Torrent help!!

[The Violet Storm]

Ok, I have been using LimeWire and Bearshare for years now, so I am a bit familiar with the whole file sharing thing. Recently I have been more intrigued about all this Torrent talk. I am embarrased to say it has got me a little confused. Its not an avenue that I have ever really explored and I am wanting to learn more.
I have been trying to read and read, but it seems the more I read the more I get confused. There are so many different sites that ya'll talk about.... so many different clients.
I deducted at some point that I just need to get a client and give it a go, but, oh my gosh, there are so many how do I choose????
I am certain that the reason why I cant make a choice is because I dont understand, (and I hate that),
So, here are the silly questions going through my mind??

Is this the same thing as Limewire, (I realize that limewire is gnutella) is it just another program similar to that?
And where do all the different websites come into play, do you download through and actual site, or program?
I am overloading myself with information and the more talk of so many different clients and sites, I have gottem myself in the place where someone needs to start from ground zero with me and simplify it. (I am sure I am making it far more difficult than it is.)
I want to learn! HELP!!

[lifehacker]

Is this the same thing as Limewire, (I realize that limewire is gnutella) is it just another program similar to that?
No its very different. You download a torrent file that basicly connects you to other people downloading what you are. The torrent file represents what you are downloading. You then download what the torrent represents from the other people to which you are connected.
And where do all the different websites come into play, do you download through and actual site, or program?
You download the torrent from a website such as torrentspy, isohunt, mininova. There are also private trackers, websites with torrent files but to be able to download the torrent files from private trackers you need to have access to the site (ussually you need an invite to join a private BT site though sometimes they are open for signups). Private trackers are safer from anti-piracy groups than public ones and ussually you will also get better speeds from private ones then from public ones.
I am overloading myself with information and the more talk of so many different clients and sites, I have gottem myself in the place where someone needs to start from ground zero with me and simplify it. (I am sure I am making it far more difficult than it is.)
Get uTorrent for your client, and most important of all: there are guides in the guides section and in the BitTorrent section of this site. There is a very good guide on uTorrent by soulxtc. Read It!

[charlesmelissa]

uTorrent is great, I have tried it in the past, but I am more familiar with Azureus so that is what I use. I also use Shareaza.

I started with Napster then went to Grokster, then to Shareaza, then to BitTorrent, now I am mostly newsgroups. For a new person to BitTorrent, Shareaza is a good go between Gnutella/eD2k and torrents. It works a lot like limewire- it is a Gnutella and G2 engine that also supports BitTorrent. You can download and install it and set it up to download your downloads over BitTorrent.

The down side of Shareaza is that some of the download sites don't support Shareaza, so I use Azureus for my BitTorrent Downloads. I think most of the people here use Azureus or uTorrent. Azureus is written in Java so it can tend to use a lot of system resources. However Azureus tends to download faster for me than uTorrent- I can reach 2.5 megs download speed.

To put some of the BT BitTorrent) terms in general file sharing terms- to do a search for a file you go to a tracker to type in what you want to search for instead of in the search block on Limewire. Lifehacker mentioned some great sites in the post above. I also use thepiratesbay.org. When you find something you want to download, you click on the link and a file called a .torrent is downloaded. If you have Azureus set up, when the file is downloaded Azureus will ask where you want to save the download or you can set it up a default location ahead of time.

So far it sounds about the same as with Limewire except for the search location- Azureus replaces Limewire and you search for what you want to download. Once Azureus knows what to download it will contact a "tracker" that keeps track of whoall is sharing the file you want. Then Azureus will start downloading the file. If it is a big file it may take a while, even longer if you have a slow connection.

You may need to register at some of the trackers, even those from a public tracker. You may ger an error message about registration or pass key and that is what the problem is.

You can go to google and google torrent search for lots of download sites. It is really simple, it just sounds strange to someone new.

