Today, downloading any type of content from the Internet using torrents is more popular than ever. Most users prefer this type of download because of the very fast loading of content, the speed of which exceeds that available in Downloaders at times. But for the information to download quickly and without problems, you need to know how to use the torrent correctly. Some users mistakenly believe that in this respect everything is ridiculously simple, while forgetting to pay attention to some nuances that, based on untrained users, will be further considered.
What are torrents and torrent trackers?
Before proceeding to consider the basic issues related to how to use torrent on a PC or on a mobile device, we should briefly dwell on some theoretical information. The torrent itself in terms of an information unit is a file with the extension .torrent, which contains information about all the components that are present in the distribution. That is, the most downloaded content in it is completely absent (usually the sizes of files of this type do not exceed several tens of kilobytes).
All the information described by the torrent file is on the tracker - the Internet resource from which the download is made. But! Content is not downloaded from the site itself, but from user machines that are currently in the distribution. Thus, a torrent file can be represented as an intermediary between a special downloader program and computers of other users on the Internet on which information is downloaded either fully or partially.
Content Download Principle
Speaking about how to use torrent, for "dummies" it is worth noting the principles of downloading themselves. For this, so-called peer-to-peer networks (peer-to-peer or P2P) are used. Downloading in such networks is fundamentally different from ordinary processes that use stationary servers (mirrors) on which information is stored.
Downloading is possible only subject to the possibility of access to content on other computers. The more they are currently on the network, the higher the download speed. And this applies equally to all users who download files to their terminals or mobile devices, because as they download, information from their devices becomes available for download by other users. That is why peer-to-peer networks are also called file-sharing (not to be confused with stationary file-sharing).
Sides and Lychees
Now you should pay attention to two main criteria that you need to consider when choosing a download - seed and lychee, which are combined into a group of peers or, roughly speaking, user devices involved in the file-sharing process.
Sides are understood as users who have computers that are currently actively distributing fully loaded onto computers. Lich include those users who have downloaded information only partially. Upon reaching the full load volume, they automatically go into the discharge category. By the way, sometimes people are meant by unscrupulous users who, having completely downloaded the contents of the torrent, leave the distribution (are disconnected), because the unwritten principle of any tracker is: “I downloaded it myself - let it be another one’s download”. Thus, speaking about how to use the torrent, it should be noted that without the presence of active distributions, you won’t be able to download the desired content, unless you use forced download, which will be discussed separately. Next, let's move on to practical actions.
Torrent for "dummies": how to use trackers?
To begin with, you should decide on which resource the information of interest to the user will be searched. There are a lot of them on the Internet now. Immediately pay attention to the moment that some resources can be blocked at the state level, since almost all trackers with torrents belong to resources distributing pirated content, which violates international acts on the protection of intellectual property rights. However, our users have never been embarrassed by such questions.
So how to use torrent? To do this, search in any search engine to download the necessary information, for example, a movie. In the request, you can specify the clarification as to whether the link should be specifically to the torrent. When it finds a suitable site, as a rule, you will be asked to register. The procedure is purely nominal and, by and large, concerns only confirmation of registration upon receipt of an email. But why register? Yes, only to be able to download the torrent file itself, which is simply inaccessible on the site in an inactive state.
Let's see how to use a torrent to download movies. On the tracker, simply enter the name of the movie in the search bar and wait for the results to appear.
For convenience, they can be immediately sorted by distribution with the largest number of seeds and lychees. After entering the distribution you are interested in, you need to download the torrent file, a link to which will be presented at the bottom of the page, saving it on a computer or mobile device under an arbitrary name. After that, the file will need to be opened in the client program.
How to use torrent: instructions for the client program
But which program to prefer? The most popular today are BitTorrent and uTorrent applications. In terms of functionality, they do not differ much among themselves. In practical terms, such utilities are simple. When you double-click on a file, it automatically opens in the corresponding program, and after checking and connecting to peers , the download starts.
In the field of the highlighted active download, you can see the scale of content accessibility and the degree of download to the user computer. But how to use the torrent so that the downloaded information is downloaded as quickly as possible?
To do this, select the desired load (s) and through the RMB menu select the priority of speed with the value "High". Please note that when you activate downloads in a torrent application, the speed of Internet access can significantly decrease, and sites will open for a very long time (or even not open at all). In addition, another point is related to the fact that if there are several simultaneous downloads, the speed is distributed between all of them. Therefore, if you want to download information as quickly as possible, do not set too many active downloads. In addition, each user should understand that as soon as a torrent file is opened in the program and the download becomes active, a folder or archive is created on the hard disk in the location selected for saving the content (if automatic unpacking is not installed), which will correspond to the size of the total volume of downloaded content (and not accumulate it as you download). The real size can be found only when the active download stops.
What to look for in the basic settings?
The number of downloads can be limited in the settings of the client application, which allows even when launching torrent files that exceed the maximum possible number of active processes, mark them as pending downloads and automatically start as they stop or delete completely, rather than completing others. Upon completion, the download will be in the distribution stage, which is also considered its active state.
You can also set restrictions in the distribution, but usually the parameters set by default in any program can not be changed (speed limits are set to zero, and the traffic limit is not used). Separately, pay attention to the port installed for the connection (for example, 13013).
If the connection through it does not work, you should press the button for generating a new port and after saving the options, to be sure, restart the program. In some cases, it may be necessary to forward the required port on the router, but, as a rule, everything works like that.
The nuances of the main operations in the torrent program
Now a few words about how to use torrent on a phone or on a computer device in terms of basic operations. To manage downloads, you can pause, resume, stop, add, delete, etc. Note that if you exit the program if there are active downloads, when you restart the application, the download will start automatically, but only after checking the downloaded computer and Internet content available torrent. Therefore, do not be surprised that in the absence of distribution, the download may not resume.
Force download
In this case, you can set the forced download mode. But here you need to understand that it is suitable only at low speed or with a minimum number of distributors.
If there is no one at the hand, nothing will work. Also, this mode can be activated in the presence of a large number of distributions from your computer, which for some reason you do not want to stop.
Preview torrent contents
Finally, let's figure out how to use the torrent on the “Android” or on the PC in terms of using the preview functions. Typically, this mode is used for multimedia content, when you can listen to music tracks or view movie fragments, either during the download process or at the end of it. The thing is very useful. It allows you to remove the download in time if, for example, the quality of the user's movie is not satisfactory.
Computer Security Issues
How to use a torrent is a little clear. In the end, it remains to add that it is the torrent trackers according to statistics that contain the largest number of viruses on the Internet. Therefore, initially check both the torrent file itself and the downloadable content folder, as well as the link itself to the desired download page on the tracker with anti-virus software.