Torrenting is becoming a common task in today’s ever changing world especially with more and more users wanting to download the latest movies, music, games and software. However, average or novice users are still having a hard time in operating torrents. Here’s a simple guide which covers most of the basics in torrenting. The bit torrent software I use for this guide is uTorrent, my personal favorite and personally the best on the market! It’s light weight, fast and doesn’t take up much resources unlike other torrent clients.

What is Torrenting?

Torrenting is a peer-to-peer sharing protocol which became popular back in 2002. Torrenting allows users to download and share data with each other with the use of a web server. The user’s connection and hardware will be used to distribute and download the desired file.

The protocol works when a file provider initially makes his/her file (or group of files) available to the network. This is called a seed and allows others, named peers, to connect and download the file. Each peer that downloads a part of the data makes it available to other peers to download. After the file is successfully downloaded by a peer, many continue to make the data available, becoming additional seeds. This distributed nature of BitTorrent leads to a viral spreading of a file throughout peers. As more peers join the swarm, the likelihood of a successful download increases. – Wikipedia

Read More to learn about Torrenting!

1. Download the LLVLord TCP/IP Patch

Windows XP began limiting the number of internet and network connections to 10. Thus, you would need to download this patch (its safe and virus free) and apply it to your Windows XP operating system. Use the LLVLord patch to change the limit to around 50, however, not more than 100.

Note: Install this patch every time you update your XP operating system as some patches tend to revert to the default setting of 10. Simply apply the patch.

Once the patch is done installing, please restart the computer in order for the settings to take affect.

Note: If you’re using Windows Vista please read this article.

2. Download uTorrent

Install the latest version of uTorrent. I’m currently using uTorrent 1.8.1 for this guide.

3. Speed Test

Before running uTorrent go to Speedtest and check the speed of your current internet connection. This is an important step as you would have to configure your uTorrent client to the right settings.

Once the website loads the map will automatically select a location as the recommended test server – a golden star will be the recommended server. In this case, my recommended server is located in the Philippines, Makati. Click it and leave it for a minute or two to figure out the speed of your current connection.

Note: During the speed test make sure you’re internet activity is to a minimum in order to get the best results.

4. Setting a Port

Firewall Settings

uTorrent will randomly choose a port number for both your TCP and UDP connections. For instance, uTorrent chose a port number of 12300 for my uTorrent client.

If you happen to have a firewall installed such as Zone Alarm or even the Windows XP Firewall make sure you put an exception to 12300 for both TCP and UDP.

Router Settings

If you have a router installed make sure you forward the port (in my case 12300). Portforward explains how to easily forward port on every type of router available on the market. Moreover, if you router has the ability to automatically port forward via UPnP port mapping then enable it. You wouldn’t need to waste your time in manually forwarding the port.

Finally test the port with uTorrent’s “Test Port” feature.

5. uTorrent Preferences

Speed Guide

Finally load up uTorrent and go to the Speed Guide Window (Options > Speed Guide).

Select the right connection. In my case mine is set at: xxx/512k (xxx meaning unlimited download speed while 512K is the upload rate).

Connection

Go to Options > Preferences and select Connection in the sidebar.

Make sure you have these settings below:

Bandwidth

My settings will differ as compared to your connection’s settings. You should leave these settings on default. However, the only thing you need to worry about here is the Global Upload Rate which should be set to 60% of your current upload rate. I set mine at 30KB/s as it roughly at the 60% mark of my maximum upload rate of 70KB/s

Queuing

You can leave these settings on default, however, it’s better to leave only 1 active download running. That’s just my preference.

Advanced

Since we changed the number of connections to 50 with the LLVLord patch we would need to set the same value in uTorrent. Scroll down and look for net.max_halfopen and set the value to 50 and click set

General Settings

Finally, click General and make sure you “associate .torrent files” to uTorrent.

If you followed all these steps then you’re ready to join the torrent bandwagon and enjoy a few pre-released software or watch the latest movies

Here’s a typical example of download a Torrent File:

Browse through a torrent directory. I recommend the following:

MiniNova
PirateBay

In this example we’re going to be using MiniNova to download the latest Ubuntu 9.04 operating system (I had to use a legal torrent for this guide)

Once you’re done searching your particular file, make sure you select the torrent with highest amount of seeders as this will determine the speed of your download. The higher number of seeders the faster your download will be. Seeders are the number of people who successfully completed the download and are sharing the file to other users. Peers are those who are still downloading the file and at the same time sharing bits of data to other users.

As soon as you click download you’ll be presented with the “Add New Torrent” window. You can simply change your location to where your download will be saved, simply click OK and you’ll be on your way.

Enjoy torrenting!

If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section of this post!

Related Posts

• The Pirate Bay sold for $8 Million Dollars
• The End of Torrenting
• Farkie: Download Youtube and MySpace material
• Bye Bye Microsoft Office 2000
• Get Windows Vista SP2
• Stream Torrent: Torrenting and TV
• Office 2010 Preview
• British DVD Family Pirates get jailed
• Google’s Operating System: Google Chrome OS
• July 13 – Windows 7’s Final Build