Your Preferred P2P Program?

[Mr. Anderson]

I'm trying to find a good one that I don't have to share with (for obvious reasons). List some good ones, much appreciated.

[guyver2077]

winmx...its great and no spyware

[jalu6]

Bit Torrent is the way to go. Right now, nothing better. (And you can't get caught)

[Mr. Anderson]

I'm curious about BitTorrent. How does it work?

[jmcc]

I'm curious about BitTorrent. How does it work?

You said you don't like sharing. Bit Torrent is all about sharing, constantly, in fact.

[guyver2077]

i used it at a point...its like you downloading a file and then your also uploading it to someone else..

[SneakyPenguin]

as you download something, other people dl the same thing from you, other people from them, and so on. everyone helps everyone else, and this increases dl speeds also.

[Mr. Anderson]

Sounds like a bunch of people wanting to get sued, real fast.

[PapiChullo]

I use MIRC, and I like that way better than any P2P program that I've used. You can serve if you want, but you don't have to.

[jalu6]

i used it at a point...its like you downloading a file and then your also uploading it to someone else..

Well, yes it is constantly sharing. But you said that you don't want to share for obvious reasons, which I can only assume means legal action and that sort of thing. But thats not the sort of problem you will have with bit torrent. its still mainly under the rader as far as the authorities are involved (for now). It has tons of great files and is faster than anything else I've ever used.

Check out a good faq here: http://www.dessent.net/btfaq

Of course, if you dont want to share, you may as well avoid P2P altogether. If no one shares, then theres no one to download off of, and the network ceases to exist. Most people who use P2P dont take to kindly to leechers anyway. It's like running around here telling everyone how you ripped off Walmart.

[st0neface]

You could go the route I do, and not use any P2P program at all.

[Mr. Anderson]

I use MIRC, and I like that way better than any P2P program that I've used. You can serve if you want, but you don't have to.

When I used to chat with MIRC, I always saw people saying download "blah blah", but I didn't understand it. How does it work?

[jalu6]

MIRC is good too. of course,it takes some learn'n to get into. and broadband is a must.

[Mr. Anderson]

I downloaded BitTorrent, but when I start it, it asks for a .torrent file. WTF?

[Alpha2]

basically all you;re doing with IRC is looking for people to give you ftp links to their stash, or using search bots to find them.

[PapiChullo]

The channels have bots that are servers with the files that they list on them. Then you enter a command that requests the file from that bot. If there's a slot open, they send you the file, if not then your file gets queued and sent when the slot is available. It's pretty simple to use once you get the hang of it. The only problem is finding good channels that have the files you want.

[jalu6]

yeah the bittorrent thing takes a little getting used to, but its a lot less complicated than it sounds.

instead of searching for a file and double clicking to download (like kazaa) what you have to do is search on the web for a torrent file (think of it as a weblink).

you save the torrent file to your HD, then open it in the program. you then connect to the "tracker" and everyone else downloading/uploading the file and in a few hours, its done. its incredibly handy for large files especially.

check out www.suprnova.org for the torrent files.

just today i downloaded a pretty good cam version of that "Girl Next Door" movie. it was terrible.

[Mr. Anderson]

That site is a broken link. I saw it on a message board, and it didn't work either. Cannot Find Server.

[Jujuboy]

I retyped it as supernova.org and it worked. I think he just made a typo.

[Mr. Anderson]

That's bootleg. It wants me to pay for something. To hell with that.

[jalu6]

No, its definately suprnova.org. Supernova.org is the pay site that tries to trick you into thinking its the good site. (For my other favorite example, try typing hotmale.com and see what happens). It looks like its down right now, which sort of happens a lot, but try again tomorrow morning.

[Rich]

Best P2P to go if you don't want to share is Kazaa Lite, and just don't allow uploading.

[Mr. Anderson]

Can you give me a link to the official Kazaa Lite site? Theres a million bootlegs.

[PapiChullo]

I was watching Tech TV, I think a couple weeks ago, and Kevin on The Screen Savers talked about Kazaa Lite Resurrection as well as some other underground P2P networks that he liked.

Here's a link to them, he also gives his own opinion on them.

http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/darktips/story/0,24330,3649806,00.html

[Battousai1002]

I think the official site is dead. You might want to ask someone for the latest version which is something like 2.4.3? You'll have a lot of trouble finding it on some site. I would give the zip to you if my firewall didn't block everything.

Btw, Direct Connect is very good for video game music.

edit: err...nvm. Looks like that TechTV thing has it at the bottom under "related articles." Click "Dark Tip: KaZaA Lite K++ Edition"

[jmcc]

You could get on usenet too, if you don't mind waiting for what you want to come up. If you're not going to share, though, you won't get many requests filled, if any.

[PapiChullo]

Btw, Direct Connect is very good for video game music.



