How to Download Torrent Files
Torrent files are part of a P2P (peer to peer) trading system that make transferring files from one person to another on the Internet very easy, quick, and effective.
It is important to note that torrent sharing is different from other types of P2P services, most notably Kazaa. For instance, with Kazaa, the user searches for other Kazaa users with the P2P application to see what files they are sharing. With torrent sites, the user goes to an index website that has torrent files (sometimes referred to as archives), which are files that contain the information required for a torrent client to find, manage, and download the requested file. The file has a .torrent file extension, and the basic information it contains includes the name of the file(s) that can be downloaded, the date of creation and a list of trackers (see below for more information on trackers). Every torrent file has a unique information hash, which means that no file (or set of files) will have the exact same information hash.
Torrents allow downloading a single file in many different pieces each residing on one user’s computer or a server connected to the internet. To finish the download the torrent client puts these pieces together into a complete file.
What are torrent files used for?
Because they store information about other files or sets of files, torrents are used to download these other files or sets of files. Although torrents can be used to download any type of file, the most popular uses of torrents are for downloading music or video files.
Important Terms to Know When Downloading Torrent Files
It is important to be aware of the terminology used when downloading torrent files:
Torrent Client – A client is the actual P2P sharing program and it is usually an application that is downloaded and installed on the computer to be used for sharing and downloading files. Two popular P2P clients are Azureus and UTorrent (more on these clients below). A torrent client allows users to retrieve the content that is found in torrents. The torrent simply tells the torrent client how big the file is, how many files there are, and where to download the file from.
Torrent Host - A torrent host is a website that hosts thousands or even millions of different torrents. Torrent hosts do not host the actual files that torrents represent. They simply allow users to upload, download, and search for torrents based on keywords, just like any other search engine.
Tracker – A tracker is a central server that manages file sharing among its many users. Most clients have built-in trackers. There are also specific tracking programs such as BNBT and CBTT. When the torrent file is opened by the torrent software client, the client connects to the tracker that is associated with the torrent. The tracker is responsible for managing the torrent files and tracking statistics associated with the files.
Seeder - A seed is a user who has already downloaded the entire torrent in question. Because seeds are able to upload any part of the file, torrent files download faster when the torrent client can connect to more seeds. If there are no seeders it can’t be downloaded.
Leecher - A leecher is a person that downloads a file(s) from other computers, but does not share (seed) any files of his or her own. Leeching is considered bad etiquette on P2P clients.
Swarm – A swarm is when two or more computers are simultaneously downloading and sharing the same file. Most clients allow a computer to download a file and then upload to others the parts that have already been downloaded.
Peers - A peer is a user who has downloaded part of the torrent in question but is currently still downloading. Because peers are still downloading, they are also uploading at the same time. This makes it good to connect to more peers because the file will download faster. Unfortunately, some users set their upload bandwidth low in order to maximize their download bandwidth and peers are less likely to have a specific piece of a torrent file because they have not finished downloading it themselves.
Hashlink - A hashlink is what identifies a specific torrent. Hashlinks allow users to find specific torrents no matter which torrent host they are located on. Hashlinks give the user the ability to learn more about the torrent such as user comments, seeds and peers, and user ratings. To use a hashlink, a user simply has to copy and paste it into a search engine and review the other sites that are hosting the file.
.torrent – a torrent is a file that is downloaded from an index website and sometimes referred to as an archive. It is a very small file, usually less than 25bits, that is necessary for the client to start and manage the file transfer process so that files can be downloaded.
How to Download a Torrent File
It is actually very easy to download a torrent file and it usually takes less than 15 minutes to get started.
First, download and install a torrent client. Remember the torrent client is considered the command center for P2P file sharing. Users can choose many different types of torrent sharing clients. However, two highly recommended clients are UTorrent and Azureus.
Once the torrent client is downloaded and installed, search for files to download. Users can usually visit many index websites such as Pirate Bay and Torrent Spy. Most torrent clients have a list of the best index web sites. Now, just search for the file to be downloaded. Some of these sites offer advanced searches such as the ability to search for a video file, music file, application file, or all of the above. It is usually extremely easy to locate the torrent file to be downloaded.
Once a specific file is searched for, the index website should return a list of available torrent files. Look to see which torrent files have the most seeders, this usually gives the fastest download times and highest quality files. Once the torrent file to be downloaded is found, click the download link and save it on the computer. These files are usually very small (less than 25kbits).
