chrib's basic guide to torrenting

updated Wednesday, March 8th, 2023 | 8:00 PM

warning! use of torrenting to try to download pirated material is illegal in many countries! chrib.blog does not condone or endorse pirating in any way, shape, or form!

i noticed a while ago that we were in a torrenting drought. nobody knew how to do it or what was going on. i learned how to torrent when i was 7 years old. i needed macromedia flash to make this really cute dress-up doll maker. i was grounded for 6 months -- not because it was illegal, but because i was doing it wrong.

torrenting, i think, will be very important during pluto in aquarius' transit. it's literally peer-to-peer file sharing and a reminder that we keep eachother alive.

what is a torrent?

a torrent is a way of sharing files between computers over the internet. instead of downloading a file from a single source, a torrent divides the file into small pieces and distributes them among a large network of computers so it's easier to download. it's shared through a decentralized, peer-to-peer (P2P) network.

how does it work?

you're downloading the large file through pieces of said file on other people's computers. usually you can download the torrent file, which contains info on the file you wanna download and the trackers that manage that network. usually you're going to download that file from a seeder. we like seeders. seeders are the computers that have the complete file and upload it for others to download.

if you're not a seeder, then you're a leecher. a leecher is a computer that is downloading the file from others.

when it comes to the file you want to download, you ideally want to have a good ratio of seeders to leechers.

if there is a lot of seeders and very few leechers, the file is in good health and depending on your connection, you'll download said file pretty quickly. this is for more established torrents that have been on the network for a while.

on the flip side -- if there's many leechers and not many seeders, it will be a while before you get that file. not many people have the full file, so you're getting the pieces everyone else has!

that's why it's important to seed!!! but more on that later!

ok, i'm ready. what do i need? how do i get started?

you will need the following:

now, it's time to get started!

yea... excited ahh 😭

naw but fr this is going to be from the perspective of a windows user using qBitTorrent... but it's like... the same stuff hehe

i am using completely legal files to demonstrate this.

step one, get your link

what does a torrent link look like? it usually has .torrent at the end. there are also magnet links, where the url says magnet: usually ... and then a bunch of gibberish xkdjfdue483r letters. the point isn't to remember what the links look like, just click it!

it's a link to a torrent!

step 2, click your link

now you're gonna wanna, uh... click it. in most browsers, it'll pop up in your downloads file looking like this for torrents:

it's a download to a torrent!

or, you're blessed enough to click the magnet, which will just open up the file straight up. it'll look like this.

it's a screenshot to a torrent!

you literally have to do nothing here except press okay most times.

step 3, download the content

you just gotta wait. remember, it depends on the amount of "peers" and "seeders" connected, as well as your own connection. plenty of people are seeding this + i have high speed internet, so i got this in a few seconds!

it's a download of a torrent!

once it's done, click on the torrent and in most cases, you just need to extract the contents and boom!

it's really simple for the most part. if you don't know how to torrent, then this little guide will do the job in most cases BUT PLEASE REMEMBER -- piracy is illegal and stealing shit from people who are trying to get by is shittier than stealing from companies who overcharge and can afford the loss. be mindful!

now that i know the basics, it's time for me to start getting any program i want!!!

not so fast!! you didn't fucking listen bitch it's ILLEGAL!!! not to mention, you don't know what you're doing. you see PHOTOSHOP CRACK WAREZ.exe and think because you saw this tutorial you hit the motherlode. for me to leave you with the basics and not teach you at least HARM REDUCTION, then that's just ridiculous.

you need to start training your eye to sites. tpb is no longer an option.

lets try some of these sites, BASED on the r/FREEMEDIAHECKYEAH subreddit (which, mega wiki? mandatory reading, will explain torrenting far better than this baby guide...)