Get BitTorrent. Open the torrent file and BitTorrent will gather the data from other BitTorrent users that are making the file available.

BitTorrent

This torrent client is 10x the program that the original is, check it out -

BitComet

Works pretty much the same as the regular bit torrent, only better, and a whole lot more features.

Azureus is another client. It is the one that I've used for the last year or so.

What are you trying to find exactly? I can probably direct you to the sites that have the stuff you want. :)

-d

I'd check out torrentreactor.net they probably have those episodes you are looking for.

-d

Not to hijack this thread, but I know I'd get flamed if I start a new one asking about torrents.

I just started fiddling with bittorrent this past weekend.  I heard it was so great, yadi yadi yadi.  Maybe I'm just not doing something right, but it seems like evertime I try to download, it is taking forever.  Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places.   I'm trying to find good collections of music.  I don't care to much about TV shows, but new realease motion pictures would be cool.

Any suggestions on where to find good music collections?

Thanks, and sorry for hijacking.

Think of bittorrent as a multi step process.

1. You need a client program to work with the torrent system.  I use Azureus myself.
2. Then you visit a torrent search website (typically, like the torrentreactor.net site mentioned above) to looks for torrents of content you'd like to download.
3. From those sites, you get linked to a .torrent file, which is just instructions for your bittorrent client program to find and download the correct content.  Download and save that file to your computer.
4. Once you enter that torrent file into your client program, it connects to the "tracker" for that torrent which keeps track of who is currently active with that torrent, be it "seeding" (has a complete copy of the content for upload) or "leeching" (currently downloading content).
5. Once the torrent starts running it will connect to and start downloading small pieces of the content, usually from a combination of the available seeders and leechers.  Leechers upload individual parts as well to other leechers.  The client program assembles the individual small parts into complete files.

You are completely at the mercy of their upload bandwidth (in combination) as to how fast you can download.  There is no central location of the content, if no one currently online is "seeding"  then you can't download a complete copy, all you can do is leave it running and hope someone comes online that has it available.  I've left torrents up for days or weeks waiting for them to download, that's the nature of the system sometimes.  Popular content will have lots of users so better speed and the longer the torrent will stay active.

ETA:
I found quickly that the best way to use bittorrent was to have a separate computer for it, that I could leave running for long lengths of time uninterrupted.  Also recommend that you have a very good firewall on your computer, and make sure it's updated.

Quoted: I found quickly that the best way to use bittorrent was to have a separate computer for it, that I could leave running for long lengths of time uninterrupted.  Also recommend that you have a very good firewall on your computer, and make sure it's updated.

A firewall for what? If your pc's are networked, the only thing you really need it a router with port forwarding, which most already have. A firewall isn't going to help you at using BT.

-d

Quoted: Not to hijack this thread, but I know I'd get flamed if I start a new one asking about torrents. I just started fiddling with bittorrent this past weekend.  I heard it was so great, yadi yadi yadi.  Maybe I'm just not doing something right, but it seems like evertime I try to download, it is taking forever.  Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places.   I'm trying to find good collections of music.  I don't care to much about TV shows, but new realease motion pictures would be cool. Any suggestions on where to find good music collections?

It all depends on the sites you use. I for example, am a member of quite a few sites that require registration and keep a good eye on leechers. They have a ratio system installed... which tends to scare off the leechers. The end result is torrents that stay seeded for longer. Also, the sites don't list torrent which are "dead", meaning they have no seeders currently.

Like others have mentioned, the pool of seeders and their bandwidth plays a large role. Say, I'm the only one seeding a file (I've got the only complete file and I'm uploading), and I have 10 people downloading from me. I normally set it so that I will only upload to 2 people at any given time per torrent. In addition, I set it so that I only upload at 55 KB/s (My actual upload bandwith is something like 768 kps to 1 mbps.) What this does is allow the first 2 people to connect to my torrent the ability to finish their download quicker and thus help seed the file. They theorically will get a faster upload than they would if I was allowing 10 people to connect at a given time. So after the first one finishes, another leecher/downloader will be allowed to download from me. And it keeps on going. Torrents become really slow when first starting out and when they've been a little old.

For the ratio sites that I'm on, I tend to keep a 3+ to 1 ratio... so I upload 3+ times what I downloaded. This is in case I can't seed/upload files for awhile, but I want to download stuff still.

-d

I got a questoin...

if a connection is refused just it mean that the person on the other end is literally refusing to let you upload from him or is it just saying the connection can't be made?

Is there some way they track how much you have "seeded" or your shared percentage on files you have pulled down?

I don't always let it share for 100% so I'm just wondering if they actually see this and cut you off if you are a non-sharing leech.

Quoted: img.photobucket.com/albums/v664/rjszurgot/part_tagF.gif

WTF??
Okay, nevermind.. I got it now... my brain wasn't working when I saw that :)

-d

Quoted: I got a questoin... if a connection is refused just it mean that the person on the other end is literally refusing to let you upload from him or is it just saying the connection can't be made? Is there some way they track how much you have "seeded" or your shared percentage on files you have pulled down? I don't always let it share for 100% so I'm just wondering if they actually see this and cut you off if you are a non-sharing leech.

Depends on if you are getting that error from the tracker or from a peer/seeder. If you are getting that from a tracker, it could be that you are not registered on that site, therefore you can't use the tracker. If you are getting that from a peer, it could be a few things. a) they can't establish a connection with you, b) they banned your ip on their side, c) or they are refusing your connection in order to connect to someone with more of the file. In Azureus you can see all of the peers you are connected to and how much of the file they have. Typically when you are at say 75% of a file, you are downloading from the people with a 100% copy of the file, while others are downloading from you if they have less than you do.

-d