How to Open a Torrent File

Downloading torrents is a great way to get high speed downloads

Downloading torrents is a high-speed way to get music, movies and other files from a network of users. A torrent file can be thought of as a bookmark to a file that is stored on the hard drives of many users around the globe. When you open a torrent file, you begin downloading different parts of the file from everyone who is sharing it. When you begin to download the file, another user will start to download pieces of the file from your computer. Torrents are a great way to download music, movies and whatever else you want from the net.

Things You'll Need

• A computer
• An Internet connection
• A torrent client (downloading program)

Instructions

1. Download and install a program to download torrents. Bittorrent (www.bittorrent.com) is a free, clean and widely-used client. There are many other programs as available as well, some with additional useful features, but others come with unwanted malware.

2. Install a good spyware program or backup your computer if you plan to download from un-checked or unknown sources. Windows Vista System Restore works well; for older versions of windows, install Norton Antivirus or any other reputable virus scanning program.

3. 

   Search the net for a torrent that you would like to download. Stick with a reputable site (see resources) because the world of torrents can be plagued with viruses if you're not careful. To better check if a file is virus-free, look at comments under the torrent details to see what other users are reporting.

4. Check the format of the torrent. If you have no idea how to open the file within the torrent, look for a different torrent that contains a file type you are more farmilar with, or figure out how to deal with the file type. File types like Winrar, zip, shn and flac can be intimidating at first, but it just takes a few minutes of research to figure out how to open/extract them.

5. 

   Check the torrent's popularity. If there is no one currently seeding (hosting the full file) or leeching (downloading), it will take much longer for you to get the file; search for a more popular torrent. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet with a slow download if the file you are requesting is rare.

6. Click the link on the page to download the torrent. The computer will then ask you what program to use to open the torrent file. Selcet Bittorrent (or whatever other program) from the list and hit ok. The torrent client should then open up and the file you requested will begin downloading. Wait until it reaches 100 percent, then virus scan and open the file and enjoy.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose a torrent with many seeds and leeches.

• Change the folder your downloads are saved in under Options > Preferences > Directories.

• You can change the bandwidth ratio of downloads and uploads, but allowing a healthy amount of upload bandwidth will give you a better rating and make downloading faster for everyone.

• There are many torrent sites that provide quality content mixed in with viruses and bunk files. Be careful what you download.

• Observe and follow all copyright laws when downloading.

Resources

• etree.org's live music bittorrent site
• 10 free and legal torrent sites