Download Torrents Using uTorrent
Torrents are files that allow you to share files with other people that have the same torrent. uTorrent is one of the most popular BitTorrent clients around. It allows you to easily manage your torrent downloads and uploads. You can have uTorrent installed and configured in just a few minutes.
Contents
Steps
Installing uTorrent
- Download the uTorrent installer. uTorrent is available for free from the uTorrent website (utorrent.com). It can be downloaded for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android.
- Only download uTorrent from the uTorrent website. Downloading from another website runs the risk of installing additional software that you don't want.
- If you're using Android, download the app from the Google Play Store.
- Run the installer. After the installer has finished downloading, run it to begin installing uTorrent. Make sure to pay attention to each screen of the installer, and opt out of any packaged software. uTorrent comes bundled with extra software that installs automatically unless you opt-out during the installation process. This software can be difficult to remove after it is installed.
- Configure your folders. Once you start uTorrent for the first time, you will need to configure where your downloads will be stored. Click Options and select Preferences. Select the "Directories" section of the Preferences menu.
- Set the location that you want new downloads to go to. You can also set a location that you want finished downloads to be moved to.
- Set your bandwidth limits. In the Preferences menu, select the "Bandwidth" section. You can set a limit on your upload rate and a limit on your download rate. This can be useful if you need to do other things on the internet while downloading or uploading, as uTorrent will otherwise take all of your available bandwidth.
- Enable protocol encryption. This will help hide your torrent traffic from your service provider, limiting the amount of throttling that they may impose. Click the "BitTorrent" section, and then set the drop-down menu in the "Protocol Encryption" to "Enabled".
- Make sure that the "Allow incoming legacy connections" box is checked.
- Open ports on your firewall. Opening a port for uTorrent will allow you to connect to many more seeders. Generally, this will mean you will be able to reach your maximum download speed much easier, or have an easier time connecting to an unhealthy torrent.
- Select the "Connection" section and note the port listed in the field at the top of the section.
- Open your router's settings page. See this guide for more details on accessing your router.
- Open the Port Forwarding section. Open a new port that matches the port indicated in uTorrent. See this guide for more details on opening a port.
Downloading a Torrent
- Find a torrent file. You can find links to torrent files on countless sites online. One of the most popular ways to find a torrent is to enter the content you want in a search engine and add the word "torrent" at the end.
- Torrents are hosted on sites called "trackers". These are torrent file listings. Trackers do not actually host any content, just the small torrent files that allow you to connect to other users.
- Downloading content that you do not have legal rights to is illegal.
- Examine the torrent details. When selecting a torrent, there are several things you want to take into account. Most important is the number of "seeders" versus the number of "leechers". Seeders are users that are hosting the file for others to download. Leechers are users that are downloading the file but not contributing to the sharing.
- If there are more leechers than seeders, downloading the file will take longer.
- If there are only a few seeders, you will have difficulty connecting and downloading the file.
- Be wary when downloading a file. Torrents are a popular way to transmit viruses. Check the comments on the torrent, and also the ratio of seeders to leechers. Illegal content is much more likely to contain viruses.
- If lots of comments warn that the file contains a virus, try to find another torrent.
- Download the torrent file to your computer. Click the download button to download the torrent file. Be careful when clicking the download button, as many tracker sites have fake download buttons that actually lead to ads. The torrent file should only take a few seconds to download.
- Alternatively, click the magnet link. This will open uTorrent directly without any files downloading.
- Open the file in uTorrent. If uTorrent is the only torrent client on your computer, torrent files should open automatically in uTorrent. When you open the torrent, it will be added to your download list. If you have room in your queue, the download will begin immediately.
- If torrents don't automatically open in uTorrent, you can reassign the file associations so that they do. Open the Preferences menu, click the General section, and then click the "Associate with torrent files" button.
- Test your connection. If you want to test your settings before downloading the files you want, you can do so by downloading files that are guaranteed to max out your connection speed.
- Slackware or Open Office are both hosted on dedicated servers, and will max out your internet connection speed in a few minutes. These are great files to use for testing your uTorrent connection settings. Give the test download up to 15-20 minutes to take full advantage of the speed.
Monitoring the Download
- Check the transfer speed. Your current download speed will be shown next to your torrent in the uTorrent main window. This is the combined speed from all the different seeders you are connected to, and cannot exceed the limits imposed by your service provider. For example, if you have a 30 Mbps (Megabits per second) internet connection, you can expect a maximum speed of 3.75 MBps (Megabytes per second).
- Check your connected peers. You can see how many seeders you are connected to by clicking the Peers tab. You can see the seeder's IP address and transfer speed.
- Open your downloaded content. Once your download has completed, you can open your content like you would anything else in that format. For example, if you've downloaded a movie, you can run it from uTorrent, or open your download directory and open the file from there.
- Continue seeding. Seeding is the act of uploading a completed file to other people downloading the torrent. A torrent cannot survive without seeders. It is a common courtesy to seed at least as much as you download, and many communities expect you to seed twice what you download.
- Install PeerBlock. This program will block known IPs that track torrents for the RIAA and MPAA. You may lose a few connections, but you may be less likely to receive notices fro your ISP that you are downloading illegal content.
