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[Juanca]

this topic came from a question a member asked me.....and i found it interesting to know about.

I used to have bit-comet and had very good experiences with it....
but then i stopped to use it because I read many thigns about security and viruses and malware.
Is there any safe way to use torrents and benefit from them, is a torrent provider safer than another (bit comet, or bit torrent or etc?)


PD: IF this topic is a "Tabu" or "politically incorrect" to have it here please erase it and accept my apologies:rulez:

[_r.u.s.s.]

uh wow.. hard to start explaining your misconception of torrents, i believe somebody else will do the good job

i will just say that there are no security measures and viruses going through your "torrents", unless you download them for yourself

and why tabu, torrents are normal file transfer method such as http or ftp, it doesn't have to be used for illegal filesharing

[Juanca]

Originally Posted by _r.u.s.s.

uh wow.. hard to start explaining your misconception of torrents, i believe somebody else will do the good job

i will just say that there are no security measures and viruses going through your "torrents", unless you download them for yourself

and why tabu, torrents are normal file transfer method such as http or ftp, it doesn't have to be used for illegal filesharing

sorry for my misconception R.u.s.s. and i must admit That i am completely illiterate about the matter
What i have done so far is to run a small program called bit-comet (wich looks like a browser to me) and downloaded huge files after configuring all the program thanks to a guide. Even tough i have understood all that i was doing, i am not an expert and certainly i do not know the technical words for each thing on this topic. I did successfully some downloads at a very good speed rate (really amazing!!) and never had any of the commmon problems people had. I never even had any problem of viruses or malware.

but then i read some articles against all this and the scurity flaws and then i unsintalled all that stuff.

but anyway I think you understood.

I was asking about tabu, not because of the torrent itself (as you explain it in a very legal and beautifull way) but for what it is related usually (warez, piracy, etc..). and you never know.....

So maybe the question on this topic should be:
Any tips for a safe experience on the "torrent file transfer method". is there any difference with the other methods (http or ftp ) that would make it more or less vulnearble to security?

[The Fifth Horseman]

First of all, don't grab a torrent that has just been uploaded to a public tracker. Malware and fakes are frequent problems there. Wait until a few other people have downloaded it first, and check if they left any complaints.

As for security flaws, do you think Windows doesn't have any?

Any tips for a safe experience on the "torrent file transfer method". is there any difference with the other methods (http or ftp ) that would make it more or less vulnearble to security?

Don't download the latest 0-days unless you're on a trusted - this means PRIVATE - tracker. Use protocol encryption. Don't use default ports.

[Juanca]

Originally Posted by The Fifth Horseman

First of all, don't grab a torrent that has just been uploaded to a public tracker. Malware and fakes are frequent problems there. Wait until a few other people have downloaded it first, and check if they left any complaints.

As for security flaws, do you think Windows doesn't have any?


Don't download the latest 0-days unless you're on a trusted - this means PRIVATE - tracker. Use protocol encryption. Don't use default ports.

Got it! for the recent torrents and I always felt like this when i tried it in the past.
What is protocol encryption and how do i do it. Does this have to do with the firewall?
And what do you mean by "default ports", how do i change them?



Now, I have used in the past Bitcomet and had a good experience with it.
I did a little search and find out that the most popular software for torrent are
bitcomet
bittorrent and utorrent

i don see much difference between the last two programs but there must be a big difference with the first one (i mean the first one is 5 megs and the last ones are less than 1 meg)
what is the main difference?
Which one would you recommend? and why against the others?

[The Fifth Horseman]

What is protocol encryption and how do i do it. Does this have to do with the firewall?
And what do you mean by "default ports", how do i change them?

Both are in your client program's settings somewhere.

i don see much difference between the last two programs but there must be a big difference with the first one (i mean the first one is 5 megs and the last ones are less than 1 meg)
what is the main difference?
Which one would you recommend? and why against the others?

*shrug* uTorrent works fine for me, never tried other clients. Ain't broken don't fix it.

[Juanca]

Thanks a lot Fifth and R.u.s.s.
I think i Will reinstall the client program and give a try again to this wonderful method of transfering files.:thumbs:

If anyone knows pros or cons against
Bitcomet, bittorrent or utorrent
they are most than welcome.

[gregor]

you might not get what you wanted... so it pays off to read user's comments sometimes.

[The Fifth Horseman]

If anyone knows pros or cons against
Bitcomet, bittorrent or utorrent
they are most than welcome.

From what I know, uTorrent is the one with lowest system requirements.

[Juanca]

Yes you are right.

According to cnet,
Bitcomet is the most popular with more than 66 million downloads
then comes bittorrent with 14 million and utorrent with 3 million

what i could notice is that not only utrorrent is the one with the minimum requirements but also the most minimalist and simlistic of all.

Bitcomet is very user friendly in the sense that it has an interface very similar to the one of a browser and also shows all its utilities in a more explicit way. Maybe that's the reason why so many people prefer it...

Utorrent and Bittorrent are more minimalist in their interface but claim almost all the features that bitcomet has...

It is important to note that according to many persons the speed you get downloading a file has nothing to do with the program you are using but with the seeding you are having for the file you want and the right configuration of your program.

As i said before, in the past i used to work with bitcomet and had very good results and seemed to me very friendly.
The only thing is that in that time (i don't know now) you had to configure many settings manually to get good speeds and make it work properly (it is not hard but you have to do it)... What i read about utorrent and i find very tempting is that it has an automatic configuration system and the program finds the best settings for your type of connection and system...Is this true?