BitTorrent How-To (Azureus)

[EmperorChaos]

As promised, here is my how-to on BitTorrents. Of course, this is for education purposes only and all that jazz. And I can't be held responsible for you downloading a virus. It is your responsibility to ensure you have adequate security measures in place before using torrents.

That being said, this how-to will cover the BitTorrent Java-based client Azureus. I prefer Azureus because of its customizability (much the same reason I prefer FireFox).

First, download the Azureus Vuze client from http://www.azureus.com (Vuze is a built-in theatre that I don't use, but you might find to your liking.)

Second, download/install some specific plugins.
While I have many many plugins installed, the only ones you should be interested in at the moment are:
SafePeer - Which blocks known "bad" IPs such as ones that send junk data and/or are affiliated with the MPAA or RIAA.
DHT Scraper - Which will allow you to download via Distributed Hash Trackers, in other words, if there aren't enough seeds for your torrent, this Addon will assist Azureus to find other sources to download from.
Auto Speed - Which will adjust speed based on how much traffic is already being used on your network.
Advanced Statistics - Which will tell you advanced statistics, duh. Actually, this one isn't required, but it could help me identify problems if you have any.

The best way to download the plugins is to use Azureus itself. At the top, go to Plugins-->Installation Wizard Then select "By list from sourceforge.net"

Select the DHT Scraper and Auto Speed (and Advanced Statistics, if you want) from the list (as well as any others you see that interest you, so long as you know what you're doing! Which, obviously, if you're reading this you probably don't... so just stick to the basics now, k?). Follow the prompts to install them (they should begin downloading through Azureus, and they will self-install.) No additional configuration should be necessary.

To download and install SafePeer, which I wholly recommend, click the link I provided above. Click the file to download (either with Azureus or directly from the web) and save it somewhere with easy access to it through Azureus. I'd recommend simply saving it in the Azureus plugins folder (most likely c:\Program Files\Azureus\plugins). Now, to install it, once more go to Plugins--->Installation Wizard. But this time select "By file". Browse for the file (safepeer2.5.1.jar or safepeer2.5.1.zip) and select it. All done!

Third, increase your half-open TCP connections. NOTE: This will exponentially increase the spread of viruses, trojans, worms et cetera should you be unfortunate enough to download one. That is why I recommend good antivirus software. To do this, go to www.lvllord.de, then to Downloads, then download the English version (or German if you're feeling froggy). There should be a readme file that comes with the simple application. I recommend perusing it. Most antivirus and security programs will freak out when you run this program. To be sure, you are changing a very important aspect of system security. Just allow the program and your downloads will go much faster than they normally would. I recommend setting your half-open TCP connections to something like 30-50. I have mine set much much higher but the higher you set it the more quickly a virus will spread if you get one.

Fourth, configure other aspects. These include routers and security software. With security software, simply allow Azureus full access to send and receive TCP and UDP data. (This is usually done just by allowing Azureus "Full Access".) Next, if you have a router, you might want to allow Azureus access through it. While it's not necessary, it could potentially increase your download speed. Rather than even going into this now, I'll explain how to on a case-by-case basis.

Finally, find your torrents. I use google. I just type what I want followed by torrent and usually find it easily. Other places to try looking are The Pirate Bay, ISOhunt, and Mininova.


Additional information:
Seeds - Complete copies of files you may or may not be downloading from
Peers - Partial copies of files you may or may not be downloading from
Hash - A specific code that identifies that particular torrent
Torrent - A file that holds information such as the hash code and tracker URLs
Tracker - An URL that lists available seeds and peers
DHT - Distributed Hash Tracking - Used to download from seeds and peers not associated with the tracker you're downloading from but have the same file identified by the specifc hash code.

Remember, downloading movies, games, and music is illegal and you are doing so at your own risk. While SafePeer does protect you a little bit, it's not absolute protection. The RIAA and MPAA have been known to seed "fake" torrents that appear to be real copies of music and movies. They do this to collect IP addresses of potential pirates. The Fenopy Fake Finder can be used to help identify fake torrents. A good rule of thumb: If the tracker looks fake, it probably is. The safest trackers are usually the ones most people are downloading from (thepiratebay, isohunt, mininova, etc.) Demonoid was a well-known tracker that is no more. So if you're downloading from some variant of demonoid, you're probably downloading a fake.

Additional help on Azureus can be found at the Azureus Wiki.

You can ask me questions on this thread or PM me. In order to help you, it'd be nice if you were logging Azureus-related data. Go to Tools--->Options--->Logging and set a Logging directory where you will remember it (C:\Program Files\Azureus\Logging perhaps?).

[Wounded Satellite]

your a dumb fuck for running all that without running peer guardian 2 with it
have fun getting your "STOP DOWNLOADING" letter from your ISP

[David-]

Thanks for this, it's very useful for me. :) Oh and I wish my ISP would kick me off tbh, they suck!

[EmperorChaos]

Originally Said by Wounded Satellite

your a dumb fuck for running all that without running peer guardian 2 with it
have fun getting your "STOP DOWNLOADING" letter from your ISP

I use SafePeer integrated into Azureus. It does the same thing.

I'll look into this PeerGuardian though as well.

[Orgoth]

Three things:

1) Is Norton Anti-Virus 2007 safe enough for me to increase my half-open TCP settings?

2) I run my connection off my wireless modem/router, any settings I should change to increase speed?

3) If Norton '07 is not safe enough, what virus protection software should I look into?

[EmperorChaos]

Originally Said by 0rgoth

Three things:

1) Is Norton Anti-Virus 2007 safe enough for me to increase my half-open TCP settings?

Yes. Just don't put them above 50 and you shouldn't have to worry about them spreading so quickly.

2) I run my connection off my wireless modem/router, any settings I should change to increase speed?

Maybe. You'll know if you don't have a fast download speed. There are also little smilies that tell you how well you're doing. Highlight them for more information. If they're not green, there's a problem. Most likely it's to do with the ports not being opened or something.

You may have to go into your router's configuration, and specifically set the open port for Azureus. If you have to do that, make another post here and I'll be specific on how-to.

3) If Norton '07 is not safe enough, what virus protection software should I look into?

Norton should be just fine.

[Orgoth]

The torrent I'm downloading has a yellow smilie.

Also how do you increase your half-open TCP settings?

[Mr. Definistrate]

Yes, you are amazing, EC, we all admit it .

[EmperorChaos]

Originally Said by 0rgoth

The torrent I'm downloading has a yellow smilie.

Chances are your NAT port is blocked. Do you have access to your router's configuration?

You could go to www.azureuswiki.com and search for port forwarding for a how-to on fixing that.

Also how do you increase your half-open TCP settings?

Originally Said by My first post, be sure you read the entire thing

Third, increase your half-open TCP connections. NOTE: This will exponentially increase the spread of viruses, trojans, worms et cetera should you be unfortunate enough to download one. That is why I recommend good antivirus software. To do this, go to www.lvllord.de, then to Downloads, then download the English version (or German if you're feeling froggy). There should be a readme file that comes with the simple application. I recommend perusing it. Most antivirus and security programs will freak out when you run this program. To be sure, you are changing a very important aspect of system security. Just allow the program and your downloads will go much faster than they normally would. I recommend setting your half-open TCP connections to something like 30-50. I have mine set much much higher but the higher you set it the more quickly a virus will spread if you get one.

[Sharker]

Hmmm, i usually suggest utorrent, i think it works way better.