Yeah, Direct Connect is another really good program I used to use. The only thing about using that is that a lot of the hubs have a minimum share requirement, some small (5 gb), some big (30+ gb). If you don't mind sharing, it's a great program, and I don't think it gets much heat by the RIAA.

[Mr. Anderson]

Ended up using LimeWire, which is what I had on my old Mac. Still the best.

[PapiChullo]

Cool, a few of my friends have used that, but I never did myself.

[eldad9]

I'm trying to find a good one that I don't have to share with (for obvious reasons). List some good ones, much appreciated.

That's the spirit! Take as much as you can, give nothing in return.

[Mr. Anderson]

"Take what you can" "Give nothing back"

My motto.

[rygar]

The best p2p program for you ultimately depends on what you are downloading and your downloading style.

Kazaa Lite: meh. I've never been too fond of kazaalite. for one, the people you always hear about getting busted use kazaa. but generally this shouldnt be a problem since you can disable uploads. it's good for getting things relatively quickly, but imo there are way too many fakes on that network for my liking. if i have to hear one more mp3 with weird glitching sounds 30 sec into it, i swear i'll throw my comp. out the window.

BitTorrent: yeah, it's fast, yeah, it's pretty easy to use, but whoever said that it was under the radar is dead wrong. I haven't used it in a while but I definately remember hearing about people getting in trouble with it...and it doesnt help that you have to upload exactly what you're downloading. also it's really only good for popular files that were just released.

irc: i haven't used this is a good 3-4 years but i doubt much has changed. it is very easy to leech, but the interface isnt always friendly and it takes some getting used to. maybe i was approaching it wrong but i absolutely hated this for filesharing. most of my time was spent in huuuuge queues and i dont think it was possible to d/l the same file off 2 people at the same time.

winmx: i thought this had spyware...someone correct me if I'm wrong.

eMule/eDonkey/overnet: these are all part of the ed2k network and is what i have been using consistently for the past 2 years. each file has a hash (like an id), and you can link to that file using its hash so that you know exactly what you are getting. there are link sites out there that post verified ed2k links to files so if you use these wisely you will never ever get a virus/fake--i never have. unfortunately the biggest and best of these sites, sharereactor, was shut down just under a month ago. The search function built into the program will suffice as well, but you just have to be careful with what you download. speeds an be slow but this all depends on your settings. also you are forced to upload. you are encouraged to u/l what you are d/l ing (there is a credit system) but i have found some ways around that if you want to u/l something that won't attract so much attention. however with emule it is more of a 'slow and steady' type of thing. speeds arent always phenomenal, but you'll get your file eventually-even the rare ones. often you also have to wait in long queues, but you can d/l off of multiple people (unlike irc, i think). emule works best if you have your comp on for long periods of time.

DC++/DirectConnect: I use this only because of school. (we have a bandwidth limit and dc++ activity doesnt contribute to it as long as it is beween residence halls). like someone said earlier there sometimes is a minimum about you have to share. I never liked this....I mean, how are you supposed to even get stuff to share if they kick you out because you arent sharing enough. speeds are pretty good (but perhaps this is because everyone on the hub is on a t3 line...).

[Mr. Anderson]

The best p2p program for you ultimately depends on what you are downloading and your downloading style.

Kazaa Lite: meh. I've never been too fond of kazaalite. for one, the people you always hear about getting busted use kazaa. but generally this shouldnt be a problem since you can disable uploads. it's good for getting things relatively quickly, but imo there are way too many fakes on that network for my liking. if i have to hear one more mp3 with weird glitching sounds 30 sec into it, i swear i'll throw my comp. out the window.

BitTorrent: yeah, it's fast, yeah, it's pretty easy to use, but whoever said that it was under the radar is dead wrong. I haven't used it in a while but I definately remember hearing about people getting in trouble with it...and it doesnt help that you have to upload exactly what you're downloading. also it's really only good for popular files that were just released.

irc: i haven't used this is a good 3-4 years but i doubt much has changed. it is very easy to leech, but the interface isnt always friendly and it takes some getting used to. maybe i was approaching it wrong but i absolutely hated this for filesharing. most of my time was spent in huuuuge queues and i dont think it was possible to d/l the same file off 2 people at the same time.

winmx: i thought this had spyware...someone correct me if I'm wrong.

eMule/eDonkey/overnet: these are all part of the ed2k network and is what i have been using consistently for the past 2 years. each file has a hash (like an id), and you can link to that file using its hash so that you know exactly what you are getting. there are link sites out there that post verified ed2k links to files so if you use these wisely you will never ever get a virus/fake--i never have. unfortunately the biggest and best of these sites, sharereactor, was shut down just under a month ago. The search function built into the program will suffice as well, but you just have to be careful with what you download. speeds an be slow but this all depends on your settings. also you are forced to upload. you are encouraged to u/l what you are d/l ing (there is a credit system) but i have found some ways around that if you want to u/l something that won't attract so much attention. however with emule it is more of a 'slow and steady' type of thing. speeds arent always phenomenal, but you'll get your file eventually-even the rare ones. often you also have to wait in long queues, but you can d/l off of multiple people (unlike irc, i think). emule works best if you have your comp on for long periods of time.

