Torrenting

see also BT clients

Intro

Bittorrent is a peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol, a set of rules that describe one method for programs and applications to receive files from and distribute files to many computers.

BitTorrent is also a program developed by Bittorrent, Inc. It follows the BitTorrent protocol and can be used to download data through the use of *.torrent files.

Please note that the program BitTorrent is completely safe. Its the way that some people use it that makes it unsafe. << To be edited and improved later >>

How to install BitTorrent

<< Will write a little intro about what this is about later >>

Downloading BitTorrent

To install BitTorrent on your computer you first have to go to BitTorrent website. Click on the Free Download button to start downloading the program. If you do not see a file download window or if the download doesn't start after a long time, look at the next screen and search for the text "If your download does not start after a few seconds, click here." and then click on the blue highlighted text. After that click on the run button if you want the program to install right after its done downloading, or click on save if you wish to install it later.

!! Note: Windows Vista users might get around 3 pop-ups stating if you really REALLY trust the program. The program is safe, its what you download with it that MAY be unsafe, also torrents on BakaBT are tested and safe. !!

Installing BitTorrent

On the first screen that you get with BitTorrent there will be the option "Next" and "Cancel". Just click on next here if you want to continue or cancel if you don't want to install it anymore. On the next screen click "Next" You'll see a "Licence Agreement page" now, it just states that you can't mess around with the program, nothing of interest really. Just click on "I Agree".

Now you'll see a page in which the installation location is written. Usually the location that they say is okay, if you aren't sure that the location is correct, contact someone (not the people at BakaBT) that knows your computer and ask them if the location is correct. Just click "Next" if the location is okay.

You'll now see a page in which you can say what the start menu folder is called, if you don't change it the folder name will be "BitTorrent" which is just fine i think. Click "Next" to continue.

Now you'll come to a page with some random options. If you don't know what they are just click all the boxes off. They aren't needed for BitTorrent and are basically useless. After your done selecting what you want installed optionally, or what you don't want to have installed optionally, click on "Install" to have BitTorrent installed. Once BitTorrent has been installed you'll be asked if you want to create a shortcut of BitTorrent on the Desktop and if you want to run the program. It's a good idea to let it create a desktop shortcut to BitTorrent, this way you'll find the program faster instead of having to look all over your computer for the startign button. Once you've selected what you want click on "Finish" and your copy of BitTorrent will be installed!

After you've installed BitTorrent it will ask if you want to set it as the default torrent program. Deciding if you want to use it for all your torrents in entirely up to you.

BitTorrent basics

In this section I will explain some of the basic functions of BitTorrent (the program).

Downloading

Now that BitTorrent has been installed you, ofcourse, want to start downloading. To download a torrent on BakaBT, first go to the page with what you want to download. There click the green button with the download mark to download the torrent file. A torrent file is a file containing all the information required to download the actual file, so this basicly means that it isn't the actual file, its the way to get the actual file.

After downloading the torrent file click on open and BitTorrent will give you some options to change. This is basicly where to save the file and which parts you want to download. You can change the options if you want, but generally its set okay. Now that all is set just click "OK" and your download will start.

Download and Upload

When you download something off a site, like a document, you download. But to download something, someone has to upload something aswell, here is a basic description of what downloading and uploading is:

- Downloading is the act of receiving data from other computers to your computer.

- Uploading is the act of sending data on your computer to other computers.

Downloading

When you have the main screen of BitTorrent open you can see several things at the bottom, first thing you'll see there is DHT, this stands for Distributed hash table, if you wonder what it is then click the link.

The next thing you'll see is a "D:" with some values behind and after that a "T:" with a value behind it, the "D:" is your current downloading speed whereas the "T:" is what you've downloaded since the when you turned on BitTorrent. If you right click on this section you'll get a list with speeds, ranging from 25 kb/s to 1000 kb/s. This is to set the maximum speed at which you want to download. It is important to remember this, seeing as a high download speed (at maximum) can cripple your internet speed, basicly think pages loading in 1 minute instead of 1 second.

Uploading

Next we have the "U:" and its "T:". This is your upload speed with the total amount you uploaded since you last started BitTorrent. If you right click here you also get a list of speeds you can choose from. When you set your upload speed very high it can also have a negative effect on your internet speed.