Comments on: 4 Torrenting Pitfalls To Avoid – And What To Do Instead http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/ Cool Websites, Software and Internet Tips Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:22:50 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Ujjwol http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-408803 Ujjwol Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:09:39 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-408803 How to take screenshot of the webpage as shown of the Pirate Bay in this post. How to take screenshot of the webpage as shown of the Pirate Bay in this post.

]]> By: Russ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-376257 Russ Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:14:30 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-376257 Use a html blocker i.e. peerguardian2 to make sure no one can see what you're doing on your computer and always make sure to read comments on torrents, if the feedback is good then it's a pretty safe bet there isn't a trojan in there. Use a html blocker i.e. peerguardian2 to make sure no one can see what you’re doing on your computer and always make sure to read comments on torrents, if the feedback is good then it’s a pretty safe bet there isn’t a trojan in there.

]]> By: krugle http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-376227 krugle Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:17:18 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-376227 rule 3 its true but also not true yes you should be aware of rar files to an extent with simple movie files yah you should probly not download it however for tv series and iso files its very common to do so infact not downloading that way is a good way to get pinged by ur isp if your not using peerguardian rule 3 its true but also not true yes you should be aware of rar files to an extent with simple movie files yah you should probly not download it however for tv series and iso files its very common to do so infact not downloading that way is a good way to get pinged by ur isp if your not using peerguardian

]]> By: Alexandre http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-376209 Alexandre Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:45:56 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-376209 Totally agree with Charax. Your #3 rule is bad advice. Totally agree with Charax. Your #3 rule is bad advice.

]]> By: January Roundup : Make Use Of Authors | MakeUseOf.com http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-372480 January Roundup : Make Use Of Authors | MakeUseOf.com Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:51:35 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-372480 [...] 4 Torrenting Pitfalls To Avoid - And What To Do Instead Let Vlingo Manage Your Major iPhone Tasks By Voice Control Stop & Delete Spyware With Malwarebytes [Windows] Safe Torrent Downloading with Vertor SpywareBlaster Can Stop Spyware Before It Starts [Windows Only] [...] [...] 4 Torrenting Pitfalls To Avoid – And What To Do Instead Let Vlingo Manage Your Major iPhone Tasks By Voice Control Stop & Delete Spyware With Malwarebytes [Windows] Safe Torrent Downloading with Vertor SpywareBlaster Can Stop Spyware Before It Starts [Windows Only] [...]

]]> By: FL http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-366393 FL Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:56:18 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-366393 I disagree 'Don’t Download Archives'. I personally prefer archives, because: 1. in the case of data, the resulting file is smaller in size, hence quicker to download. in the case of media see the following point. 2. they provide an extra error checking on extract, so that I know that I have exactly what it should be, as you know a single bit can crash a program. 3. when you are talking about multi GiB stuff, e.g. movies, it allows to split into sensible size, so that I can split my download location and even my download progress (download the first 500MiB, say, than the next, so on) when I have limited storage. 4. timestamps are also preserved, which I am very passion about. which I find very useful when there is just so many different versions around. I have once downloaded a multi series show 22GiB in avi's. turned out a few have errors and wouldn't play, which I had to download and redownload the bug-free ones. I just don't trust the bt error checking, and who know what other people might have swapped a different file to be redistributing. lucky that I tested them. I disagree ‘Don’t Download Archives’. I personally prefer archives, because:
1. in the case of data, the resulting file is smaller in size, hence quicker to download. in the case of media see the following point.
2. they provide an extra error checking on extract, so that I know that I have exactly what it should be, as you know a single bit can crash a program.
3. when you are talking about multi GiB stuff, e.g. movies, it allows to split into sensible size, so that I can split my download location and even my download progress (download the first 500MiB, say, than the next, so on) when I have limited storage.
4. timestamps are also preserved, which I am very passion about. which I find very useful when there is just so many different versions around.

I have once downloaded a multi series show 22GiB in avi’s. turned out a few have errors and wouldn’t play, which I had to download and redownload the bug-free ones. I just don’t trust the bt error checking, and who know what other people might have swapped a different file to be redistributing. lucky that I tested them.

]]> By: jackew http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365943 jackew Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:52:03 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365943 Speed of download has been my problem. I have Earthlink with 1.5MB broadband, but it's not unusual to take, literally, days to download. I understand the ISPs sometimes interfere with torrents. Is Earthlink one such? And if so, any other recommendations? jackew Speed of download has been my problem. I have Earthlink with 1.5MB broadband, but it’s not unusual to take, literally, days to download. I understand the ISPs sometimes interfere with torrents. Is Earthlink one such? And if so, any other recommendations?

jackew

]]> By: Wolf http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365879 Wolf Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:31:00 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365879 Your archive reasoning leaves me stumped. Any application file can and will be reduced in size when archived. Not only that, but a great deal of the private torrenting sites have ratios, and will hammer you if you put up full size files. Torrenting is a great resource and if all ppl did not archive files, the loads on trackers would be horrendous. With torrenting, the smaller you can make the file, the better off you are: both for the seeders and the leechers. Your archive reasoning leaves me stumped.

