Guide to Torrenting
In this guide, I will be covering how to torrent. This guide is recommended if you're new to torrenting and want
some help to get started.
Now, I know, when you start out it's overwhelming, but that's why I'm here.
When I starting torrenting, I had nobody teaching me and couldn't find a tutorial like this, so I had to learn most
of this myself.
After I figured it out, I met some other torrenters and the information was confirmed.
If you're about to turn around and stop torrenting because of the difficulty it takes to start out, that may be one
of the worst moves you'll ever make.
Torrenting is a joy when you learn how to do it, and you'll probably never close your torrent client.
Chapter One - Introduction
What is torrenting?
Torrenting is a filesharing protocol that is convenient and favoured by many people worldwide.
Why should I torrent?
You can find more downloadable content in the torrent community then almost anywhere. Not only this, but the speeds
of torrents can sometimes be better then if you're doing a direct HTTP download due to bandwith restrictions on a
website. While torrenting, you're recieving the data directly from your peers, resulting in you being able to
download however fast you possibly can if the uploader can upload to match.
Why shouldn't I torrent?
If you plan to use torrenting for illegal purposes, there is a chance that you can be caught if you do not take the
right precautions. Refer to the links at the bottom of the tutorial for Peer Guardian 2 -- A great way to protect
yourself against people looking to catch you in the act.
So... How does it work?
Keep reading.
Chapter Two - Clients
Torrent clients are what make it all work.
The torrent clients open up the small 'x'kb .torrent files, establishes the connection between you and the peers,
and transfers the data.
Torrent clients are obviously necessary, unless you want to use a web-based torrent client, but these are less
customizable, and probably have a few glitches here and there. I'd reccomend getting a client.
My client of choice?
µTorrent (link provided in 'links' section of tutorial)
Why?
Well, it's a light torrent client.
Clients like Azureus Vuze use your Java Runtime Environment and are a bit too clunky.
µTorrent also has a nice catagorization feature which really, really helps out if you download a lot of torrents.
Chapter Three - Optimize your Speed
This trick isn't only for torrenting, but all-around speeding up your internet connection.
Here's a quick and easy step-by-step...
1) Download and open TCP Optimizer (link in Links section)
2) Make sure that whatever adapter connects you to the internet is selected
3) Move the slider bar up ONE OR TWO NOTCHES! (Do not overdo this!!)
4) At the bottom, select "Optimal Settings"
5) Apply the changes
6) Restart your computer
Still going slow?
If your torrents are still going slow, don't fret. A lot of the time, it's not your connection's fault. It's that
the seeders have a slow upload speed, and you can only download as fast as they can upload.
What's a seeder?
Read on.
Chapter Four - Peers
Peers come in two different types. Seeders and leechers (leechers are often referred to just as 'peers').
These names define what the holder's status is on the file's completion.
Definitions:
Seeder - Somebody who is completely finished downloading the torrent and is now uploading it to all of the leechers.
Leecher - Somebody who is currently downloading the torrent. Leechers also upload what they have available.
So basically, when you're searching for a torrent, make sure that you find one with more seeders then leechers.
For example... You're searching for Firefox. You see two torrent downloads...
The first one has 1,235 seeds and 3,210 leeches.
The second has 52 seeds and 6 leeches.
Though the second seems less appealing because of the lack of digits, it's actually a better choice due to the ratio
of seeds to leeches.
If there are less people other then yourself downloading, then the uploader's bandwith can focus more on you,
resulting in you getting better speeds.
Chapter Five - Protect yourself from scams and tricks
When it comes to torrenting, there are a lot of people out there who are in it to scam you. There is a way to avoid
this, and it's not too hard.
Well, there are a few ways. Here, I'll list them.
Trusted Uploaders
Having trusted uploaders is always a great way to stay out of being scammed.
Say MovUp uploads movies. You download a few, and they're all good quality, no viruses, etc... You can now consider
him a trusted uploader. When looking for movies, check his torrents out.
Comments
Most torrent trackers have a comment system, in which registered users can post comments on a torrent to confirm
its authenticity.
Reading comments is always a great way to find out if something is real or not.
Size
Generally, the common size for a regular-quality full-length movie is around 700 MB.
If you see a movie that you've been looking for, but it's only around 20 MB or something, it's most likely a virus.
NOTE: A common scam that you should avoid is one that should be pretty obvious, but a lot of people don't catch it
and end up with a virus.
what will happen is that the uploader of a movie will make a movie file around 700 MB that is titled to be a movie
you're looking for, but when you open it just says that you need to go to this website and download that program to
view it.
These are always full of crap.
The file that they're telling you to download is most likely riddled with viruses and other malware. Beware - This
happens quite a bit.
And just remember -- If it looks like a scam, it probably is!
Chapter Six - Other Essentials
Now you know and have all you need to torrent, but there is still more software that you should download.
There are links for all of these in the Links section.
VLC Media Player - A media player that supports most if not all video formats (I'm not a fan of it, but a lot
of people love it)
CCCP - All the codecs you'll ever need
Nero - A great program to burn DVDs and other media
Daemon Tools - A program that can mount .iso files and other image filetypes so you don't have to burn them
onto a disc
In this guide, I will be covering how to torrent. This guide is recommended if you're new to torrenting and want
some help to get started.
