Would someone be kind enough to explain what Torrents are all about?

Are there different kinds? Are they safe to use? Are they spyware? etc?

basically their used for downloading large files through what's called a p2p (peer to peer) connection. So you can download like tons of gigs of videos, photos, sound files, what have you through using bitorrent applications such as uTorrent.

EliteMaster16 said:

basically their used for downloading large files through what's called a p2p (peer to peer) connection. So you can download like tons of gigs of videos, photos, sound files, what have you through using bitorrent applications such as uTorrent.

Correct. There's just alot of shady torrents out there, BUT not all are.

You just need to be careful with them.

WARNING!

be very careful if you start playing with torrents.

there are lots and lots and lots of illegal ones out there.

there are lots of nasty idiots who infect torrents with viruses, trojans and the like.

make sure you have very good up-to-date anti-virus/spyware software. SCAN EVERYTHING!

many isps limit torrent usage at peak hours.

realise that uploading torrents slows down your internet speed.


(PS how do you do warning boxes?)

derekimo said:

It all depends on what they are and where they come from, some are useful

others can be really bad news.

BitTorrent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks for fixing the link John.

I have never seen a "bad news" torrent before.

JonM33 said:

derekimo said:

It all depends on what they are and where they come from, some are useful

others can be really bad news.

BitTorrent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks for fixing the link John.

I have never seen a "bad news" torrent before.

Doesn't mean they aren't out there, you're just lucky I guess.

JonM33 said:

I have never seen a "bad news" torrent before.

they do exist, in large numbers. you're lucky you haven't found one yet.

derekimo said:

Doesn't mean they aren't out there, you're just lucky I guess.

mickey megabyte said:

they do exist, in large numbers. you're lucky you haven't found one yet.

I have been using BitTorrent since 2005, downloaded thousands of them. One private tracker that I have been using for the past 2 years shows over 3TB of traffic downloaded and 700 torrents in my history.

No "bad news" from any of them. It's not luck either. What do you consider "bad"?