#1337x

1. choosing a torrent site

you need to find a torrent tracker website. some of them are legit, some of them are not. google is your friend (not really, but googling "legit torrent sites 2020" might be helpful).

ThePirateBay.org is one of the torrent legends. 100% legit, exists for ~15 years continuously, is absolutely unsinkable. a classic.

rarbg.to is your go-to place if you're searching for movies or shows. also legit.

1337x.to is my personal favourite. it looks shady, but is actually 100% okay.

obv there is much more torrent sites than those three, but I'm probably gonna list them in the separate post with links etc.

!BE CAREFUL! when I say "ThePirateBay.org" DON'T go to "ThePirateBay.com" or something. 1337x has a full set of official alternative domains listed on their "about" page. but if you go to an unofficial one you might put yourself at risk (of computer viruses, of getting your data stolen, of turning your computer into a bitcoin mine etc.). be smart, don't do that.

2. searching for a desired file

all of the torrent sites has searchbars. utilize them ;) search for the title of the show you want to find, or a movie, or a computer program, or a song, or a game.

think about what you need to get what you want. if you want a game or a program, it's obvious you need some kind of .exe file (or .iso). but if you think you've found a movie, and its filename is “movie_title.exe” then it's shady. find something different lol.

also, check the size. it should seem "legit" (one single episode of a SD TV show is ~300 MB, up to ~1 GB if it's HD. a movie can be a few GB if it's long and HD. games and programs might be bigger, but it depends. the heaviest file I've seen was like. 150+ GB. it was a pack of actually legal resources for learning spanish.)

check the comments (if available). usually some users have written "reviews" of the file. sometimes it's just "V: 10, A: 7,5" which is their opinion on video and audio quality (and it also means the file is somewhat legit (if it’s a video file ofc)). sometimes it's "SCAM!", "don't download it, it's virus" or "you liar it's not game of thrones it's just sasha grey's filmography". use your common sense to judge the legitimity of said comments ;)

3. checking the SE/LE ratio (the higher SE & the lower LE = the better)

SE (seeders) are users that have an entire file for download. the higher SE, the faster you'll download your file from them. LE (leechers) are users that are downloading the file currently, but aren't seeding it.

if SE is big then it's a popular torrent and will download FAST (depending on your internet connection of course). if SE = 1 then it may take. a little while longer. back in early 2000s downloading one single SD movie took like. 2 weeks.

4. magnet links vs torrent files

torrent file is an actual file you download and then have to open via torrent client to download your desired file.

magnet link is just a link you click and your torrent client downloads your desired file magically by itself.

magnet links are therefore simplier to use.

5. oh my we forgot about the torrent client!

torrent client is just a program that lets you open .torrent files. you download actual files via said program.

I personally like µTorrent (Win, Linux, macOS), but there are others like BitTorrent (Win, macOS, Android) or Vuze (Win, Linux, macOS). see what suits you best.

6. if you downloaded the torrent file, now you have to open it in your torrent client.

if you clicked the magnet link, it should open by itself in your torrent client.

now you just choose the download location and... wait. look at that % bar, slowly becoming fuller and fuller. that's it, that's your file, coming to you!

7. "I downloaded my file, now what?"

now. seed.

it means "leaving your torrent client turned on in the background and not deleting the .torrent file (if you haven't used the magnet link) nor moving your full, downloaded file from your computer"

it is not required, but it's just. nice of you to share what you've got with others.

8. if you're done with seeding, then you can delete your .torrent file

(if you're using µTorrent, there's an option to delete .torrent file OR delete .torrent file AND data. the first does exactly what it says, the second deletes .torrent file AND your downloaded file, so be careful)

9. and that's it! be gay, do crime!