What are torrents and how do I download them?

[Admin McGee]

What the hell is BitTorrent?

BitTorrent is a protocol designed for transferring files. It is peer-to-peer in nature, as users connect to each other directly to send and receive portions of the file. However, there is a central server (called a tracker) which coordinates the action of all such peers. The tracker only manages connections, it does not have any knowledge of the contents of the files being distributed, and therefore a large number of users can be supported with relatively limited tracker bandwidth. The key philosophy of BitTorrent is that users should upload (transmit outbound) at the same time they are downloading (receiving inbound.) In this manner, network bandwidth is utilized as efficiently as possible. BitTorrent is designed to work better as the number of people interested in a certain file increases, in contrast to other file transfer protocols.

Basically, if you compare BitTorrent to something like the old Napster, Napster has a centralized server and users would download directly from it. In contrast, with BitTorrent, there is no centralized server (only a 'tracker' which tracks the torrents stats, the tracker does not actually contain the files being download) instead you are actually downloading from all of the peers currently downloading the file. As you start to download the files you begin to upload what you have downloaded to others, who don't already have the pieces of the files you have. Make sense? Basically, everyone is downloading and uploading to eachother, and no central server is necessary.


What are torrents?

Torrents are the relatively small files (usually under 150k) that you download so you can connect to all of the users who are downloading and uploading the file.

What do I download torrents with?

You need a BT (BitTorrent for short) client.

I've been using BitTornado (http://bittornado.com/) for a long time and I highly recommend it.

Some other popular BT clients include :
Azureus (http://azureus.sourceforge.net/download.php)
ABC (http://pingpong-abc.sourceforge.net/download.php)
BitComet (http://www.bitcomet.com/doc/download.htm)

What are seeds, peers, all that shit?

Seeds = Peers who have the completed file(s) and thus are only uploading to others
Leachers/Peers = Those who have yet to complete the file and are both downloading and (hopefully) uploading

A leacher? Yes, leachers are known to download the file and either cap their upload so they aren't sharing with others or close the torrent client right after they're finished downloading.

It's recommended ( to help the BT community thrive ) to KEEP your torrents OPEN after you finish downloading them so you can upload to others and contribute to the overall transfer rate. Again, that is known as 'seeding'.

Awesome, it makes sense now, where do I get started?

Download a BT client from the list here and install it on your computer. Then find a torrent you like and download it. Usually when you download a torrent it automatically opens your BT client, if it doesn't, just open the torrent with your BT client.

Some popular BT sites include:
http://www.thepiratebay.org
http://www.mininova.org
http://www.torrentreactor.net
http://www.filesoup.com
http://www.isohunt.com

There are many others, just use http://www.google.com

...and obviously check the Torrents forum here!

Have any more info about BT?

For sure, there's a shitload. Here are some links if you're interested to learn more about this method of file transfer. If you're looking for something specific, use Google, there's a wealth of info about this topic available!

The BEST BitTorrent FAQ on the planet (http://dessent.net/btfaq/)
Official BT homepage (http://bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/index.html)
File Soup's FAQ (http://www.filesoup.com/faq.html)


If you have any questions or run into any problems, feel free to ask any questions you have.

Also, this guide will be amended over time to continually improve it. If I forgot anything I'll add it as soon as I remember :)

[Outlaw]

is it safe to use like no one can hack into your computher or anything..im thinking of using BitTornado for it...

[Admin McGee]

It's no less safe than anything else you run on your computer.

imo it's much safer than kazaa and other BS like that.

I've been using BitTorrent for years now, it's the best p2p method imo, and it's gaining in popularity as everyday goes by...just check out some of the links I posted and you'll get an idea of how much content thats out there.

[hombre]

Please help me,
I need a password for a zipped files downloaded from Torrent.
“Sex Magazine” SeX MagaZines - Volumes 11-20[1].ace-[www.seedler.org].torrent

[frediisaeva]

I think if you register at the site you'll have access to the password:

"Registration is provided for users wishing to access the site's advanced features such as personal settings, torrent comments, passwords and ranking. Registered and logged in users are also given a priority at times of high demand / load."

