Anyone got "BitTorrent"?

[pokemon_master]

Hey guys, I have read the Howstuffworks.com article on BitTorrent, and I understand the principles involved. I would like to try it, but before I do I would like other people's opinions; I don't won't to do anything stupid and get into a lot of trouble with my dad.

So, does anyone have BitTorrent?

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

I did over a year ago. You have to be careful. A lot of these BitTorrent sitesdump a lot of undesirables on your harddrive. Remember, you are opening a "port" to the outside world when you use them.

 

[arieliwish]

I have BitComet which I use infrequently but so far i've been lucky I think with no problems. A friend had edonkey and was sure it caused all kinds of trojans and things to come in. Another friend of mine has azureus which he uses all the time and downloads loads of stuff. i would look into it further and find out what kind of anti virus/spyware you need to be safe.

Lynn

 

[Minniespal]

I downloaded BitTorrent but only because I wanted to get Expedition Everest BGM. I deleted the program once I had the music safely in my ITunes. Slowed my laptop down a little until I had deleted it.

 

[AndRu]

You need to be aware that programs like this want you to open up firewalls and ports to allow connections to / from other machines. Once these are open your machine can be subjected to a whole range of nasty items. Whilst on the subject, a simple uninstall of the torrent program will not close the ports or reset your security settings. In some cases, your machine can still be a virtual "open house".

Best bet? Don't use Torrent or any downloading / file sharing software unless you're prepared to take the risks.

 

[lizbro]

i have bitcomet and use it a lot but my golden rule is to scan anything i have downloaded with avg or any other anti virus software you have before opening anything ,mostly its all been ok but there has been the odd time when the scan has revealed something nasty lurking in the file and i just delete it then without opening it

 

[Tron[ADS]]

Although I have bit torrent, I rarely use it.
If you are wanting to use it for downloading anything not entirely legal, bittorrent has the disadvantage in that it works on sharing principles, ie you have to contribute (upload) as well as download.....and if you look at the cases where people have been prosecuted, I doubt you will find anyone ever prosecuted for just downloading something.....its uploading/sharing that is bad in the eyes of the authorities.

I personaly don't use bittorrent as it often isnt quick enough for me as it relies on others sharing bandwidth, meaning it often slows down near the end of files, and rarely goes at your connections capability.

I stick with usenet...full speed constant 240k/sec on my 2mbit connection, and anything new gets posted on usenet before the torrent-boys get hold of it. And, you never have to upload or share anything.
The downside of usenet is, if you dont get it free from your ISP (rare these days), it costs about $15 a month.

 

[Cyrano]

Best bet? Don't use Torrent or any downloading / file sharing software unless you're prepared to take the risks.

Good advice

 

[pokemon_master]

Thanks for all the advice guys; the whole reason I was comtemplating getting this was because there was this song which I couldn't find anywhere at all; they didn't release the ablum in the shops nor did iTunes have it at all, so I wondered if BitTorrent had it.

Truth betold, I found the song uploaded onto another site anyway. I Downloaded it, then scanned it with my Antivirus and it checks out OK. So I get to keep my song now.

Again, thanks for the advice guys!