Download With uTorrent
uTorrent is a popular BiTorrent client that will process your torrent files and connect you with others sharing the same file. uTorrent is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Make sure to decline any additional offers that appear during installation, or try installing a similar torrent client with less ads. Once you've installed uTorrent, changing a few configuration settings can help get you the best connection speeds.
Contents
Steps
Installing uTorrent
- Visit the uTorrent website. You can download uTorrent for free from utorrent.com. uTorrent is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android.
- There are other torrent clients besides uTorrent that you may want to consider. Popular torrent clients include qBittorrent, Transmission, Deluge, and Tixati. The process for installing and using these clients is very similar to uTorrent. Most of these clients are ad-free, which may be more appealing than paying for an ad-free version of uTorrent.
- Download the uTorrent installer. Click "Get uTorrent" and then click the link for the free version. The download will begin after a moment.
- Run the installer. You'll likely be prompted by your operating system to confirm that you want to install the program.
- Follow the installer prompts to configure uTorrent. Make sure that "Add an exception for uTorrent in Windows Firewall" is checked. You'll also want to associate uTorrent with the .torrent file type.
- Uncheck the additional offers during installation. You'll be prompted several times to install additional software along with uTorrent. You do not want to install any of these, as they will hijack your browser and redirect your searches.
- If you want to use a torrent client that doesn't include any adware with the installer, try qBittorent or Transmission.
- Finish the installation. Once you've declined the offers for additional software, the installer will proceed with the uTorrent installation. After installation is complete, uTorrent will open. You'll also see a uTorrent icon on your desktop.
Configuring uTorrent
- Open the Preferences menu. Before you start downloading torrents, there are a few settings you'll likely want to adjust. Click the "Options" menu and select "Preferences."
- Click the "Directories" section and set your download folder. This will allow you to set where your torrent files are saved to after downloading. You can check each of the boxes and set locations for new downloads and finished downloads. Click the "..." buttons to browse for folders on your computer.
- Set your completed download folder somewhere easy to find so that you can quickly manage your finished downloads.
- Click the "Bandwidth" section. You'll be setting some connection speed options here which will help optimize your experience.
- Enable a "Maximum upload rate." If you leave your upload rate at "0" it will not be capped. If your upload speed is maxed out, it can make loading web pages very slow. Setting a limit here will prevent uTorrent from maxing out your upload bandwidth.
- Set the upload limit to 50% of your upload speed or lower. This will ensure that you can easily load websites and do other things online while uploading torrent data.
- You can see your maximum upload speed by using a site like speedtest.net. Run the test and see what your maximum upload rate is, then set uTorrent's to half that value.
- Click the "BitTorrent" section. This section has BitTorrent options, including encryption.
- Enable "Protocol Encryption." This will help disguise your torrent traffic so that your internet service provider cannot tell that you're transferring torrents. It will not make you anonymous, but will help protect you from your ISP finding out what you're using bandwidth on.
Downloading a Torrent
- Find a torrent to download. There are countless websites that you can find torrent links on. A torrent file is a small file that points to the actual file you are trying to get. For example, a torrent file for a movie will allow you to connect to other people with the same torrent and download the movie from them. The torrent file itself does not contain any part of the file(s) you are downloading.
- There are a variety of torrent trackers you can find that host tons of different torrent files. You can use the search fields on these tracker sites to look for specific content. Search "torrent tracker" on your favorite search engine to find a few to try.
- If you're looking for an episode of a TV show, it's helpful to know the common numbering system used for shows. Shows are typically labeled with the season number and episode number. For example, the third episode of the eleventh season of a show would be labeled "s11e03."
- Look at the number of seeders. The torrent tracker will display the number of "seeders" (S) that the torrent has. These are clients that have the entire torrent downloaded and are sharing it with others. The more seeders there are, the easier it will be to max out your transfer speed. If there are no seeders, or only a few, you may not be able to download the files.
- Find the download link for the torrent. Depending on the tracker, you may have to search a bit to find the correct download link. Many trackers have ads that are designed to look like Download buttons to try to trick you. When you click the correct download button, the torrent file will download to your computer. This should only take a moment, as torrent files are very small.
- Open the downloaded torrent file. If you associated .torrent files with uTorrent during installation, uTorrent should open automatically when you open the torrent file. If you didn't, you'll need to select uTorrent when asked what program you want to use.
- Monitor the download progress. When you open the torrent file, uTorrent will attempt to connect to other clients sharing the same torrent. The more clients you connect to, the faster your download will be (generally). It may take a while for uTorrent to connect with other clients, and the download speed may take a while to ramp up.
- Older torrents with a low number of seeders may fluctuate speed instead of maintaining a fast connection, or may not connect at all. Try to find torrents with lots of seeders.
- Continue seeding after the download is complete. Torrents live through the community, and it is considered good torrent etiquette to share at least as much as you download. This is especially true with private torrent trackers, where members are regularly checked for their download-to-upload ratio.
Opening a Downloaded Torrent
- Open the folder you designated as the Completed folder. Use your file explorer to find the folder you set for completed downloads in uTorrent. You should see all of your finished downloads here.
- Use a third-party media player like VLC or MPC-HC for videos. Many videos that you download through torrents will not be compatible with Windows Media Player or QuickTime. For the best playback results, download and install an open-source video player like VLC or MPC-HC. These video players can play just about any video file, and don't come with any adware.
- Download an archive extractor to open RAR files. It is common to package large numbers of files or large files into archives, with RAR being one of the most common. You can't open RAR archives without an extractor. One of the most popular free extractors is 7-Zip. You can download it from 7-zip.org.
- 7-Zip is also used for its own archive format, .7z.
- Be especially wary of running EXE files. Allowing an EXE file to run from an unknown source puts your computer's security in jeopardy. It is highly recommended that you avoid running EXE files downloaded through torrents unless you absolutely trust the source.
- Scan all incoming torrents with a virus scanner. To be safe, make sure you have an antivirus active whenever you're downloading torrent files. You can take the extra precaution of scanning each file you download, but most antivirus programs will detect viruses automatically.
Tips
- This bandwidth intensive activity is frowned upon by some ISPs who will try to throttle BitTorrent traffic. You can enable Traffic Encryption, which may or may not speed up your downloads.
- You'll need Winrar or 7zip to extract any compressed archives you download.
- A high speed internet connection will allow you to download faster, but beware of any bandwidth limits (e.g. 90 GB/mth) imposed by your ISP.
- If you are an advanced user, and you want to speed up µTorrent, you can do this by forwarding your µTorrent port on your router.
Warnings
- Be sure to check comments of the file you are downloading to avoid downloading infected/fake files.
- Downloading pirated software/music/movies will put you at risk of getting caught and having copyright infringement charges pressed on you.