Here is a great resource: http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/peersharing/f/torrentsearch.htm

[The Violet Storm]

Wow, thank you, that simplifies it quite a bit for me.
A couple questions, before I get started.
So I dont actually do the search in the client. I do the search from the sites. Then the client actually does the downloading??? How are the 2 connected?
It sounds like getting into the sites might be a problem? Does it cost to register in them?
The tracker sights sounds like the better way to go, but that is not accesible to just anyone right?
uTorrent or Azureus?? (i suppose that might be personal opinion)
Meantime I will be reading your link for beginners. :-)

[lifehacker]

So I dont actually do the search in the client. I do the search from the sites. Then the client actually does the downloading??? How are the 2 connected?
You open the torrent file using the client and the client saves the data recieved because of the torrent file.

It sounds like getting into the sites might be a problem? Does it cost to register in them?
No it does not cost anything. There are two kinds public and private. Anyone can search and download torrents off of public ones but to be able to download the torrent off of a private one you need to be a member which can be done by either recieving an invite from a member inviting you to join or sometimes you may be able to find one open for signups. Everything is free. If you are ever asked to pay you are being cheated.

uTorrent or Azureus?? (i suppose that might be personal opinion)
uTorrent. Azureus is a memory whore because its written in Java. The speeds the two clients give you are about the same.

[The Violet Storm]

Oh another, does my computer need to be EXTRA protected, other than Kaspersky, Ad-aware and Spybot?
Is it dangerous for your ISP to see that you are file sharing like this? Is there a way to shild yourself from them seeing your IP/identity. (I know thats a whole other can of worms)

[The Violet Storm]

Thank you again, LIfehacker. Gotta hate the momory whores. lol I will go with uTorrent.

[lifehacker]

Oh another, does my computer need to be EXTRA protected, other than Kaspersky, Ad-aware and Spybot?
You wont find as many viruses in BitTorrent as you will in Gnutella or eDonkey. None the less its always good to scan what you downloaded after you are done.

[Jared Moya]

Get uTorrent for your client, and most important of all: there are guides in the guides section and in the BitTorrent section of this site. There is a very good guide on uTorrent by soulxtc. Read It!

Thx for the advertisement, wish there was a way to filter threads so that cant create one unless the relevant guide has been viewed first.

[The Violet Storm]

Hey guys, when using uTorrent, is it normal that your network speeds slows down to about half? Is there a way to open that up so that it speeds up a bit?? When it is downloading on my main computer, my laptop takes about 5 minutes to load a page. I am new to this, is this normal?

[thepuzzler]

Try limiting your upload speed in the utorrent options (Options / Preferences / Network / Limit Global upload speed). As a general rule of thumb you should limit it to roughly 80% of your max upload speed.

[brock01]

torrents ftw :)
use em, and share what u get or stay with limewire :)

[The Violet Storm]

what is "ftw"? I am happy to share what I get! Am I not??

[shawners]

WE need to know your Operatnig systems, router, CABLE/DSL provider, and any other firewall. As well as how many seeds are on the torrent vs leechers.
XP sp2 will allow 10 connections open, there is a patch to open more so you connect better and to a bigger group. Seeders have the FULL file, leechers have partials. Some cable companies are throttling BT speeds and you need to change your BT CLIENT port to 1720 or 1755 for some cable providers, as well as put Encryption enabled on uTorrent. Plus any port you put on your BT client, needs to be opened on your router. So go in the settings and open that port up.

[The Violet Storm]

Running on XP, Pentium 4, 180 gig hard drive, 1 gig of memory. Lynksys BEFW11S4V4 router, Comcast cable internet with max allowance of 6000 down and 384 up, speed test results show even faster down. (drops dramatically when using client) As far as I have been told, comcast doesnt block anything.
I definatley dont want to be a leecher, unless I am doing it on accident.
The whole port thing......I will figure that out, I have some learning to do. :-)

[kari14]

does anyone know if a firewall can actually affect the speed of the download? I have windows xp and they usually come with a firewall and i dont know how to configure it to make it accept my port. where do i find my port anyways? (on lime wire and azuerus)

[kari14]

Speaking of ports, if I receive "illegal" signals on my notebook from my neighbors who have unprotected Netgear, Linksys, etc, where I can actually find the correct port?