Torrent files are treated differently than downloading a "normal" file, such as a .mp3 or .rar file. Instead of downloading from one source, a torrent file is downloaded from multiple sources that piece together one large file. This makes it nearly impossible to track the source of the file because one file could contain tens of thousands of "seeders", basically another term for sharing sources.
Torrents hold a few distinct advantages over straight file downloading from a website.
1) They are all 100% free and there's NO LIMIT on downloads (unlike other free file hosting websites)
2) Since torrents are downloaded through a BitTorrent client software, there is the advantage of the "set it and forget it" method of downloading, meaning that you can have a list of 10 movies you want to download and when one finishes, the next one starts automatically.
3) Popular torrents (ones with thousands of seeders) download much faster than downloading from a website. For example, a popular CD may only take 30 seconds to download via BitTorrent while downloading from albumwash.com would normally take 10 minutes.
4) Torrent files can hold much larger amounts of data than file hosting websites. Most file hosting websites are limited to 100mb's at a time so for a large file, like an HD movie, you would have to download 20 separate files in order to get the full movie. Torrents are not limited in size so you can download the full movie with 1 file.
Downloading a Torrent file is fairly easy once you get the Torrent client downloaded and installed. There are many Torrent clients out there but one of the most recommended is considered to be uTorrent found here.
Once uTorrent is installed, you now need a Torrent file to download. For this example, I will walk you through downloading a CD as an alternate to the previous albumwash.com post. There are numerous Torrent search websites, but the one I use the most frequently and with the best results is btjunkie.org. In the search bar, simply type in what you are looking for and, for an example, I will search for Jay-Z and Kanye West Watch The Throne.
The search is automatically sorted by the amount of seeders the Torrent has; the more seeders there are, the faster it should download. The first item on the list is "Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch the Throne (Deluxe Version)". Your search results should look like this:
There are 2 ways to download the Torrent file:
1) Click on the file itself and it will take you to another page where you can see user comments telling you if the file is legitimate or not and also, at the bottom of the page, it will show you the contents of what you are downloading. When you are positive you want to download this file, click on "Download Torrent" at the top and the torrent file will download.
2) OR Click on the little downward arrow icon next to the file on the search page and it will automatically download if you don't need to verify user comments and all that jazz.
You'll notice the file you just downloaded was very small (roughly 15kbs). This is the .torrent extension file that the Torrent client software will use to gather all of the information needed to download your files from the available seeders.
In order to initiate the download, open the small torrent file you just downloaded. This should automatically launch uTorrent and a pop-up box should now be visible. This is where you can select or deselect any of the files you are about to download (they are all selected by default). I typically uncheck any of the files that aren't the songs themselves. I don't need the album art or any other frills that may be put in the files, but some people like to download everything and it's up to you. Since I'm downloading audio tracks, I simply uncheck anything that doesn't end in .mp3.
The top part of the box shows you the location of the file once it's downloaded. It is automatically set to your default folder location that you can change in the preferences. Once you are satisfied that you are downloading the right files to the right place, click "OK" and you will see your download on torrent client software. It takes a few seconds for the download to start and get up to speed so don't be alarmed if it's connecting for a minute or so, but highly-seeded files should start rather quickly.
Once the completion % column reaches 100%, you can either leave the file in the software client to help continue seeding, or right click on the name of the file and go to "remove" (DO NOT click "remove and delete data" because you will delete what you just downloaded). Now go to your download folder and your files should be waiting there patiently in their entirety.
Like I mention before, the client software gives you the ability to download multiple torrents at one time and also "Que" torrents to start when one finishes so you can have multiple CDs or movies in uTorrent waiting to download and then start automatically so you don't have to watch and manually start each download when one completes.
If you have any questions on this tutorial or any other tutorials in our blog, feel free to comment below.
BitLord is the most banned client there is. If this site recommends it, it is a unsafe site. Exit immediately and clear your browser.
ReplyDelete*an unsafe site.
ReplyDeleteI updated the post to include uTorrent as the torrent client for you to download. The previous poster is correct, do not download BitLord, use uTorrent instead. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
ReplyDeleteI thought I was seeing things, I went back to read the blog post and there it was....uTorrent.
ReplyDeleteVery good and very correct, you really can't go wrong. Confidence restored.