Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Downloading a Torrent File

1. 

   Find a website torrent tracker (tracker is a server that records activity of members using protocols). There are many torrent and trustworthy websites listed. There are two main types of torrent tracker: public tracker and personal tracker.
   • Public trackers visible to everyone. You will find multiple pages when searching for the keyword torrent trackers. Due to its public nature, many torrents are tracked by the rights holders, and downloading them can cause a lot of action on the part of the internet provider.
   • The personal tracker requests an invitation. You will not be able to access these pages until you have received an invitation from another member. They are often accompanied by requests, such as sharing data equivalent to the amount of downloads you have. The personal tracker is less likely to have copyright issues.

2. 

   
   
   Search for the file you need. Most public trackers have new programs, movies, albums and games available, as well as popular old files.
   • Use common shorthand to find the file you want. For example, if you want to find episode 2 of season 3 of a show, look for the phrase s03e02.

3. 

   
   
   Popular torrent downloads. The download speed of a torrent file depends on the number of seeders (the person uploading) the file. Seeder is a torrent user who downloads files.
   • Most torrent sites allow you to sort search results by number of seeders. Find the file with the most seeders. This not only helps you to download faster but also somewhat confirms the file is real and free of viruses.
   • The number of leecher (downloaders) also affects the download speed. Leecher is the user who is uploading, but has not yet performed the upload. The Leecher becomes a seeder when the file is completely downloaded.If there are more leecher than seeders, the bandwidth will decrease and the download speed will be slower.

4. 

   
   
   Choose a torrent based on size and quality. This is especially important for video files. Because compression can affect quality, smaller files tend to have poorer picture and sound quality than large files.
   • On the other hand, downloading a larger file will take longer, depending on your connection.
   • Read comments below to determine whether other users' reflection on the quality of the file. Some trackers have rating systems that allow users to vote whether this file is good or bad.

5. 

   Load a magnet link if available. These files are slightly different from standard torrent files. They rank content based on a special unique identifier that can be accessed without a server. Magnet link is a simple line of text, you don't need to download torrent files.

6. 

   Make sure you can run the content. Torrents can be used to transfer any type of file. As a result, you may not be familiar with the downloaded file. Read the description to make sure you have the program you need to open the downloaded file.
   • VLC Player is free, open source software that can be used to watch any media file you download.
   • ISO files are image discs, they need to be printed to a disc or mounted on a virtual drive to be played.

7. 

   Be careful with viruses. Because torrents often exist in areas with poor regulatory scope, there is no such oversight as pre-made files. This means that hackers can embed the virus in the torrent and spread it to other users. They are often included in popular searches to increase the number of victims as much as possible.
   • Virus-scan all downloaded files.
   • Try to download a file posted by a trusted source in the community.
   • Always check comments and reviews to see if anyone got a virus from this torrent link.
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Part 2 of 3: Get the Content section

1. 

   Install torrent software. BitTorrent protocols allow you to exchange or contribute data over the internet. Without a central server, the data is loaded from other users (seeder). You need torrent software to connect to a server and manage downloads. There are many completely free software out there. Here are some popular software:
   • µTorrent
   • Vuze

2. 

   Open the torrent file. The torrent file you just downloaded from the tracker site is very small, usually only a few KB. This file does not contain any content you need to download. The file only acts as a guide for the partial download of a file from other software. Use the BitTorrent software you installed in the above step to open the file.
   • Your torrent software is set to automatically open torrent files. If not already set up, you can drag the torrent file to drop into the software's window to add it to the downloads section.

3. 

   Set download location. Depending on how your torrent software is set up, you may be asked to choose a storage location when you open the torrent file. Choose the location you want.

4. 

   Keep track of your download. You can check the download progress on your torrent software. Most software allow you to see how many seeders are connecting. The torrent software will automatically download at the fastest possible speed.
   • Downloading many files at the same time will slow down the download speed.
   • If you don't want to use the maximum bandwidth for your downloads, right-click on the software and select Bandwidth Allocation (the word used is not the same across software). Here you can limit download and upload speeds. This is useful if you want to watch a movie online while the file is downloading.

