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Saturday, January 14, 2006
Using BitTorrent to get Movies...
Ok, so here's the skinny on the best way at the moment for getting movies off the net for free, I'll try to make this fairly straight forward...
1) Download & Install a BitTorrent Client - I like ABC, there are other quite popular BitTorrent clients out there, but ABC works well, is quick and easy to use...
DOWNLOAD HERE - http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pingpong-abc/ABC-win32-v3.1.exe?download, the install is fairly straight forward, you can prob. leave most of the defaults. Once it's install, you will want to change the default port (if you're using Rogers as your ISP) - Within ABC, from the File menu, choose Preferences, select Network, and then enter 1720 as the Port, click Ok.
2) Open up a Port on your Router - If your PC is behind a Router, you will need to log into it and open up the Port that you'll use in ABC. I can't really give you detailed instructions on how to do this as it'd be different for every make/model of router. Once you've logged in, look for a section called 'NAT' or 'APPLICATIONS' or something like that, for Protocol, if it asks for TCP or UDP, just choose both, and for Port, I'd recommend 1720, this isn't the default, but Rogers is filtering the default port so using 1720 ensures you get faster speeds.
3) Visit a decent BitTorrent tracker site - My personal fav at the moment is Mininova, but I think Torrent Spy and Pirate Bay are also decent... You can search on titles of movies from here, and if you find one you like click the appropriate link and you'll be prompted on what to do with the .torrent file, just choose 'Open', and this should open automatically within ABC and you'll see that it's downloading... You can track the progress is ABC, once it's done, enjoy! Keep in mind that these web sites WILL come and go, so always check around for new sites, where can you find them? Read more below...
Here are some decent links/tutorials you might want to check out for more learning/info...
VCD Quality - http://www.vcdquality.com/ - This is a great site that tracks new 'RELEASES', if you're desperate to get a movie BEFORE it comes out on DVD, checking this site and checking the reviews of a particular release is useful so you can try to find a Screener of suitable quality worth downloading... Once you've found one that seems to be Ok, search the tracker site for that particular release (by including the type of release and name of the group in your query).
BitTorrent Tutorial - http://wiki.theppn.org/index.php/BitTorrent_Tutorial - Move info on BitTorrent, includes info on several other BitTorrent clients...
Zero Paid - http://www.zeropaid.com/ - This is an all around good site to follow info and trends on Peer-2-Peer (P2P) file sharing... Forums, links to site, tutorials, etc...
* If you've downloaded a movie, but when you try to play it you don't hear any sound, or you can't see the video, or Windows Media Player gives you some type of Codec error, you probably need to get DIVX or XVID or some Audio Codec. I'd recommend you get a Codec Pack, it'll probably have everything you need... Something like this: http://www.divx-digest.com/software/acemega_codec.html
** WARNING ** - Always beware when you start to get into downloading software off the net, especially if it's grey area stuff that you be wary, make sure your Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software is installed, working and up-to-date! ¶ 10:55 PM
1) Download & Install a BitTorrent Client - I like ABC, there are other quite popular BitTorrent clients out there, but ABC works well, is quick and easy to use...
DOWNLOAD HERE - http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pingpong-abc/ABC-win32-v3.1.exe?download, the install is fairly straight forward, you can prob. leave most of the defaults. Once it's install, you will want to change the default port (if you're using Rogers as your ISP) - Within ABC, from the File menu, choose Preferences, select Network, and then enter 1720 as the Port, click Ok.
2) Open up a Port on your Router - If your PC is behind a Router, you will need to log into it and open up the Port that you'll use in ABC. I can't really give you detailed instructions on how to do this as it'd be different for every make/model of router. Once you've logged in, look for a section called 'NAT' or 'APPLICATIONS' or something like that, for Protocol, if it asks for TCP or UDP, just choose both, and for Port, I'd recommend 1720, this isn't the default, but Rogers is filtering the default port so using 1720 ensures you get faster speeds.
3) Visit a decent BitTorrent tracker site - My personal fav at the moment is Mininova, but I think Torrent Spy and Pirate Bay are also decent... You can search on titles of movies from here, and if you find one you like click the appropriate link and you'll be prompted on what to do with the .torrent file, just choose 'Open', and this should open automatically within ABC and you'll see that it's downloading... You can track the progress is ABC, once it's done, enjoy! Keep in mind that these web sites WILL come and go, so always check around for new sites, where can you find them? Read more below...
Here are some decent links/tutorials you might want to check out for more learning/info...
VCD Quality - http://www.vcdquality.com/ - This is a great site that tracks new 'RELEASES', if you're desperate to get a movie BEFORE it comes out on DVD, checking this site and checking the reviews of a particular release is useful so you can try to find a Screener of suitable quality worth downloading... Once you've found one that seems to be Ok, search the tracker site for that particular release (by including the type of release and name of the group in your query).
BitTorrent Tutorial - http://wiki.theppn.org/index.php/BitTorrent_Tutorial - Move info on BitTorrent, includes info on several other BitTorrent clients...
Zero Paid - http://www.zeropaid.com/ - This is an all around good site to follow info and trends on Peer-2-Peer (P2P) file sharing... Forums, links to site, tutorials, etc...
* If you've downloaded a movie, but when you try to play it you don't hear any sound, or you can't see the video, or Windows Media Player gives you some type of Codec error, you probably need to get DIVX or XVID or some Audio Codec. I'd recommend you get a Codec Pack, it'll probably have everything you need... Something like this: http://www.divx-digest.com/software/acemega_codec.html
** WARNING ** - Always beware when you start to get into downloading software off the net, especially if it's grey area stuff that you be wary, make sure your Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software is installed, working and up-to-date! ¶ 10:55 PM
