How to download using Torrent

There are actually a lot of step-by-step HowTos for downloading torrent files found on the Internet. I just thought of creating one myself to remind me of I actually do it myself.

What is a Torrent?

According to Wikipedia:

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) communications protocol. BitTorrent is a method of distributing large amounts of data widely without the original distributor incurring the entire costs of hardware, hosting, and bandwidth resources. Instead, when data is distributed using the BitTorrent protocol, each recipient supplies pieces of the data to newer recipients, reducing the cost and burden on any given individual source, providing redundancy against system problems, and reducing dependence on the original distributor.

Basically it is a variety of P2P much like the Kazaa, Limewire and Morpheus.

How to download torrent files:

1) Download a torrent installer. As of now, I am currently using BitComet which is available at http://www.BitComet.com. It is free and although it is not quite as popular as uTorrent and Azureus, it is user-friendly and has a lot of options in it. Install it on your PC and you're good to go.

2) Search target files to be downloaded on popular torrent sites with a high number of seeds. It is important to note that the specific torrent file has a lot of seeders and not just leechers themselves. Seeders are actually the number of downloaders who also share the file both of you are currently downloading or the uploader himself sharing the file.

Some sites with the best torrent searches (and quality seeds):

http://www.demonoid.com
http://www.mininova.org
http://www.thepiratebay.org
http://www.isohunt.com
http://www.torrentz.com
http://www.torrentportal.com

Note: You may also look for the comments posted on the torrent itself to find out whether it is a fake, troll or contains virus.

3) After searching, you can either download or open the ".torrent" file in it. You can open in via the torrent downloader you've currently installed. As for BitComet, go to File Menu -> Open Torrent. Locate the file in you'd like to download. Choose which partition on your hard disk you'd like to store the file being downloaded.

Note: The torrent file already allocates the whole storage for the file you will be downloading even if you haven't finished downloading it yet.

4) After downloading, verify the status of your download on the Download column. If the torrent file you've downloaded contains a lot of files, you may either choose your target files first in the Files Portion on the lower right portion of BitComet. You can check the file you want to download first or queue it and set it on a higher or lower priority depending on your choice or you may opt not to download it at all. Once the download's percentage is 100%, your download is now complete.

And that's it! I hope you had fun downloading torrents!