as a verb in the sharing world. I tend to share +25%.
Do not share entire hard drives, but only a specified folder. Avoid having a shared folder on your system drive. On one of my data drives I have created a folder called "public" which is, you might have guessed it, public. In this folder I have my downloads and materials I am sharing.
And finally, get some extra external harddrives, because once you start downloading...
In uTorrent I have cut down the downspeed to 75% to make sure all other computers in my network are still able to access the internet. If you have other computers that are being used at the same time as you download you might want to do the same. When using uTorrent I don't use any other download program to avoid cluttering of the network. In uTorrent sometimes I have over 25 downloads running simultaniously. It is true that all downloads share total speed, but if I really need something quickly I simply put the other stuff on hold.
The Baron is right when it comes to sharing: share as much as you receive. That way you will keep the system working. Hit & Run is a cool GI Joe figure, but not appreciated as a verb in the sharing world. I tend to share +25%.
Do not share entire hard drives, but only a specified folder. Avoid having a shared folder on your system drive. On one of my data drives I have created a folder called "public" which is, you might have guessed it, public. In this folder I have my downloads and materials I am sharing.
And finally, get some extra external harddrives, because once you start downloading...