[hombre]

I send you the explanation for recovery the password!
My problem it’s the site address!!!!!!!
I couldn’t find this.




"To get the password:

1. Go to www.gamesxposed.com and register. You can use any other emails EXCEPT GMAIL. Also dont forget to put "ZYRROXBETA" in referrer without the quotes.

2. Now go to the "General Mayhem" section of the forum. From there you will see a thread titled "The Passes for the Files I uploaded are..." All of the file passes that I uploaded in torrents will be there."

[frediisaeva]

Okay. So go to website and register. Put "ZYRROXBETA SUCKS COCK" in the referrer box and then delete the .ace archive you just downloaded.

[that guy]

I hadn't used kazaa or anything else like that in a long time. 2 weeks ago I decided to grab a couple of torrents listed here... and ended up getting some nasty stuff on my computer. I think I'm finally clean, though.

[Admin McGee]

You shouldn't get anything 'nasty' from torrents here, especially torrents I seed....

[that guy]

not sure, man. It was one from here. Said it connected to 2 different hosts. The next day, I had all kinds of adware and crap popping up on me.

[Admin McGee]

The 3 apps I use for adware/spyware :

Webroot SpySweeper (runs in the background and blocks shit)
Ad-Aware SE
Spybot - Search & Destroy

SpySweeper is always running...and I run scans with all 3 once a week.

All of em can be found on thepiratebay if you want em.

[that guy]

VundoFix was the only thing that would get rid of Winfixer. It's a piece of shit pop up. If anyone gets it, let me know. I can direct you to a place that will help. Basically, it gives you popups for a site that is supposed to get rid of spyware, etc. But it doesn't. Nice, huh?

Also, I in no way wanted to say that something you put together gave me a virus or anything. I hope it didn't come across like that.

[walker1973]

that probleme is Public !
in Germany they are now fishing to get the sharer a old friend from me is using Emule and has tell me that MP3s movies ... she has in download are emule attempt to connect to Copserver he has 3 short connects last week she made this to log the IPs from the user...

there are one other thing i has tested BearShare :mad: this crap i install and instead of the installation say my antivir Spyware AdAware can't remove them under C:\program files\save.... is a save.exe they modified the windows reg with scrap
and Adaware ... can't remove it i has boot into save mode and i can delete it !

i use now Azureus it's a good prog i has on a pcmag seen that are a new torrent prog available is http://www.utorrent.com/ it's very small 4 MB designed for
slow systems 1Ghz 256mb ram details on producers page...

te magazin has in the News kazaa australia has 3 weeks time to integrate filter funktion to stop illegeal downloads of MP3s Movies... and must pay millions a europe
brother like kazaa called Napster has for a long time ago the same prob... in germany the probs greater then here or on other countries ...

the future is dangerous i know my provider is recommended to LOG all IPs from his users 3 or 6 month i'm not sure he has the under the LAW in germany to log All

and when the police is catching anyone the consult the provider for details and the person has a problem... so long nice day Walker

[eztarg3t]

Newbie here. I downloaded BitTornado, installed, have it running. However, when I try to open torrents I download from this site, it tells me connection was refused. Any ideas?

[Admin McGee]

Newbie here. I downloaded BitTornado, installed, have it running. However, when I try to open torrents I download from this site, it tells me connection was refused. Any ideas?

try keeping the torrent open even after it says that...see if it eventually connects


my next piece of advice would be to try a different BitTorrent program

[eztarg3t]

No, it never connects. Tried another client and got the same issue. I used tornado after reading your first post that you recommended it. Oh well, I tried.

[bobRobb1969]

Bob uses BT Lite. Bob is somewhat new to the torrent. In theory this idea rules, but overall download time for any torrent Bob has downloaded is much, much slower than Kazaa or the like. Bob can pull em in at 200kb on Kazaa, whereas the same file as a torrent may top out at 50kb and often take days to download. Any suggestions? or is it simply that torrents are still gaining popularity and exposure, whereas Kazaa and the others have been around for so long?

