Spend enough time on the Internet or around tech-savvy types, and you’re bound to hear about BitTorrent. Likely, if you’re new to the concept, you have a few questions, and probably some misconceptions on what exactly torrenting is.
How To Open Torrent Files
BitTorrent is a torrent client for sharing data via the BitTorrent protocol. The software enables users to share, search, download and upload application, music, video, document, picture and other files. BitTorrent supports download of multiple files in parallel from different peers. The new character of this software include features to open, edit, create and save files in the cloud straight from your Windows PC. There are also search tools for commands available in Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Word. Download Latest Bollywood Hollywood Torrent Full Movies, Download Hindi Dubbed, Tamil, Punjabi, Pakistani Full Torrent Movies Free.
What is a torrent file? How do you use it? Is it safe? Is it legal? Torrenting can be a complicated process, so before we get into the meat of how to download and use torrent files safely and legally, let’s cover some important terminology.
Updated 3-3-2016 by Brendan Hesse: This article received a massive overhaul to provide clearer, more detailed information regarding torrent files, how to download them, and how the process works.
What is a Torrent?
If you’ve dabbled at all in torrent downloading, you’ve almost certainly come across the terms “seed,” “peer,” and “leech.”
A seed (or seeder) is someone who is sharing the file; the more seeds, the more potential locations to download the file. Someone who is downloading the seeded file is a leech. The more leeches a file has versus seeds will make the file download slower, as there are more people accessing the file. Furthermore, if no one is seeding, then no one can download. The entire group of seeders and leeches are your peers — hence why BitTorrent is referred to as “peer-to-peer” file sharing. You collect a file directly through someone else, rather than downloading from a server. This cluster of peers is also referred to as a “swarm,” who are all uploading and downloading the same file.
How exactly does this work? Essentially, the file is broken up into pieces, with each piece being downloaded and compiled by the download program. After you’ve downloaded enough data, you will begin to simultaneously upload the parts of the file you’ve downloaded, thereby increasing the download speed for your other peers in the swarm. Download clients give preferential treatment to those who allocate more bandwidth to uploading, and who are seeding files. Basically, the more you share, the more you receive.
Another term you may have come across is “tracker.” A tracker is a server that keeps track (go figure) of all peers in a swarm, but does not host any part of the file. Instead, a tracker acts as something of a traffic cop, directing peers to available file locations. Your download client will connect to this server as instructed in the .torrent file. There is such a thing as “trackerless” downloading, which we will cover more in a moment.
Installing a BitTorrent client and downloading files
In order to open a .torrent file and begin downloading, you need a download client to handle the file. In the past, this guide has featured numerous torrent download clients, but the current best options are qBittorrent, Transmission, and Deluge.
These three programs have some minor differences, but they’re generally very similar. They’re all open source, and all three support various operating systems, including Windows, OSX, Freebsd, and various Linux Distros. Best of all, they are all devoid of annoying ads, useless “special offers,” or malicious bloatware.
Once you’ve settled on which torrent client you’ll be running, download and install it. An obvious step, yes, but having an installed torrent program is important because it enables you to download torrents via magnet links. You can always download .torrent files and open them with your downloader, but magnet links have been slowly overtaking .torrent files in terms of popularity and use.
Downloading a torrent
After installing a downloader client, such as qBittorrent, you’ll need files to download. There are many website you can use to download .torrent files or access magnet links, the most well-known being The Pirate Bay. Others, such as Kickass torrents, exist, but they usually lack the user base of The Pirate Bay. There are also private trackers, such as Demonoid, that require an account to access.
A quick search through these web will probably help you find what you’re looking for, but take care before downloading as some files can be fake. Check the comments on the file’s download page as users will report fake or broken files. When you open the .torrent, double check the file you’re downloading — if you’re expecting a .rar file, and see an .exe, it’s not the file you’re looking for and likely is a virus. Cancel and delete the download immediately. We will cover further safety tips in later sections.
If the torrent looks legitimate, the download page will likely list two methods for downloading: .torrent or a magnet link. Considering there are two download methods, you might be wondering what the difference is between the two.
.torrent files can essentially be described as treasure maps. These tiny files contain the locations for the various parts of files. Your download client will use the file to find the various parts of whatever it is your downloading, download the parts, the compile them into the file.
Magnet files work much the same way, but are a direct line connecting the downloader to each file, instead of needing to follow a “map” as provided by a .torrent file. There are further, more technical differences that have to do with tracker servers and DHT procedures, but we’ll leave those alone for now.
Magnet files work much the same way, but are a direct line connecting the downloader to each file, instead of needing to follow a “map” as provided by a .torrent file. There are further, more technical differences that have to do with tracker servers and DHT procedures, but we’ll leave those alone for now.
If your goal is simply to download a file with a BitTorrent client, both methods work great. Magnet links take a slight bit longer to begin due to establishing direct connections, but they also remove the step of downloading and opening a .torrent file. Regardless of the acquisition method, once a download begins, your speeds will be dependent on the swarms seed-to-leech ratio, and your bandwidth.
Once the download has completed, you will have access to the file, and you will begin to seed the file. While seeding does up your priority for downloads, it also increases your risk for being caught if you’re seeding copyrighted files. If you do not wish to seed you can either completely close your download program, or you can delete the .torrent, usually by right clicking the seeding file in your client and selecting “delete .torrent.” Be sure not to delete the data, however, or you’ll need to re-download the entire file.
There are many file types. Each of them has a certain file extension. If we take torrent files, an extension is .torrent. All files have extensions indicated after the full stop in the name of the file.
Such markings are necessary. They signal an operating system which file type it has to process. If you use quite specific files with unusual extensions, most probably, you will need to download additional programs to open these files. Learn more about torrent file extensions and how to open it.
The file extension can tell much to the user. If you see .torrent, you can understand that downloading such a file can be risky. They are very popular around the world. However, often people download illegal content to torrents. If a person does not know about it but downloads the torrent, this can have negative consequences both in terms of harm to the OS software and in terms of legal issues.
Torrent Downloader Web
That is why it is a good idea to use a virtual private network. This type of technology allows you surf the Internet and download the content absolutely anonymously. For that reason more and more people use it. Even if the torrent contains illegal information, no one can find out you downloaded it, because you are often unaware whether the file is legal until you download and actually check it. Thus, security is important on the Internet because prohibited content circulates here freely.
How To Open Torrents
Before you start working on any new file, it is important to know how to open a file. In case of torrents, there are several methods you can use. Here are some obligatory steps you need to take:
- Fix the errors in your file. That is the very first step to take. It will repair your file if it is damaged. Fixing errors is quite easy. The user simply has to use a relevant software program for it.
- Choose the program that can open your torrent. Pay attention that your choice of the program will depend on what type of an operating system your computer has. For Windows, you should use Headlight GetRight, FlashGet, Vuze, Ares, Shareaza. For Mac OS laptops, you should get Transmission, Eltima Folx 4, BitRocket or uTorrent. Linux requires Deluge, Vuze, Tribler or Opera. These programs will normally open your torrent file. If you still do not succeed, you should use universal file viewers.
- Universal viewers were powered to open any type of files. Whatever file you can’t open, these programs will help you. The only thing to remember that you should get different universal viewers for MacOS and Windows. Again, your choice will depend on an operating system that your computer is equipped with.
These are the basic steps to take in order to open the torrents file. Torrenting is very advantageous. Make sure you take most of it. Such files are used for both personal and professional purposes. You can download unique content from such files.
Just another guy who likes to write about tech and gadgets.