Now that the torrent file or archive is on the computer, double click this file and the torrent client should automatically open up. At this time, the tracker program will come online as well and will start to manage and download the file. While each client and tracker program is different, users should be able to see how many people are downloading the file, seeding and sharing, or leeching. The user should also see the downloading progress and the amount of time remaining until the file is completely downloaded.
Top P2P Torrent Clients
While there are more than a dozen P2P torrent clients available, two of the top rated P2P torrent clients are UTorrent and Azureus. Here is some more information.
UTorrent
UTorrent is actually torrent and means micro torrent. It is a freeware Bit Torrent client that works great on Windows computers. Bit Torrent’s major feature is that the entire program is only 173 Kb. This program was developed to require the least amount of computer resources and give as much functionality as possible. Although UTorrent is extremely small it has many features including Unicode support, protocol encryption, peer exchange with other UTorrent users and Azureus users (this feature goes above and beyond normal P2P, similar to chat), configurable bandwidth settings, Customizable user interface, initial seeding, and the availability of this application in 38 languages.
Azureus
Azureus is another P2P Torrent Client. It is based on Java, a programming language and supports many different anonymous protocols such as I2P and Tor. It is also a free software client and it works on many different platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, and UNIX.
One of Azureus’ key features is that it allows multiple download files from a GUI interface. It also has plenty configurable settings and useful statistics. Another great feature is that Azureus gives the ability to determine maximum upload and download speeds. Users can also view or hear files that are currently downloading, but not yet complete. This makes it easy to check the file’s quality before downloading it.
Azureus has its own tracker program so users can easily share files without uploading them to centralized sites. Azureus is considered one of the top Bit Torrent clients and has a wealth of features that are designed and integrated into the client very well. However, all these features may drain certain computer resources, so make sure Azureus is used with a fast and powerful computer.
Advantages of Bit Torrent Clients
Bit Torrent Clients are usually the fastest, most affordable, and most convenient way to share files among many users. Most Bit Torrent P2P users can find plenty files and download them with ease. With the explosion of broadband, users can easily find and download files of any size, from mp3s to large multi gigabyte video files.
Disadvantages of Bit Torrent Clients
It is important to note that Bit Torrent has a few disadvantages. One main disadvantage is that many of these applications use a tremendous amount of computer resources, allowing the computer to do little else when downloading files. Another common disadvantage is that sometimes Bit Torrent clients include adware or spyware. However, most do not so be sure to download the client from the official website and read the EULA (end user licensing agreement) to make sure there are no adware or spyware included.
What is a DHT Torrent
A DHT (Distributed Hash Table) torrent is one that uses the DHT model for peer-to-peer or P2P networking. A peer-to-peer network is one that allows users to share files by breaking each file into many small pieces, allowing a single user to download pieces of the same file from many different users at the same time. A DHT torrent works in the same way as other types of torrents in the P2P industry, but contains information that allows the user to hide files that he/she downloaded.
How DHT Torrents Work
A DHT torrent, like other types of torrents, contains data for a specific file, regardless of whether that file is an image, video, audio clip, document, or program. That data not only makes up the file itself, but is also responsible for telling a BitTorrent or P2P software what the file is, which users are sharing that file, how the pieces are divided among the available users, and how many pieces of a file have already been downloaded. Likewise, the torrent is responsible for comparing the final copy of the file to those of other users in order to ensure that the file has been downloaded properly. However, a DHT torrent differs from other types of torrents because it also contains data that identifies a particular torrent with a signature known as a “hash identifier.” A user can use a hash identifier to locate a specific torrent file on the Internet, regardless of the file name.
Applications
DHT torrents are used primarily to prevent a user’s P2P activities from being tracked by Intellectual Property Owners, who are the agencies responsible for tracking and prosecuting P2P users for copyright infringement. Most modern P2P clients use DHT torrents to mask the user from torrent trackers. DHT torrents allow users to download and upload files via a P2P network without identifying themselves or appearing in demographic statistics, such as seed ratios.
Advantages
DHT torrents are advantageous because they allow a file to be located and shared via a file’s unique hash identifier rather than its file name. Because of this, P2P networks do not need to locate the actual clients that are supporting the file, allowing the user to remain anonymous.