[Admin McGee]

Bob uses BT Lite. Bob is somewhat new to the torrent. In theory this idea rules, but overall download time for any torrent Bob has downloaded is much, much slower than Kazaa or the like. Bob can pull em in at 200kb on Kazaa, whereas the same file as a torrent may top out at 50kb and often take days to download. Any suggestions? or is it simply that torrents are still gaining popularity and exposure, whereas Kazaa and the others have been around for so long?
It's actually the opposite, where BT has a greater chance of giving you a higher download rate. When I connect to a good torrent I can get 200-500kbps, it's not always like this but I usually get a sustained rate of atleast 150-200kbps.
To make your torrents go as fast as possible you need to forward ports on your router. Are you using a router?
This is what my settings look like when I do this :

http://www.thenudeboard.com/misc/forwardrouterss.jpg


Why 6881-6999 and TCP ports? Because the creater of BT specifically states this needs to be done in his FAQ :

This is probably the most common thing that people fail to do when using BitTorrent. Read on for more details of what all this entails, and if it's something that you need to do.

Prior to version 3.2, BitTorrent by default uses ports in the range of 6881-6889. As of 3.2 and later, the range has been extended to 6881-6999. (These are all TCP ports, BitTorrent does not use UDP.) The client starts with the lowest port in the range and sequentially tries higher ports until it can find one to which it can bind. This means that the first client you open will bind to 6881, the next to 6882, etc. Therefore, you only really need to open as many ports as simultaneous BitTorrent clients you would ever have open. For most people it's sufficient to open 6881-6889.

So if you have a router or some type of networking this is an absolute must to get the very most out of BT - your speeds will skyrocket and it'll work correctly.

A simple way to know if you're connecting properly is to download and use BitTornado. The circle will be yellow if you aren't connected properly and green if you've forwarded the ports correctly.

Let me know what type of router you have and I can probably show you how to edit the settings.

[nekkid]

Newbie here....I've downloaded the BitTorrent program also but everytime I try to connect I get this error message.

Error
Problem connecting to tracker - <urlopen error (7, 'getaddinfofailed')>

Anyone out there that can help, I greatly appreciate it.

[Admin McGee]

Newbie here....I've downloaded the BitTorrent program also but everytime I try to connect I get this error message.
Error
Problem connecting to tracker - <urlopen error (7, 'getaddinfofailed')>
Anyone out there that can help, I greatly appreciate it.

click on details, are the torrents you're downloading tracked by thepiratebay.org ?

These torrents usually timeout when you're first trying to connect....leave the torrent open and it should eventually connect

[nekkid]

click on details, are the torrents you're downloading tracked by thepiratebay.org ?
These torrents usually timeout when you're first trying to connect....leave the torrent open and it should eventually connect

The details say the tracker is:

http://tracker.puretna.com

should it be thepirate.org bay?

[Gus_A_Wiey]

it'll be whatever it is....zzat is whatever the maker of the torrent specified when he "compiled" it...there kin even be multiple trackers on it...

[Admin McGee]

The details say the tracker is:
http://tracker.puretna.com
should it be thepirate.org bay?

it should only be thepiratebay if that's what the creator of the torrent specified

I'd leave it open, give it some time to connect....sometimes when trackers are extremely busy there can be errors similar to the one you're receiving

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Hey guy,

New to this whole torrent malarky and finding it all very confusing. Downloaded Bit Tornado as per your advice. When I click on a torrent I get the Bit Tornado screen and a further box which states 'choose a directory to save to, pick a partial download to resume'.

I dont understand, what do I do here?

[aim2please]

just pick a place that you want the file to be saved to. I have a folder set up called DOWNLOADS and everything I download goes there so I can sort through it later. After you pick a place for the file to go it should start downloading and show a status bar of the progress.

[LostNomad]

I know in utorrent(which i use) there is a section in the setup to define where everything goes and where the program will look for it. and it resumes automatically as soon as your internet connection is up ... not very hands on. just fire and forget on alot of it.
Here is the help page that comes with it. some is spacific to utorrent BUT there is alot of great basic info like term defenitions and explinations that may help you out

http://www.utorrent.com/faq.php

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Thanks, will give it a try and get back to you if unsuccessful

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Problem. Evertime I try it it says: Error - Problem connecting to tracker - timeout exceeded

Torrents seem to hold some magical porn but cant seem to get my head around it. What on earth am I doing wrong? Using Bit Tornado as suggested and created a file called Downloads as suggested. Frustrated...

