The correct way to use torrents
The correct way to use torrents
“Mommy, my torrent is not seeding well”
Azureus Vuze
Torrents have become one of the most popular forms of downloading things of the internet.
“A torrent can mean either a .torrent metadata file or all files described by it, depending on context. The torrent file contains metadata about all the files it makes downloadable”.
What this means is that a torrent file isn’t actually the full thing you are trying to download, all it is a small file that contains all of the information to start acquiring the file from different sources.
Similar to P2P when you download a torrent you are actually downloading bits and pieces from hundreds of other people. This relates back to the topic of ’seeds’ and ‘leechers’.
A seed is basically a completed copy of the file that is currently available on the web. The more seeds the better. “Seeders” are people that have the full completed file and are currently uploading or ’seeding’ it back to the web.
A leecher is someone who is currently downloading that file from all the other people or seeds that are currently available. A torrent will download much faster if there are more seeds then leechers, this because if there are less copies available then people downloading, it will obviously go slower then if there are more completed copies available.
Seeds > Leechers
Below, I will explain to you, how to start using torrents, port forwarding, and some general knowledge for you to know. And of course action packed with links that you will find helpful.
Torrent Application
Before doing anything else, I recommend you download a torrent application. The one I use is called Vuze (formerly Azureus) and so far it has been user friendly and great.
This can be downloaded here. You can also read up on some information on that site if you want to.
There are many alternatives to Vuze, if you happen not too like it, such as utorrent which also one of the most popular ones. If you are using the opera browser you can download torrents directly from your browser, however I still recommend you get a proper torrent application.
Port Forwarding
Next you are going to want to forward your UDP and TCP ports, so that Azureus can start getting connections. To do this first open up Vuze and go to tools > options > connection and write in what ever number you want in the little box. Make it between 23000-60000. After that, if you are using a router go here and find your router from the list by looking at the model number at the bottom of your router and just follow the instructions for port forwarding. If your IP address is static it may change from time to time, making you need to reforward the ports. However you can easily turn your IP address into a static one by reading one of the corresponding guides here.
Downloading Torrents
There are many torrent websites that you can download torrents from, my personal favorites are mininova.org, demonoid.com and torrentz.com (torrent search engine). All you have to do is search for the file you are looking for and click on the download torrent link. It should naturally open with Vuze but if it doesn’t you can just copy and paste the link into the Vuze under open torrent or set Vuze to be the default torrent application on your pc. As I mentioned earlier pick torrents with MORE seeders then leechers and with a decent health ratio, also make sure the comments (if there are any) when downloading a file. Simply because there are still people that upload virus’ however I have found that torrent sites are much less prone to them than P2P programs. Make sure that after your download finishes you let it ’seed’ or upload until you get a ratio of at least 1.0 which means you seeded another whole copy in exchange for the one you downloaded. This is important because some sites may penalize you with bad download speeds if you have a bad ratio.
Common Extensions That You Will Come Across
When downloading audio or video, you will get your traditional .avi or .mp3 files, besides some exceptions. However, these files may require different codecs to play correctly on your computer. I discussed getting an audio and video codec pack in a previous post. I recommend downloading the k-litecodec pack from free-codecs. That pack tends to cover all your necessary codecs and I haven’t had a problem with it yet.
When downloading software or games, the files will almost always come in an image format. Either .daa or .bin or whatever the other ones are. This requires you to mount the image onto your computer which creates a virtual disk drive and runs normally like a cd would. A great software that does this is called poweriso. There will almost always be a ‘crack’ folder included which just requires you to copy and paste the crack file into the folder into which you installed the game into. The mininova tutorial forum is a great place if you need any more help with using torrents and all that other stuff. The forum can be found here.
Well, I think I have covered everything a beginner should know when it comes to getting started with torrents. I definitely recommend torrents over using things like P2P software (limewire, bearshare), simply because in my opinion it’s safer and provides much higher quality media. If you have any more questions feel free to ask in the comments below or contact me OR check out the mininova forum, where you should definitely find what you are looking for.
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I’ve never given this a try, but I think it’s about time I do.
The info is very useful. However, I have a curiosity:
I use bittorrent and utorrent, and I see on the description tabs there are “seeds” and “peers” amd these show some numbers such as 6(100). what does the number outside and inside the parenthesis mean?
I appreciate your response.