Now, I know, when you start out it's overwhelming, but that's why I'm here.
When I starting torrenting, I had nobody teaching me and couldn't find a tutorial like this, so I had to learn most
of this myself.
After I figured it out, I met some other torrenters and the information was confirmed.
If you're about to turn around and stop torrenting because of the difficulty it takes to start out, that may be one
of the worst moves you'll ever make.
Torrenting is a joy when you learn how to do it, and you'll probably never close your torrent client.
Chapter One - Introduction
What is torrenting?
Torrenting is a filesharing protocol that is convenient and favoured by many people worldwide.
Why should I torrent?
You can find more downloadable content in the torrent community then almost anywhere. Not only this, but the speeds
of torrents can sometimes be better then if you're doing a direct HTTP download due to bandwith restrictions on a
website. While torrenting, you're recieving the data directly from your peers, resulting in you being able to
download however fast you possibly can if the uploader can upload to match.
Why shouldn't I torrent?
If you plan to use torrenting for illegal purposes, there is a chance that you can be caught if you do not take the
right precautions. Refer to the links at the bottom of the tutorial for Peer Guardian 2 -- A great way to protect
yourself against people looking to catch you in the act.
So... How does it work?
Keep reading.
Chapter Two - Clients
Torrent clients are what make it all work.
The torrent clients open up the small 'x'kb .torrent files, establishes the connection between you and the peers,
and transfers the data.
Torrent clients are obviously necessary, unless you want to use a web-based torrent client, but these are less
customizable, and probably have a few glitches here and there. I'd reccomend getting a client.
My client of choice?
µTorrent (link provided in 'links' section of tutorial)
Why?
Well, it's a light torrent client.
Clients like Azureus Vuze use your Java Runtime Environment and are a bit too clunky.
µTorrent also has a nice catagorization feature which really, really helps out if you download a lot of torrents.
Chapter Three - Optimize your Speed
This trick isn't only for torrenting, but all-around speeding up your internet connection.
Here's a quick and easy step-by-step...
1) Download and open TCP Optimizer (link in Links section)
2) Make sure that whatever adapter connects you to the internet is selected
3) Move the slider bar up ONE OR TWO NOTCHES! (Do not overdo this!!)
4) At the bottom, select "Optimal Settings"
5) Apply the changes
6) Restart your computer
Still going slow?
If your torrents are still going slow, don't fret. A lot of the time, it's not your connection's fault. It's that
the seeders have a slow upload speed, and you can only download as fast as they can upload.
What's a seeder?
Read on.
Chapter Four - Peers
Peers come in two different types. Seeders and leechers (leechers are often referred to just as 'peers').
These names define what the holder's status is on the file's completion.
Definitions:
Seeder - Somebody who is completely finished downloading the torrent and is now uploading it to all of the leechers.
Leecher - Somebody who is currently downloading the torrent. Leechers also upload what they have available.
So basically, when you're searching for a torrent, make sure that you find one with more seeders then leechers.
For example... You're searching for Firefox. You see two torrent downloads...
The first one has 1,235 seeds and 3,210 leeches.
The second has 52 seeds and 6 leeches.
Though the second seems less appealing because of the lack of digits, it's actually a better choice due to the ratio
of seeds to leeches.
If there are less people other then yourself downloading, then the uploader's bandwith can focus more on you,
resulting in you getting better speeds.
Chapter Five - Protect yourself from scams and tricks
When it comes to torrenting, there are a lot of people out there who are in it to scam you. There is a way to avoid
this, and it's not too hard.
Well, there are a few ways. Here, I'll list them.
Trusted Uploaders
Having trusted uploaders is always a great way to stay out of being scammed.
Say MovUp uploads movies. You download a few, and they're all good quality, no viruses, etc... You can now consider
him a trusted uploader. When looking for movies, check his torrents out.
Comments
Most torrent trackers have a comment system, in which registered users can post comments on a torrent to confirm
its authenticity.
Reading comments is always a great way to find out if something is real or not.
Size
Generally, the common size for a regular-quality full-length movie is around 700 MB.
If you see a movie that you've been looking for, but it's only around 20 MB or something, it's most likely a virus.
NOTE: A common scam that you should avoid is one that should be pretty obvious, but a lot of people don't catch it
and end up with a virus.
what will happen is that the uploader of a movie will make a movie file around 700 MB that is titled to be a movie
you're looking for, but when you open it just says that you need to go to this website and download that program to
view it.
These are always full of crap.
The file that they're telling you to download is most likely riddled with viruses and other malware. Beware - This
happens quite a bit.
And just remember -- If it looks like a scam, it probably is!
Chapter Six - Other Essentials
Now you know and have all you need to torrent, but there is still more software that you should download.
There are links for all of these in the Links section.
VLC Media Player - A media player that supports most if not all video formats (I'm not a fan of it, but a lot
of people love it)
CCCP - All the codecs you'll ever need
Nero - A great program to burn DVDs and other media
Daemon Tools - A program that can mount .iso files and other image filetypes so you don't have to burn them
onto a disc