[Admin McGee]

what tracker are you using? sometimes it can timeout and you have to leave the torrent open and give it time to connect

BTW, don't use thepiratebay tracker, it was recently shut down

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Whats a tracker? Thought all I had to do was download bit tornado and bingo!! Can you recommend something? I have re-read the opening message/hints but I am exceedingly think...I mean thick

[Admin McGee]

my bad :)

I didn't realize you were just trying to download and not trying to create a torrent.

BTW, I'd recommend Azureus for downloading torrents ( I need to update the guide ) - and when it gives you the error you described, leave the torrent open and give it time to connect

[Shady Lurker]

I downloaded the uTorrent one, and am currently in the process of downloading a couple files with it...my question to you is, why does it seem as though it would take days to fully download these files; they are downloading at snail pace and it takes forever for them to go from one downloaded percentage to the next! Is that how it always is with all files?

[HRpuffnstuff]

I downloaded the uTorrent one, and am currently in the process of downloading a couple files with it...my question to you is, why does it seem as though it would take days to fully download these files; they are downloading at snail pace and it takes forever for them to go from one downloaded percentage to the next! Is that how it always is with all files?

The speed of a torrent download depends on how many people are sharing (Seeding) the file. (as well as your internet connection). The more people Seeding the file the faster your download time will be.

Unfortunately we don't have a tracker here to show upfront how many people are seeding the file before you start downloading, but on most torrent sites there is, so you'll have an idea of how many seeds there are and if the speed is worth the download. But withing your program there should be a column in your display that shows how many Seeds there are (people with the full file who are sharing it), and how many Leechers there are (other people who are downloading/sharing what they have so far).


So if there's only 1 or 2 seeds it's gonna take a while to download, especially if the number of Leechers outnumber the Seeders.

It's part of the reason it is considered good form among the torrent community to Seed a file once you have downloaded it instead of just deleting it. You know, help the community out. A lot of torrent sites will ban you if you have a share ratio of less than .5 (meaning you have to upload/seed at least half of the amount you download).

[Shady Lurker]

Thank you for the reply.
When I look under the "seed column," there are two numbers. The first one has no parenthesises around it. The second one does. What does that mean?
Ex. 6 (9)
The same inquiry goes for the "peer column" as well.

[Admin McGee]

the # is parentheses is how many total seeds there are, the other # is how many you are connected to

[Nerodude]

When I click on a torrent, it says save file Attachment.php
not the torrent.
I was able to download torrents before, it changed about two weeks ago.
This happend on two machines one at work and one at home.
I have the latest version of IE, 7 beta 3.
and IE 6 (service pack 2) second comp.

:fire: This is very frustrating.:fire:

Thanks in advance.

[Raven2043]

is it safe to use like no one can hack into your computher or anything..im thinking of using BitTornado for it...
If you have a firewall and antivirus running........never heard of anyone being
hacked through a bit torrent client...

[irishlad]

ok quick question. i just joined here btw, but whenever im downloading torrents its always really slow even though i have broadband. whats that about?

[Lithorus]

ok quick question. i just joined here btw, but whenever im downloading torrents its always really slow even though i have broadband. whats that about?

Welcome to the forum but one thing, have a look round before you post because not far above, your question had been answered by HRpuffnstuff.

The speed of a torrent download depends on how many people are sharing (Seeding) the file. (as well as your internet connection). The more people Seeding the file the faster your download time will be.

[irishmidz]

When I click on a torrent, it says save file Attachment.php
not the torrent.
I was able to download torrents before, it changed about two weeks ago.
This happend on two machines one at work and one at home.
I have the latest version of IE, 7 beta 3.
and IE 6 (service pack 2) second comp.

:fire: This is very frustrating.:fire:

Thanks in advance.
i am getting the same thing any ideas????

