torrent basic advice please

[balidey]

OK, I think I may need to get onto a bit torrent type of site at some point to download some files.

I get the general idea of how they work, but I'm a bit wary of how safe they are. So, firstly I understand I have to disable my firewall, or atleast give permission to the torrent site to allow it access to my PC. Is this safe? Are there any known bits of malicious software or bugs or viruses that can get to my computer? Or can I allow it to only access a certain drive or a partition?

Secondly, I understand that to get better download speeds or ratings I need to also pass files on to others. So, does my PC need to be on 24 hours a day? Or can leaving it on a couple of hours in the evening give me enough time to earn this 'credit'? What happens if i turn my PC off mid way through someone downloading a part of the file on my PC? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

And do I need to put 'new' stuff on my PC? ie if I only download 2 or 3 files, is it ok to only share on those same files?

I'm a bit confused by all this. Help. Or can someone point me in the direction of a good guide?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[x Alex x]

just had a quick read but yeh there's always risks of viruses etc when getting files from others.

don't disable the firewall and a decent anti virus would keep most things out.

sharing with others is called 'seeding' and doesn't get a better dload speed but they can cut you off if you don't share it.

 

[bulldog5046]

google 'how to use torrents'

 

[x Alex x]

about leaving you PC, no, just seed it a bit (share with others) when your downloading the thing your downloading then close the task when it has finnished.

try www.utorrent.com

 

[x Alex x]

 

[Adrian Bravo]

utorrent is best in my opinion. btmon is the best web site in my opinion.

when searching goolge type something like;
"Will Young let it go .torrent .mp3 btmon"

If your getting to many lyrics websites use;
"Will Young let it go .torrent .mp3 btmon -lyrics"

If your getting no results from btmon obviously take it out of the search.

Works every single time for me no messing about

 

[Pomp]

Its simple really. Download Vuze and click the download link on one of the many torrent sites.

Miniova ftw

 

[balidey]

Just found 'torrent relay', I'm currently downloading a torrent via a web browser, so no software install, no changes to firewall, no need to share (ok, so now I'm a leech). I'll see how that goes later.

 

[x Alex x]

Just found 'torrent relay', I'm currently downloading a torrent via a web browser, so no software install, no changes to firewall, no need to share (ok, so now I'm a leech). I'll see how that goes later.

it will share it as you're downloading it

 

[balidey]

seems very slow, I think that torrent relay gets all the torrent together into the browser, then you download again from the browser to my pc, so basically doing it all twice.

I think I'll do some more reading up on the torrent sites and give it a go at the weekend

 

[balidey]

Decided to have a go last night.
Used utorrent and isohunt.
Actually doing it makes so much more sense than reading about it.
Thanks for the info people, especially Alex, that video clip was useful , even though the commentary was useless (I hope its not you I've just offended )

Only want to dip into it occasionally as I have download limits, but I can see the fascination with torrents.

 

[Adrian Bravo]

Make sure you have antivirus installed AVG8 is very good and totaly free.
There is always a small chance you can get introuble with the law for filesharing.

Your ISP my start blocking ports and traffic, or limit your speed. To get round this in your upload settings select an "encrypt my upload traffic" option.

 

[balidey]

I have a good anti virus installed, updated regularly.
And I will hardly be using the torrent site, so traffic will not be noticeable.
And I won't download illegal software or files... I'm a good boy, honest

 

[custard]

private trackers give better speeds
average for me is over 1mb/sec,can go up to 2mb/sec+ with plenty of seeds