The Legality of Bit Torrents
It is important to note that using a Bit Torrent client is perfectly legal, however downloading certain files that include copyrighted material may not be legal in certain regions. It is important to make sure the files are legal before downloading them. Bit Torrent use is not anonymous and can be traced back to the computer. For instance, an IP address can be traced back to a computer when downloading a file in certain cases.
Due to copyright laws, the MPAA and RIAA have gone after people who download copyrighted material through torrents, college students being the group most heavily targeted.
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Ok so im an avid torrent user and have had no problems up to now…I use utorrent…I go to 4 different torrent sites (private by invitation) but the newest of the four that I use lets me put the .torrent file on utorrent and loads up, BUT,…will not start downloading unless i stop or pause the other downloads from other sites and then works perfectly. The second I unpause the others from other sites…it cuts off and doesnt even show the amount of seeds and peers????…Is this some setting in utorrent or csan anyone help please???
Thanks
Check your settings in Options > Queueing. The settings are “Maximum number of active torrents” and “Maximum number of active downloads”.
hi ,
The default location for downloading is in C drive .Buy my C drive had no enough space.So how can make the download in D drive ?
Thanks
Meera
Just select a location on the D drive when it asks you. If it doesn’t ask you check your torrent client’s preferences. You should be able to set it to ask you every time where to save the files or set the default location.
I am not the most computer literate, but i am trying to transfer music from grooveshark to my itunes. When i downloaded tunes from limewire it automatically loaded them onto itunes, does utorrent/grooveshark have the same function? what else do i need to do???
I’m not sure how do you combine Grooveshark and uTorrent, but when you download tracks with uTorrent you should be able to just import it into iTunes (File > Add to Library). It might not be automatic, but you can import entire directories so it shouldn’t be a big issue.
i am using utorrent for downloading and now i got a problem in using it…i got a movie and kept it for download..it was 90% completed and now its not downloading…..please suggest and tell me how to get rid of such problem and make it complete…….
when i download bittorrent files it says unable to save file
Check the error FAQ for bittorrent, and if you’re using uTorrent here’s one for that too. If you use something else chances are they have an FAQ too explaining the error you get or that one of the above two will work.
ok so i downloaded bus simulator game but it asks me to use a default program to open it
It’s not an .exe file then? You might have downloaded the wrong thing. I’m not sure this is related to torrents though..
thanx for the info… now i’d like help with something. my flashget downloads aren’t working and i have no idea why. any solutions.
What do you mean they’re not working? It doesn’t download them or what you download doesn’t work?
Also, I don’t think Flashget is a torrent client.
Hi. I downloaded utorrent and tried to download a movie. It saved it as a Windows Media File in the “My Downloads” file. When I try to play it back, it plays only the sound from the movie and not the video. Any suggestions?
Thanks.
Try it in VLC.
hi im using utorrent to download my torrents but everytime i try to watch whatever i downloaded on my vlc player it says to open it up with windows media player so i try that and windows media player says it cannot play the file because its either corrupt or not the right format…i thought maybe they were just fakes but it happens with every single torrent i try to watch
If it doesn’t work in VLC then I can’t imagine what else would it work with. You can try GOM Player and see if that works.
Torrent sites have a lot of crap mixed in there, including bad or corrupt files.
Hey,
I just downloaded a torrent using Utorrent, it’s completed to 100%, but the file is no where to be found. I opened the containing folder, but that just sent me to the folder for my .torrents. I checked the file path but it said nothing, so I changed it (including the option to move completed downloads) but that didn’t help. If I search for the movie on my computer I don’t find anything. I checked my C: drive, as was mentioned in a post earlier but that didn’t help either.
I guess my question is do I need to redownload this torrent with the new specifications in?
Seems like you do. I find it hard to believe it didn’t download anywhere if it said it did, unless it’s some kind of a corrupt torrent.
hi,
i been downloading torrent file for the past one day now its showing 50% but the problem is whenever i try to open the utorrent to know the percentage it has covered, it gives a message mentioning torrent is downloading but not responding what does that mean?plzzzz reply
Try reinstalling it. If that doesn’t work try scanning and cleaning your registry with a tool like Registry Mechanic.
