But first, some common questions you may have.
1) What is bittorrent?
Bittorrent is a means of sharing files over the internet through .torrent files.
2) Is it legal?
Sharing non-copyrighted material is perfectly legal, but there is a huge debate as to whether or not "Pirating" (the sharing of often copyrighted material) is ethical and legal. I just download whatever takes my fancy, regardless of over protective copyright laws.
3) How does it work?
From sites like Demonoid.com and thepiratebay.org you can download a .torrent file, which is a sort of link to a bigger file, which you can download using programs like Utorrent and my favourite, Vuze. After downloading is complete, the files "seed". Seeding is the users way of contributing to the community by making it faster for others to download. Not seeding is frowned upon and is considered selfish.
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| Remember to seed, kids |
4) What files can i get through bittorrent?
Anything and everything; from normal movies in avi file format and songs in mp3 format, to more complex files such as iso and zipped archives.
5) Will i get into trouble for "pirating"?
Theoretically yes, but im sure the fbi are far too busy catching terrorists to worry about a few torrented films.
6) Can i get viruses?
The short answer is yes. But only if you are careless. A good antivirus, and not downloading a 3mb .exe (program) file with 0 comments is an almost full proof solution.
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| example of a torrent client |
Now for the guide to basic files in 9 easy steps!
1) GET AN ANTIVIRUS!!!!! I cannot stress the importance of antiviruses. Software such as Avg can mean the difference between a laptop and a 3 kilogram paperweight. I recommend the free version of AvG
2) Get a decent bittorrent client. I use Vuze and Utorrent. There are plenty more though if these are not satisfatctory.
3) Choose your arsenal: I use thepiratebay.org and kickasstorrents.com for my .torrent files. Others exist, but be wary of viruses, malware and other nasties when visiting smaller sites.
4) When choosing you torrents, look for the ones with the most Seeds and Peers. These will usually be the fastest, not always, but its a good rule of thumb.
5) Check the comments. Most sites have comment and rating systems in place, use them. If you are unsure of a torrent, see what others say about it.
6) Be Patient! Some torrents can be dreadfully slow, especially on cheaper broadband speeds. When i first started i couldnt get more than 20 or 30 Kb a second. I upgraded my broadband and now i can get up to 1.7 mb/s.
7) Have a decent media player with the right codecs. 90% of the time, windows media player with the standard codecs is going to be fine for avi and mp3 files. Other good players include Vlc media player, Quicktime player and the divx player
8) Enjoy your free music and/or films.
9) Remember to seed!!
Notes
Movies are nearly always .avi if they appear as .exe they are normally viruses.
Music is nearly always .mp3 if they appear as .exe they are normally viruses.
While downloading you may find that your broadband goes slower than usual, this is normal for torrents and this is why i always leave things to download overnight while I'm sleeping.
Seeding starts automatically after completion, so there is no excuse for not doing it.
