help me bit torrent users

ive downloaded aa bit torrent client and have started to download a file from supernova, but why does the small download box just seem to be going slow as hell- i think it said 0% downloaded for over an hour!. surely this is a shit way to get files? or am i doing something wrong?

puff the magic dragon

thanks that really helpfull.....modo

Are you behind a router? if so, you need to open ports 6881-6999 TCP. Software firewalls can be troublesome as well. I’ve never had a DL sit at 0% for that long unless I forgot to forward those ports on my router... another thing to check is the number of seeds for that particular torrent... If any of the above applies, make the changes, if not, post back with more info.

does carrying out those changes not take away my computers firewall or something, wont that mean im open to loads of as/spy ware ect, or am i gettin confused with something else?

If you are behind a router you don’t have much choice, or the DL will crawl. I recommend a software firewall as a second line of defense, even if you are using a hardware firewall (router). Spyware typically comes from bad software, websites, etc. What you need to be more concerned with when opening ports is that this exposes your computer to potential hackers.

I guess to sum it up:

If you are using a router, you’ll need to open the ports listed. Run a software firewall as a backup.

If you are only running a software firewall, again, you’ll have to configure it to allow connection to the BT client.

If you need a software firewall, try out Sygate’s free firewall:

http://smb.sygate.com/download/download.php?pid=spf

There is a chance that there aren’t many seeds/peers available for the torrent you are trying to DL? Perhaps try another and see if you have better results...

I just got Bit Torrent I went on Suprnova but when ever I click on a file I just get a new page full of garbled text.