5. 

   Add tracker to torrent. If you are having trouble connecting to the seeder to download files, you can add more trackers to your torrent if you are busy. Don't do this with private torrents, otherwise you could be banned.
   • Find a list of active online trackers. There are many websites that list active trackers. Copy that list to clipboard.
   • Right click on the torrent on the software. Select Properties from the menu.
   • Select the General tab. You will see a list of trackers (there can be only 1 tracker). Paste the list you just copied into the item. Each tracker should be separated by a line. Press OK and the torrent will automatically connect to the new tracker.

6. 

   Access downloaded content. Once downloaded, you can open the file as you normally would. If you move or delete the file, you will lose the ability to upload.
   • You cannot open the file prior to the complete download. For example, you cannot watch a video before it has been downloaded. That's because the file is divided into sections and they are not downloaded in the correct order.
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Part 3 of 3: Uploading a Torrent File

1. 

   Upload after download is completed. Once you have downloaded the contents of your torrent file, you will become a seeder. This means that you are uploading data to another software connected to the tracker.
   • Uploading is a way of maintaining a torrent community. There is no seeder, no one can download the file.

2. 

   Maintain a good rate. If you use your own community, you should maintain a positive rate with it. This means that you need to upload as much data as you can download.

3. 

   Let the torrent software run on its own. Most internet services have slower upload speeds than download speeds. This means that uploading to maintain the rate takes longer to download. Let the torrent program run on its own while you do other things, and you'll see the upload skyrocket.
   • Running a torrent software doesn't have much of an impact on your web browser or word processing. However, it's a good idea to turn off torrents before running more specialized software like watching videos or playing games.
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Advice

• There are Torrent search engines that help find the most popular torrent sites. This saves you time by not having to search web pages one by one.
• One practical tip is to download torrents from a site with a large user base. This means just downloading torrent links that a lot of people have already downloaded and uploaded, or have been around for a long time. The logic is that nobody uploads a virus-infected torrent file, so the file is uncommon and no one downloads. Be wary of old torrents and only 1.2 people download.
• When looking for torrent files, look for files with multiple downloads for faster download speeds. When searching for torrents, you can sort the results by download by clicking on the downloads column above.
• You can leave the torrent software running overnight when you're not using your computer, or turn off the software and shut down the computer to save energy. Most torrent software have an option to Start with your computer and you can disable this option by opening the "Run" dialog box in the Start menu and typing msconfig.
• You can set an option in your web browser to download a fixed directory, then using the option on your torrent client, enable the torrent to automatically download the folder of your choice. This way, the torrent is downloaded automatically.
• Most torrent programs allow the download to be automatically resumed when you turn on your computer. If the download does not start automatically, you can enable the download option by right-clicking the file and selecting it Begin or by a button in the software.

Warning

• Update anti-virus program. Software downloaded from an unknown source on the Internet can carry a malicious virus. There are many free antivirus programs out there like Microsoft Security Essentials, AVG, and Avast. If your computer has viruses, remove them.
• In most countries, using torrents to download copyrighted material is against the law.
• Downloading torrents can slow down your computer. Specifications vary by software, but you need a computer with an average RAM of 512MB and a CPU of 1GHz. You also need space on your computer to save the file.
• In certain jurisdictions it is illegal to download content over a p2p peer-to-peer network like BitTorrent.
• As with any bandwidth-intensive application, make sure you are aware of the amount of data you transmit if your ISP is a quota system (90GB / 1 month). Remember that the torrents that have finished downloading need to be uploaded (for others) when you run the torrent, you may exceed your ISP quota.
• Downloading torrents is a bandwidth-consuming activity, disapproved by some ISPs, causing the download to slow down and sometimes completely stop. Traffic encryption can solve this problem, but it may not be effective in certain situations.