To whom it may concern,
I downloaded Bit Torrents and a torrent file..
i opened it and it says “Downlaoding” but it never started downloading
HELLP!!!!
ok so i use uTorrent, and i went to BTJunkie and downloaded some games, so they download, finish, start seeding, finish, but then i click on the game in the uTorrent client window, it shows me the folder, but the problem is that there is no file in there to actually RUN the game, i get, for example with the Sims 3 one that i downloaded, a text document “Torrent downloaded from http://www.Demonoid.com” and an ISO image file, THATS IT, no file to start the game, the same happened with Sniper: Ghost Warrior and Sid Meier’s Pirates, i dont knwo whats wrong, if it was jsut an incomplete file, can anyone give me a link to a site with COMPLETE game torrent downloads, and if i need to create a specific new folder please help me, i am completely lost and its starting to frustrate me that i cant run the games
An ISO image file is where the game is. The ISO should be burned to a CD or DVD (not just dropped on it, but burned with a DVD burner that will unpack it onto a DVD), and you’ll get a DVD with an installable game.
Of course, this is all illegal and this might not be the place to go further into this.
hello! I want to download the entire wikileaks archive. my problem is, I dont know how to do it. I know how to download torrents, but that is a directory with thousands of torrents – obviously, I cannot download each one by hand, and my utorrent does not download entire folders of torrents – or at least I dont know how to do it. Can anyone help me? it seems like the whole world knows how to download it, since there are no instructions on the wikileaks site, and I did not find this topic on any forum. Thank You!!! Petr
You can search torrent sites like btjunkie.org for “complete wikileaks archive” or just “wikileaks archive”.
Hey,
If I upload a torrent for my friends to download, does my uTorrent have to be open for them to receive the files?
That depends on whether anyone of your friends has already downloaded the full thing the torrent is linking to. In any case, for a torrent to work at least one person must be seeding the whole file.
Short answer: yes, unless one of your friends is seeding the whole file.
Hi there I am trying to dl movies using utorrent, and everytime I click on the tab to dl the movie it wants me to open the file using my vlc media player, and the file is not downloading or saving in my utorrent. How do I change my settings so that the file will download into utorrent?
For some strange reason your torrent files seem to be associated with VLC instead of uTorrent. You can change this by right clicking on a downloaded torrent file and clicking “Open with”. Then click on “Other Programs” and choose uTorrent from the list, and make sure you mark the checkbox which says “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file”. Then click OK and this should be fixed.
I did exactly as you said, but it didn’t work. I tried to download a new movie and it still wanted me to open/save it in vlc and not in my utorrent, so the movie wouldn’t download. I have no idea what happen to my utorrent, the settings must of go messed up somehow, because I have 50+ movies in my utorrent and never had this problem before. Is so frustrating! Do you have any other suggestions?
Maybe try it in another browser in case this is some browser plugin messing things up.
You can always also just download the torrent file instead of opening it and then just drop it into uTorrent.
I downloaded a torrent file via thepiratesbay.org.now i wanted to download that file via utorrent.i started downloading but it only download 529.3 kb of 207.00mb.i am wating more than 2 hour but download not proggresing.help me to find out
It’s not uncommon to find a torrent file that’s slow. This is nothing special. It probably has a very low amount of seeds and/or the seeders are on slow connections.
Did you successfully download anything else before? If you did then it’s just a bad/slow torrent. Best I can advise is to go look for a better one, not that I’m suggesting illegal downloading. I assume what you’re downloading is legal.
I just recently download left 4 dead 2 using uTorren, and believe me, it took ages. But Now that’s its download..I cant seem to find the file anywhere. Can someone please help. Thanks, I would really apperciate it.
You can see where the files are by right clicking on the download in uTorrent and clicking “Open Containing Folder”. It should open the folder where it is and select the downloaded file for you.
This is going to sound like a stupid question, but when you want to download a torrent, say Prey from the Mac app store and all of the torrents are 1.6 gigabytes or higher. When you download that torrent, will it really take up 1.6+ gigabytes of space on your computer? Help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
The torrent file itself is tiny as it only contains information needed to fetch the files from their sources. When you open the torrent with a torrent client (like uTorrent) and it downloads those files they will take up 1.6GB.
help! my file isn’t downloading and the seed is zero(where do I find the seed?)
also for unknown reason, I select few files but it download the whole file.
thank you!
if the seed is 0 it means Peers = 0, thus Download = 0, you might want to try other Torrents..
I have a fortiguard firewall in my college.
My utorrent download just dont start at all . Please help
y did my downloaded video did not work. CODEC ERROR: USE WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER. and some other appeared.. it just dont work
May i ask what’s the extension of the file that you have downloaded. You may try VLC player to play it.