Windows 7: torrents

are they good?
i've never downloaded them
cause i think most of them would be viruses
i heard there pretty slow at downloading
i'm sick of using megavideo

Bit torrent is a file sharing service that stores the files on users' computers instead of a main server.

It is commonly associated with piracy, although not always.

Torrent is not trusted as the most reliable and safe source. There are many of them with viruses and other junk.

Much of the content on the sites that collect torrents is pirated music, movies, and adult content, but there are some good programs like Linux distros also.

For the interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent_%28protocol%29

'Torrenting' or P2P sharing can be a fast way to download software from small companies and developers who have no other way to distribute their software to a wide audience quickly. However torrenting much more widely used for distributing illegal, cracked, hacked and infected software.

Torrenting is something that may have some benefits if you have a particularly fast download speed, which downloads via http and ftp cannot meet, but of course this relies on how many people are leeching and seeding the torrent at anyone time (the more seeders the faster the download).

I NEVER USE TORRENTS TO DOWNLOAD ILLEGAL/CRACKED SOFTWARE and neither should you if you start torrenting.

I generally see torrenting as my last option for downloading software (if I have a very slow download or it the http download has to be recombined once downloaded for it to work properly which is too much hassle for me)

A round up of the downsides of torrenting follows:

Constant leaching and seeding, unless you have an SSD, can significantly reduce hard drive life

The speed of your download is totally reliant on others seeding it to you.

It is impossible to tell if a torrent contains a virus until its too late.

Your ISP may lock down torrenting ports to 10kb/s as peek periods.

A list of upsides follows this.

Can be the fastest way to download programs from small developers.

Can be an easier way to download large files from developers who have to split the file up into segments to be able to offer it via http or ftp.

I hope this can show you some of the pros and cons of torrenting, there a many more to consider but in my opinion these are all the major ones.

Oli

P.S. If you do want to start torrenting I recommend uTorrent (Torrent - a (very) tiny BitTorrent client)

The two answers that you have been given are correct. I for another do not use torrents unless it is an absolute necessity. I am using all types of protection software to stay away from the nasties. In addition, I use my common sense for protection.

Helping out at the forum has introduced me to many cases of torrent virus that has done significant damage to the poster's computer. Try to stay away, unless a necessity.

They can be.

The majority of infected torrents are those that contain executable files (ie applications / cracks / keygens etc) and are primarily available on 'public trackers'.

Video content is generally safe. However any d/l video that requires you to install a 3rd party app to view the file, should be avoided like the plague.

well...
1. bittorrent is a protocol. It can be used for good or wrong, just like IRC, email, HTTP (web). You can download illegal stuff with HTTP just as well.
2.Bittorrent is often used to spread or obtain illegal content, warez, music, movies etc. That is only because it such a good protocol to handle large files. If HTTP were better, its what pirates would use.
3.rationale:
Lots of people downloading via HTTP -> Slow download speeds
Few people downloading via HTTP - > Fast download speeds
Lots of people downloading via Bittorrent -> Fast download speeds
Few people downloading via Bittorrent -> Slow download speeds
4.some browsers (Opera) have bittorrent capability built-in

so....anything can be bad if used in bad way for bad things and vice-versa

If you rightclick scan a downloaded Torrent in the Downloads folder just after it has finished downloading, using your installed AV, Malwarebytes, and Spybot, then it is much safer than executing it without doing so which is soon going to catch up with you.

However, I have cleaned up several computers that were infected because the .rar or .iso file couldn't be properly scanned while zipped up and virus launched when it was extracted.

I don't think one can be certain that virus won't launch when unzipping to scan it, either. Others may know for sure as I rarely use torrents and only when there is no other way to get software for clean reinstall with legal Product Key.