Everything is on the Internet – movies, TV, music, programs, books, photos, and more. If you want it, it's easy to get. There are many ways to download all of them for free, and Torrent data stream is arguably the most popular way to do this.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Downloading Torrent Files
Step 1. Look for a torrent tracker website
There are various websites that display torrent files. Some of them are more reliable than others. There are two main types of torrent trackers, namely public trackers and private trackers.
- Public tracker is available to everyone. These are the sites you will find when you search the internet for torrent trackers. Due to their public nature, many torrents are tracked by copyright owners, and downloading them could result in action from your Internet service provider.
- Private tracker requires an invite. These sites cannot be accessed until you are invited by another member. They often have conditions, such as having to share as much as what you have downloaded. Private trackers are less likely to get a termination letter from the copyright owner.
Step 2. Find the file you want
Most public trackers have new shows, movies, albums, and games available, as well as old, popular files.
Use the popular quick search to find the file you want. For example: if you need the second episode of the third season for a show, search for it with s03e02
Step 3. Download a torrent that has a lot of users
Your speed at downloading a torrent file is determined by the number of “seeders” there are. Seeders are torrent users who already have the entire file available for download.
- Most torrent sites allow you to sort search results by number of seeders. Look for files with a large number of seeders. Not only will you be able to download faster, but it's also less likely that the file is fake or infected with a computer virus.
- The number of leechers will also affect your download speed. Leecher is a user currently downloading, and is not a seeder. Leecher will become a seeder when the file is fully downloaded. If the number of leechers is much more than the seeder, then the number of data streams you receive will be smaller, resulting in slower download speeds.
Step 4. Consider choosing a torrent between size and quality
This is especially important for video files. Because video compression can affect quality, a smaller file can have a poorer picture and sound than the same video at a larger size.
- On the other hand, downloading large files may take longer, depending on your connection speed.
- Read as many comments as you can to determine if other users feel that the file is of good quality and worth downloading. Some torrent trackers have a rating system that allows users to vote on whether the file is good or not.
Step 5. Download magnet link if available
This file is slightly different from the standard torrent file. This file matches the content with a unique identifier which can then be accessed without the need for a torrent tracker center. A magnet link is a simple line of text, and you don't need to download a torrent file.
Step 6. Make sure that you can run the contents
Torrents can be used to send all kinds of files. Because of this, you may not know the type of the file you are downloading. Read the file description and make sure that you have the necessary programs to run the file once you download it.
- VLC Player is a free and open-source media player that can play almost any type of media file you download.
- An ISO file is a disc image (the contents of a disc in a specially formatted file), and must be burned (transferred to a disc) or mounted (linked) to a virtual drive in order to run.
Step 7. Watch out for viruses
Because torrents are often a legal gray area (hard to tell right or wrong), there is no control over the types of files available. This means hackers can attach viruses to torrents that they hope to spread to other users. Viruses are often embedded in torrent content in popular searches in order to get as many victims as possible.
- Check every file you download for viruses.
- Try downloading files that have been released by sources that the torrent community can trust.
- Always check comments and ratings to see if anyone else has had a virus attack from the contents of that torrent.
Method 2 of 3: Getting Content
Step 1. Install the torrent program
The BitTorrent protocol allows you to exchange or share data over the Internet. No central server is involved; data is downloaded from another user (seeder). You need an application program that will connect to the seeder and manage the download process. There are several programs available free on the internet. Some of the popular programs are:
- Torrent
- Vuze
Step 2. Open the torrent file
Torrent files that you download from torrent tracking sites are very small, usually only a few KB in size. This file does not contain the content you downloaded. This file only acts as a guide for downloading parts of the file from other users. Use the BitTorrent program you installed in the previous step to open the torrent file.
Your torrent program should be set to open torrent files automatically. If your program doesn't, you can drag the torrent file into the program window to add it to the download queue
Step 3. Set the download location
Depending on how your torrent program is set up, you may be asked where you want your download to be when you open a torrent file. Choose a location you can remember.
Step 4. View the download process
You can see the progress of the download process in the torrent program. In most programs, you'll also be able to see how many seeders you're connected to. The torrent program will automatically attempt to download at the highest speed your Internet connection can provide.
- Downloading multiple files at once will slow down the download speed of each file.
- If you don't want to use the entire data bandwidth (maximum data transfer capability) for the download process, right-click the torrent program and select "Bandwidth Allocation" (the text may vary depending on the program you use). From here you can limit the download and upload speeds. This is useful if you want to get the movie stream (data stream in order from the beginning of the movie) as the file is downloaded.
