Torrents

[Nick M]

I've often seen people here discussing torrents and all the wonderful, rare, and esoteric goodies they have downloaded in this form. Would someone be kind enough to post a kind of "Torrents for Dummies" guide (or a link to one) here? e.g. which software would you recommend, which sites, any tips and tricks?

thanks in advance

[Andy Wilson]

basically, a torrent is just a format such that a piece of siftware can stream the original file to your machine despite breaks in connection, etc. - useful for downloading big files - movies, the triple DVD VDGG live bootleg you fancy, etc.

try this client: http://www.bittorrent.com/nowplaying?csrc=splash

[adrian gilbert]

I suppose an essential point is that it involves a number of hard-drives around the world sharing selected contents - the stuff is coming from other users, perhaps several who may have partially downloaded different bits, rather than a giant server somewhere. That being the case, security was an initial concern of mine but I think the more communal sites populated by fans are safer. You do need protection from trojans and the like if you go looking in less savoury places

[adrian gilbert]

hi Nick

I'm not the best person to explain this because I know so little about it - but I can work the downloading side of things as shoe-boxes of cds & stuffed hard -drives would prove. I tend to use Dimeadozen & Zomb - both are music (mainly audio, but some video) trading communities. You have to register to join & downloading privileges are maintained by keeping an acceptable download/upload ratio. Now, I've yet to post anything myself, but you can be re-uploading bits of what you're downloading automatically & keeping it available on your hard-drive while others still want it helps.

there are other sites, but some are dealing in pirated gear - cracked software, films or a dvd's worth of someone's back catalogue in mps. Dimeadozen is moderated - they're really hot on no officially released material or even boots from artists that object to trading (ie. Hawkwind! - read Brock) - some uploads will have tracks listed as being on the tape/bootleg but omitted because they have turned up on some boxset collection.

I use BitTorrent - seems easy enough to use and is free to download, though donations welcome. You need to check release number for Dime, as it has, or had, issues with the newer version

[Nick M]

Thanks, both of you- I think I always imagine these things to be more complex than they really are. I just downloaded BitTorrent and tried to grab something I was after but the ETA was over a week so I gave up. Still, I can see how to use it in principle.

Adrian- how long, or how many attempts, did it take you to get onto dimeadozen?

Andy- "...the triple DVD VDGG live bootleg you fancy.." - am I so transparent? (apparently yes).

[adrian gilbert]

the ETA can vary depending on who else is online & if it takes over a week it doesn't matter - you don't have to do anything but let it run in the background

I tried twice with Dime - the second, I just continued applying at intervals until it worked, which I don't think took that long

[Alan Holmes]

I had to try about 10 times before succeeding, but all within less than an hour - the trick is to just be persistant

[jake shields]

Hi Nick - you can take the ETA with a pinch of salt - a lot of factors come into play - here are a few random thoughts
1. Seeders - i.e. people who have the stuff you want either in complete form or just some "bits" you need - don't necessarilly leave their computers on 24 hours a day. If you go to bed and leave yours downloading a torrent - you may be surprised to find someone somewhere on the other side of the world has gotten up in the morning and turned on their computer and you have what you need.
2. Some people do not seed until they have the complete file so your upload rate will be very low - depending on your software you may be able to see what %age of the file each leecher has and how close they are to becoming a seeder. Very often you will see a bunch of seeders reach 100% and suddenly your download speed surges.
3. Another thing you might want to consider - some torrent communities will ban you if your download/upload ratio is poor - I try to seed until 110% at least so I have a cushion for larger downloads .
4. One strategy I have employed is to download something I dont particularly like just because I know a lot of people will want it - eg U2s latest album or an episode of Coronation Street. This can help keep a healthy ratio - and on some sites gives you privileges like no waiting to download new torrents.

[Nick M]

Thanks everyone. I did wonder whether to just leave it trickling away in the background but I still feel a little jumpy about the security issues, though I guess the reputable sites shouldn't have much of a problem.

Jake- thanks for the tips. A great percentage of what I saw on the BitTorrent site fell into the category of "things I don't like but lots of other people would", so I can see that's a good cunning plan.

[adrian gilbert]

I may have done Mr Brock a disservice here as I have since read that it was Alan Davey objecting. Anyway, thanks are due to the band for lifting the ban & I trust all those interested are enjoying the recent flood of Hawkwind recordings

[Glyn Balmer]

Hi Nick. Further to earlier replies, I use Azureus as my client and mainly torrentleech.org for the torrents. Most download sites operate on the premise of maintaining a certain upload/download ratio which can determine wait times, numbers of permissible downloads etc. I have a slight advantage in that (coincidentally) the site from whom I purchase the webspace for my son's website is affiliated with torrentleech thus affording me VIP status which means unlimited downloads, no wait times etc. This, coupled with my being with the only UK provider with no download limits (Virgin), and a nice (up to) 20Mb wide-mouthed frog broadband connection, has allowed me to download some 1.26TB (that's terabytes - i.e. 1.26 thousand megabytes) since approximately March 2006. I mainly download the US TV series then provide them to friends and family. Regards

[Nick M]

Thanks Glyn... since starting this thread I have taken my first stumbling steps into torrenting, found a few nice bits and pieces, though ever since I discovered music blogs, and now torrents, I've been downloading more than I can listen to, so I'm trying to be more restrained about it now.

I'm sure people here must be aware of the Pirate Bay site- thoughts? Clearly it breaks every single code of honour about only making available stuff that isn't otherwise in print or online- you can, for example, download 36 (yes, 36) Peter Hammill albums as a single torrent- how can this be defensible (no, I didn't do it)? On the other hand, I found the odd thing I hadn't expected to ever find anywhere. And are there safety issues with the site I wonder?

[Andy Wilson]

any safety issues are to do with possible viruses and trojans that can occasionally be embedded in applications, etc. This has happened to me in the past. Make sure that you are using good anti-virus and spyware monitoring software. AVG anti-virus sware is free and excellent.