Any application file can and will be reduced in size when archived. Not only that, but a great deal of the private torrenting sites have ratios, and will hammer you if you put up full size files. Torrenting is a great resource and if all ppl did not archive files, the loads on trackers would be horrendous. With torrenting, the smaller you can make the file, the better off you are: both for the seeders and the leechers.

]]> By: g http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365865 g Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:51:30 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365865 i noticed one of my favorite torrent uploaders - axxo, had some dufus uploading a bunch of fakes in his name. funny thing is they were the most seeded/leached torrents at the time. i suggest if you are new to torrents to hang around awhile and get a feel for who's who. when i first started, i jumped right in and ended up downloading the wrong stuff a few times (fakes, virus embedded, etc) until i figured out who had the best content. i noticed one of my favorite torrent uploaders – axxo, had some dufus uploading a bunch of fakes in his name. funny thing is they were the most seeded/leached torrents at the time.

i suggest if you are new to torrents to hang around awhile and get a feel for who’s who. when i first started, i jumped right in and ended up downloading the wrong stuff a few times (fakes, virus embedded, etc) until i figured out who had the best content.

]]> By: Guy Mann http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365848 Guy Mann Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:17:49 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365848 Hey i would definitely disagree with your archiving suggestion and agree with Charax. I have downloaded multiple torrents which were archived in such a manner without any trouble or worry. The reasoning for this type of compression is 2 fold. First, It will allow for a smaller file size for the transmitted data, granted not by much for video but if you are looking at very large file sizes every bit helps. Secondly, as Charax mentioned you could fix a corruption issue in a single of the files by redownloading just that one piece. However this is not as big an issue in BitTorrent because pieces are verified as they are downloaded. Another thing about miltiple rar files. If you have a modern version of your compression software you should only have to tell it to extract the first file and the software should automatically extract from all the subsequent rar files if they are present. Hey i would definitely disagree with your archiving suggestion and agree with Charax. I have downloaded multiple torrents which were archived in such a manner without any trouble or worry. The reasoning for this type of compression is 2 fold. First, It will allow for a smaller file size for the transmitted data, granted not by much for video but if you are looking at very large file sizes every bit helps. Secondly, as Charax mentioned you could fix a corruption issue in a single of the files by redownloading just that one piece. However this is not as big an issue in BitTorrent because pieces are verified as they are downloaded.

Another thing about miltiple rar files. If you have a modern version of your compression software you should only have to tell it to extract the first file and the software should automatically extract from all the subsequent rar files if they are present.

]]> By: Steve http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365841 Steve Fri, 02 Jan 2009 02:23:44 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365841 There's no reason to make a 43 or 50+ file archive of a video, there's no benefit to the compression (there's no compression at all actually). Most of the ones I see that are like that are passworded or bogus. The "good" ones are straight up avi's or iso's or the actual video contens (folders). One thing to also check is that people will tend to release stuff that isn't theirs, and they label it as a well known group. Just went to usniff and found about 20 torrents that claim to be from a well known group, but they are all bogus. So be wary, and look for a large amount of seeders, and ALWAYS read the comments. There’s no reason to make a 43 or 50+ file archive of a video, there’s no benefit to the compression (there’s no compression at all actually). Most of the ones I see that are like that are passworded or bogus. The “good” ones are straight up avi’s or iso’s or the actual video contens (folders). One thing to also check is that people will tend to release stuff that isn’t theirs, and they label it as a well known group. Just went to usniff and found about 20 torrents that claim to be from a well known group, but they are all bogus. So be wary, and look for a large amount of seeders, and ALWAYS read the comments.

]]> By: WesllyOni http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365826 WesllyOni Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:21:23 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365826 thank you very much for the advice. I usually don't go straight to a torrent tracker, I frequently go to torrent search sites like youtorrent and torrentz, now I added usniff as you recommend, I'll give a try.. thank you very much for the advice. I usually don’t go straight to a torrent tracker, I frequently go to torrent search sites like youtorrent and torrentz, now I added usniff as you recommend, I’ll give a try..