[HRpuffnstuff]

When I click on a torrent, it says save file Attachment.php
not the torrent.
I was able to download torrents before, it changed about two weeks ago.
This happend on two machines one at work and one at home.
I have the latest version of IE, 7 beta 3.
and IE 6 (service pack 2) second comp.
:fire: This is very frustrating.:fire:
Thanks in advance.

It's an IE problem. you can manually change the file name to the correct torrent name and extension before you save it and that will work, or switch to another browser, we recommend Firefox.

[heyitsme]

You should use µTorrent (http://www.utorrent.com/) instead. BitTornado, ABC Torrent, BitComet are banned by a huge majority of trackers because of a poorly maintained branch of code that they are. Most other torrent clients are either based directly off of the aforementioned or are just too unknown to really be of much use, or include some way of tricking the tracker on what exactly your share is (which gets you banned) or do not support the new DHT protocol which is not a good thing for torrent files. µTorrent and Azureus are the only one's really well maintained. Azureus is programmed in Java and therefore consumes over three times the resources on your computer than it actually needs to have to run itself. It displays lots of ram leaks and generally is a complete piece of shit. µTorrent has 99% of the features of Azureus and never consumes more than 6 megabytes of system RAM. And it's incredibly small. Less than 200 kilobytes for the whole program where as Azureus is exceeding 40 something megabytes installed, and it requires the behemoth Java virtual machine which itself is over 100 megabytes.

µTorrent also has A VERY EXTENSIVE tutorial on WTF BitTorrent is and how to use it.
http://www.utorrent.com/guides.php

[HoosierDaddy213]

I can't figure out how to route BitTornado through my firewall. I don't want to be the prick who doesn't share, but I am fucking lost

[Gus_A_Wiey]

just started using utorrent...used to use azearus...like night and day...i luv it!!!!! great pointer heyitsme!!!!

[bob0704]

In my experience Azureus's use of resources is overstated; unless you have an old, low-end machine, it's not a problem.

It's pretty unlikely that Azureus itself leaks memory, as Java use automatic garbage collection. There were problem when they first went to jdk 1.5 but that was a long time ago.

[Gus_A_Wiey]

overstated????...as i sed,"like night and day"!!!!

[bob0704]

But did you ever actually have a problem with azureus? The amount of diskspace it consumes costs about 10 pence, and though it may use more memory than utorrent, it's not all that much. it runs as fast as any other application for me.

If you have an low-spec PC and utorrent is much faster for you, then use it; but others shouldn't be put off Azureus, its the most fully featured client around.

[stryk-9]

torrents are a good way of filling your hard drive really fast.. LOL
:thumbup:

[stryk-9]

I use a program to fool ratios...Why? You may ask...Ever download a huge file to find out it's shit? Then you have to seed that shit...(You know.. the best thing about it was the sample photo in the description.) LOL

:fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire:

[freeskier198]

I keep getting an error saying that I do not have the codec to open .rar files. Where do I get the correct codec?

[Gus_A_Wiey]

open rar files with winrar...

[mywiid]

Hi i'm new to this site but old to torrents

When i click on a torrent link i get sent to the page "Attachment.php" with a GIF image the size 1x1. I tried down loading the page and renaming it, but no luck there. I'm using firefox, but i also tried it using IE, help would be greatly appreciated.

[d3adeyes]

you need to open it with a torrent client not as html

[Gus_A_Wiey]

what yer gettin is the result of the "haxor"...in the not too distant past we lost a lot of stuff in the data base....it was replaced with a 1x1 pixel gif instead of the file originally posted....reprt the torrent to a mod and it will be placed in the "dead" material thread for zzat section of the board....you aren't lookin in the dead maaterial section are ya????

[stryk-9]

I use a program to fool ratios...Why? You may ask...Ever download a huge file to find out it's shit? Then you have to seed that shit...(You know.. the best thing about it was the sample photo in the description.) LOL

:fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire:
Program still works...

[Pazman]

Is this a free site?

