The first
things you need to know about using Bit Torrent:
-- Bit Torrent is aimed at broadband users (or
any connection better than dialup).
-- Sharing is highly appreciated, and sharing
is what keeps bit torrent alive.
-- A bit torrent file (*.torrent) contains information
about the piece structure of the download (more
on this later)
-- The method of downloading is not your conventional
type of download. Since downloads do not come
in as one
big chunk, you are able to download from many
people at once, increasing your download speeds.
There may be
100 "pieces" to a file, or 20,000+ pieces,
all depending on what you're downloading. Pieces
are usually small (under 200kb)
-- The speeds are based upon people sharing as
they download, and seeders. Seeders are people
who constantly
share in order to keep torrents alive. Usually
seeders are on fast connections (10mb or higher).
In this tutorial, I will be describing it all
using a bit torrent client called Azureus. This
client is used to decode the .torrent files into
a useable format to download from other peers.
From here on out, I will refer to Bit Torrent
as BT.
Which BT client you use, is purely up to you.
I have tried them all, and my personal favorite
is Azureus for many reasons. A big problem with
most BT clients out there, is that they are extremely
CPU intensive, usually using 100% of your cpu
power during the whole process. This is the number
one reason I use Azureus. Another, is a recently
released plug-in that enables you to browse all
current files listed on suprnova.org (the #1 source
for torrent downloads).
Before you use the plug-in, take a look at http://www.suprnova.org,
and browse the files. Hold your mouse over the
links, and you'll notice every file ends in .torrent.
This is the BT file extension. Usually, .torrent
files are very small, under 200kb. They contain
a wealth of information about the file you want
to download. A .torrent file can contain just
1 single file, or a a directory full of files
and more directories. But regardless, every download
is split up into hundreds or thousands of pieces.
The pieces make it much easier to download at
higher speeds. Back to suprnova.org. Look at the
columns:
Added | Name | Filesize | Seeds | DLs (and a
few more which aren't very useful.)
I'll break this down.
Added: Self explanitory, its the date the torrent
was added.
Name: Also self explanitory.
Filesize: Duh
Seeds: This is how many people are strictly UPLOADING,
or sharing. These people are the ones that keep
.torrent files alive. By "alive", I
mean, if there's no one sharing the .torrent file,
no one can download.
DLs: This is how many people currently downloading
that particular torrent. They also help keep the
torrent alive as they share while they download.
It's always best to download using a torrent
that has a decent amount of seeders and downloaders,
this way you can be assured there's a good chance
your download will finish. The more the better.
Now that you should understand how torrent files
work, and how to use them, on to Azureus!
First, get JAVA! You need this to run Azureus,
as java is what powers it. Get Java here: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html
Next, get Azureus at: http://azureus.sourceforge.net
Next, get the Suprnovalister plugin from http://s93732957.onlinehome.us/storage/suprnovalister.jar
Install Java JRE before you do ANYTHING.
Install Azureus, and then in the installation
folder, create 2 more folders. ./Plugins/suprnovalister
(For example, if you installed Azureus to C:\PROGRAM
FILES\AZUREUS, create C:\PROGRAM FILES\AZUREUS\PLUGINS\SUPRNOVALISTER).
Next, put the suprnovalister.jar file that you
downloaded, in that folder.
Load up Azureus, and if you want, go through
the settings and personalize it.
The tab labeled "My Torrents" is the
section of Azureus you need the most often. That
lists all your transfers, uploads and downloads.
It shows every bit of information you could possibly
want to know about torrents you download.
In the menu bar, go to View > Plugins >
Suprnova Lister. This will open up a new tab in
Azureus. Click on "Update Mirror". This
will get a mirror site of suprnova.org containing
all current torrent files available. Once a mirror
is grabbed, choose a category from the drop-down
box to the left and click "Update".
Wah-lah, all the available downloads appear in
the main chart above. Just double click a download
you want, and bang its starting to download. Open
the "My Torrents" tab again to view
and make sure your download started.
After your download has finished, be nice, and
leave the torrent transferring. So people can
get pieces of the file from you, just as you got
pieces from other people.
Alternatively, if you don't want to use the plugin...
you can just head to suprnova.org and download
files to any folder. Then go to File > Open
> .torrent File in Azureus.
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