]]> By: Light Spot http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365820 Light Spot Thu, 01 Jan 2009 23:10:03 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365820 I use <a href="http://www.usniff.com" rel="nofollow">usniff.com</a> for searching It search's about 6 popular torrent site and arrange them by the most seaders give it try and you will love it I use usniff.com for searching
It search’s about 6 popular torrent site and arrange them by the most seaders
give it try and you will love it

]]> By: Jimmy Rogers http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365782 Jimmy Rogers Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:52:22 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365782 Mmm, that is a good one. I've never been a huge downloader of HD movies (simply because my viewing hardware is fairly primitive). Again, I'm not sure exactly how useful it is to archive, because you're going to have to have either the full file somewhere else when you watch it AND the archive at the same time to help seed the file. If you just leave it unarchived, the watchable file and the seeding source can be one in the same and take up less space. I mean really size isn't nearly as important as popularity on a torrent. Mmm, that is a good one. I’ve never been a huge downloader of HD movies (simply because my viewing hardware is fairly primitive).

Again, I’m not sure exactly how useful it is to archive, because you’re going to have to have either the full file somewhere else when you watch it AND the archive at the same time to help seed the file. If you just leave it unarchived, the watchable file and the seeding source can be one in the same and take up less space. I mean really size isn’t nearly as important as popularity on a torrent.

]]> By: Charax http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365780 Charax Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:45:50 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365780 Depends on the archive format. If the torrent has a single "stuff.zip" file, probably best to avoid it. If it contains multiple, sequential RAR files of a fixed size (usually 50 or 100 meg) with an accompanying .nfo file, then DO download it, as the person who made it knows what they're doing - that way if one part of your multi-gigabyte torrent is corrupt you only have to find one or two new archives, not the whole thing. It may be annoying as hell to extract all the nested RARs, but it's worth it when you end up with a flawless 8.54 gig DVD-DL ISO http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_(warez)#Packaging Really, telling people to flat-out avoid Archives is probably the worst advice you could give anyone about torrents, next to "Don't use PeerGuardian" and "You don't need an AV program" Depends on the archive format. If the torrent has a single “stuff.zip” file, probably best to avoid it.

If it contains multiple, sequential RAR files of a fixed size (usually 50 or 100 meg) with an accompanying .nfo file, then DO download it, as the person who made it knows what they’re doing – that way if one part of your multi-gigabyte torrent is corrupt you only have to find one or two new archives, not the whole thing.

It may be annoying as hell to extract all the nested RARs, but it’s worth it when you end up with a flawless 8.54 gig DVD-DL ISO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_(warez)#Packaging

Really, telling people to flat-out avoid Archives is probably the worst advice you could give anyone about torrents, next to “Don’t use PeerGuardian” and “You don’t need an AV program”

]]> By: Josh http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365776 Josh Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:23:55 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365776 In general i would agree with your comments on archives, but there is one notable exception. When downloading hi-def video, it is become pretty common for those files to be archived. While I don't think it's a good idea, I've never had malware problems from any of these files. It can save as much as a couple of gigabytes on larger files. Just something to be aware of. In general i would agree with your comments on archives, but there is one notable exception. When downloading hi-def video, it is become pretty common for those files to be archived. While I don’t think it’s a good idea, I’ve never had malware problems from any of these files. It can save as much as a couple of gigabytes on larger files. Just something to be aware of.

]]> By: g http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365775 g Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:13:36 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365775 i scan and re-scan all of my torrents for nefarious content with my malware and antivirus programs. i have been careless and have gotten bugs from torrents so be aware of what you are downloading. my two faves for torrent hunting are: bitjunkie and mininova. and use caution when visiting the torrent sites. i swear i got a piece of malware attack at the isohunt website so i quit going there although i did like the site. i think they have some website code issues with advertisers. i haven't had any problems with rars yet although i can see your point of not knowing what's behind the green curtain. i scan and re-scan all of my torrents for nefarious content with my malware and antivirus programs. i have been careless and have gotten bugs from torrents so be aware of what you are downloading.

my two faves for torrent hunting are:
bitjunkie and mininova.

and use caution when visiting the torrent sites. i swear i got a piece of malware attack at the isohunt website so i quit going there although i did like the site. i think they have some website code issues with advertisers.

i haven’t had any problems with rars yet although i can see your point of not knowing what’s behind the green curtain.

]]> By: Jimmy Rogers http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365761 Jimmy Rogers Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:37:35 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365761 I'm totally at a loss as to why you would WANT your downloads archived? My reasoning is already in the article... I’m totally at a loss as to why you would WANT your downloads archived? My reasoning is already in the article…

]]> By: Andrei http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365760 Andrei Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:30:35 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365760 Every scene release is archived... wtf? Every scene release is archived… wtf?

]]> By: xabbott http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-torrenting-pitfalls-to-avoid-and-what-to-do-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-365757 xabbott Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:12:16 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=9941#comment-365757 "Don’t Download Archives" Wow, awful advice. Switch that whole paragraph to "non-archives" and you'll be more accurate. “Don’t Download Archives” Wow, awful advice. Switch that whole paragraph to “non-archives” and you’ll be more accurate.

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