[Gus_A_Wiey]

Is this a free site?
you mean tnb???? yes it's free!!!!!:bong:

[Pazman]

you mean tnb???? yes it's free!!!!!:bong:

my bad I meant to DL torrents

[gilde03]

yeah, it's all *cough*stolen/free*cough* ;)

all you need is a good bit-torrent-client (also free) and lot of time/patience... it's a p2p-thing

[qwaszxpolkmncvb]

Heyitsme found a good thing there. I tryed it and it works great. I downloaded it with dialup easy. She had a good point when she picked "micro" Torrent. VM's suck most of the time and don't performe well their just needed sometimes. Running less resources can be a good thing to. Downloading with a dial modem can be frustriating so it's small file size realy counted in my book. No mater how slick the computer you have if you require a modem for communication download time is a major factor. My average transfer rate is 4kb/sec. or less most of the time and I just got to deal with it. It's the fastest we can get with out a dish. Thanks! :thumbup: Heyitsme

[qwaszxpolkmncvb]

Question for anyone that knows. Is Limewire a form of Bittorrent? I am new to it but it seems so familier torrent that is. What programs or apps would use it beeing odvious? Communication, games or players every day things. I am thinking more like driver and software updates though.

[Gus_A_Wiey]

Heyitsme found a good thing there. I tryed it and it works great. I downloaded it with dialup easy. He had a good point when he picked "micro" Torrent.....Heyitsme is a woman!!!!...and yes she did!!!!!

[qwaszxpolkmncvb]

Sorry, I fixed that for ya'll.

[NumbroOne]

Question for anyone that knows. Is Limewire a form of Bittorrent? I am new to it but it seems so familier torrent that is. What programs or apps would use it beeing odvious? Communication, games or players every day things. I am thinking more like driver and software updates though.

Limewire is a p2p client but it has nothing incommon with torrents! It is just a newer version of Kazaa. But in my opinion it sucks!

Personally I use Azureus to dl but there are several more, some good some not. Check out the first post in this thread to see some of the different programs you could use

[hellshunter]

New here ready most if not all the post here to try figuring out what to do. If i missed the one that told me. iM sorry. how ever i have Limwire AKA kaaza as i just found out. But i had it for awhile and have never tried torrents till today. I downloaded a few and it automatically used limewire. even though i downloaded BitTorrent then tried Azur. I have a Mac and cant use the bittornado or at least i dont think so but i didnt see a mac version just pc. How can i change limewire from my default to one of the other two i dont care witch. I guess the one that works best for all. Also i am using a apple airport wireless router and do not know if i ned to change any of the settings to work . the arrows in limewire are green for the one that completed the download it has two arrows in a circle and both are green. any and all help is greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

[MasterWindu]

Firstly, delete Limewire.
Second, remove all traces of Limewire in your system by using a program like CCleaner and clean out the registry.
Third, use an antivirus/anti-spyware program and do some thorough cleaning to cover any leftover traces.
Fourth, download uTorrent. Check out the forum on www.utorrent.com for first time users and help on setting it up.
Fifth, get XP (OK that was just a joke so no Apple > Microsoft flame wars)
Lastly, do not ever use Limewire again.

Any further detailed help can be found in on the uTorrent forum.

Hope this helps!

[hellshunter]

Hahaha. I actually just switched to the mac and will never go back to windows except at work. Ill try and do that and see if everything goes smoothly. i did find out after i posted this by a few hours how to get the bitorrent program to open them as default. Still shows the limewire icon on the torrent when it drops onto the desktop before it starts to download tho. That might change after i delete it tho. Thanks again.

[ghstface38]

How do I play the damned things? Windows Media Player won't play them.

[gilde03]

How do I play the damned things? Windows Media Player won't play them.

there is nothing to play... :bong:

you found the manual, why don't you start reading? ;) then get urself a bit-torrent-client-prog and start leeching :bong:

btw: if you really have to ask, maybe you shouldn't d/l torrents (except you really know how to protect you in the internet - 99,9% of that stuff handled in torrents is f...ing illegal...)

[hellshunter]

OK i downloaded a movie it had two parts one part the movie the other part the sound. How do i get the sound to play? The movie plays fine and works great just no sound. Movie ends in .avi sound file ends in .srt