Step 5. Add more trackers to the torrent
If you're having trouble connecting to multiple seeders to download files, you can try adding more trackers to the torrent. Don't do this if you are using a private tracker because you could be penalized.
- Search the internet for a list of active trackers. There are several websites that have a list of active torrent trackers. Copy that tracker list to your clipboard.
- Right-click on the torrent in your torrent program. Select "Properties" from the menu.
- Select the "General" tab. You will see a list of trackers in a box (there could be only one). Copy (from the clipboard) the list you copied into the box. You need a blank line between each tracker you enter. Click "OK" and the torrent will automatically try to contact the new tracker list.
Step 6. Access the downloaded content
Once the download is complete, you can use the file you downloaded as you normally would. If you move or delete files, you may lose the ability to become a seeder.
You cannot use the file until it is finished downloading. For example, you can't watch a video file until it's finished downloading (unless you're using streaming). This is because the file is downloaded in separate sections and the parts of the file are not downloaded sequentially
Method 3 of 3: Sharing Torrent File Contents
Step 1. Share the contents of the torrent (seed) after you finish downloading
Once you have finished downloading the contents of the torrent file, you will automatically become a seeder. This means that you are uploading data to other users who are connected to the torrent tracker.
Sharing torrent content (seeding) is what keeps the torrent community alive. Without seeder, no one can download files
Step 2. Maintain a good ratio
If you use a private community, you are most likely expected to maintain a positive ratio with that community. This means that you should be uploading at least as much as you are downloading.
Step 3. Let your torrent program run in the background
Most Internet service plans have slower upload speeds than download speeds. This means that uploading to maintain your ratio will take longer than downloading the same amount. Keep your torrenting program running in the background while you perform your various daily tasks, and you will see your total uploads increase considerably.
Running torrent programs in the background shouldn't have much effect on web browsing or on word processing programs. More intensive application programs such as streaming video and playing online games will run more smoothly if the torrent program is turned off first
Tips
- It is always a good thing to choose to download torrents that have a large number of users. This means only downloading torrents that other people have downloaded and uploaded, or have been active for a long time. The logic is that no one will share the contents of a torrent that has a virus in it and therefore the torrent will not be popular and will not be seeded. Be careful with torrents that are only a few weeks old with only one or two seeders.
- You can set options within your browser to download to a specific folder and set options in your torrent program so that torrents are automatically loaded from the same folder as the download location. This way, the torrent will be automatically loaded for you.
- When looking for torrent files, look for ones with multiple seeders so that the files will download faster. When performing a torrent search, you can sort the search results by number of seeders, by simply clicking on the seed column heading.
- You can leave torrent programs running all night to download when you're away from your computer, or close them and shut down your computer to save electricity. Most torrent programs have an option in "Preferences" to run automatically with your computer and this option can be turned on or off by going to "Run…" from the "Start" menu and typing msconfig.
- There are torrent search engines that search for popular torrent tracker sites. This will save you time by not having to search every site.
- Most torrent programs will resume the download process automatically when you start them again. If the download does not continue automatically, there should be an option to start the download by right-clicking the file and selecting "Start", or a button to continue downloading within the program.
Warning
- Downloading torrents can slow down your system. The recommended computer requirements for each program are different, but on average you should have at least 512 MB of RAM and a 1 GHz CPU. You will also need storage space for the files you want to save.
- In most countries it is against the law to use torrents to download copyright protected material.
- Always keep your antivirus program up to date. Programs downloaded from unknown sources on the Internet can be a hotbed of very nasty viruses. There are many free antivirus programs, as well as excellent programs like Microsoft Security Essentials, AVG, and Avast. If you have a virus, get rid of it (look for information on how to get rid of the virus).
- Just like other application programs that are intensive in using data bandwidth, make sure you know how much data you have transferred if your Internet service provider uses a quota system (eg 3 GB/month). Keep in mind that downloaded torrents will be seeded (uploaded to other users) when the torrent program is running and you may accidentally exceed your internet service provider's quota.
- Torrenting is a data-intensive bandwidth-intensive act that some Internet service providers don't like, which will cause them to try to block any torrent data traffic, slow down your download speed or even stop it altogether. Encryption of data traffic can solve this problem, but it may or may not work depending on your circumstances.
- In certain jurisdictions, it is illegal to download torrent content over peer-to-peer networks (distributed network architecture) such as BitTorrent.