DC++/DirectConnect: I use this only because of school. (we have a bandwidth limit and dc++ activity doesnt contribute to it as long as it is beween residence halls). like someone said earlier there sometimes is a minimum about you have to share. I never liked this....I mean, how are you supposed to even get stuff to share if they kick you out because you arent sharing enough. speeds are pretty good (but perhaps this is because everyone on the hub is on a t3 line...).

Thanks for the info. I downloaded LimeWire, but I read a Tech TV article on eMule, so I'm itchin' to try that.

[JSweeney]

You could get on usenet too, if you don't mind waiting for what you want to come up. If you're not going to share, though, you won't get many requests filled, if any.

I'm surprised that took so long to even get mentioned... newsgroups have markedly more content flying around than the P2P networks..

[PsyClerk]

I started using Kazaa Lite recently. The last version that came out seems to be pretty good.

I tried eMule, but it seems mega-slow, not to mention I can't find a damn thing on the network.

I love mIRC. If you want to get fast, easy downloads via mIRC, install it and go to www.ircspy.com. You can look up files that are available for download off various bots on IRC. It also gives you info on those bots, so you can get an idea of how long it will take you to get a file. A friend of mine constantly downloads movies off IRC using ircspy. On a good server, he can get about 1.2 GB an hour.

With mIRC you can also try xgoogle.com. Similar to ircspy. However, ircspy tends to go down a good bit. On the other hand, xgoogle doesn't go down as often, but has a LOT of outdated info, so check entries after you search. I've gotten a lot of hits on xgoogle that aren't on IRC anymore (stuff that's 120+ days old).

Oh yeah, ircspy also has tutorials on how to use mIRC and their own site.

[WildWop]

FYI, for those that use bittorent, only download legal files. Be very careful if you're downloading pirated software or especially music and movies, since your IP is visible to anyone running the client. (in other words, if some FBI guy fires up the client on a popular file, EVERYONE he's connected to is at risk immediately)

If you want proof, the NYTimes interviewed the creator of BitTorrent, and he laughed about the fact that people feel they are safe to download whatever they want. I'd find the article for you, but I don't have a paid membership to the site, so it'd cost me $1.50 to pull it from the archives.

[JohnnyDrama]

Currently I'm using a P2P program called Ares. I've tried WinMX and iMesh, along with many others, but Ares is the one I've gotten used to quickly.

[GuilewasNK]

If you want to download without sharing, Usenet is good for everything. I recommend using the Xnews program for Usenet. It is a small and FREE download that can be found on download.com. It takes a little while to get used to but it is a great program (and MUCH better than Agent and Outlook).

I have used WinMX and thought that was good but sometimes its hard to get files because users will cut you off even if you have files to share. I had downloads for movies files that never completed after months of trying. I think WinMX is best for music.

eMule I have had better success with for movies but it can be slow going. eMule is good for videos and I ususally can complete my downloads with it.

Bittorent is great IMO. The program is small and no frills, the way I like my programs. If you use this, use the OFFICIAL Bittorent client. Some people like the unofficial ones that allow you to change your upload rate but people that run trackers can see if you aren't uploading much and may ban you. Bittorent is great for videos and archives (zips and rars, etc.) This is how filesharing should be. Share and share alike.

I used MiRC a long time ago (1998 I think). I thought it was good but I really need to try it now before I comment further.

[alongx]

bit torrent rocks. end of story.

[bignick]

I like mirc because it is not user friendly. It keeps all the kids off of it. Just look at napsterm everyone and their mom was on it and look what happened. If you find a good server on mirc, there will be tons of fast mp3 channels.

[Quackzilla]

Bittorrent is very good. When a new patch or demo is released and there are a lot of people on the downloads used to go really fast.

Of course, now there are a bunch of smacktard leechers that are always slowing it down.

If you leech, please die. You are a dishonest dirty peice of crap scum of society peice of shit.

[Mr Unoriginal]

I don't know if anyone else has had this problem with BitTorrent, but when my housemate (who is on the same network) uses this program, my internet connection slows down to an almost unusuable rate. Is there anything I can ask him to do without asking him to stop downloading his beastiality porn.

[PsyClerk]

If you leech, please die. You are a dishonest dirty peice of crap scum of society peice of shit.

Don't mince words, tell us how you really feel.

[daphatty]

P2P is "Noobware." BitTorrent is P2P made much harder to keep grandma from messing with it. IRC is infested with spammers and virus kiddies. Usenet is where it's at.

And for you Xnews users. There is a new alternative. It's called Newsleecher. Look it up. Unless you post to text groups, you will never go back to Xnews.

[jmcc]

I don't know if anyone else has had this problem with BitTorrent, but when my housemate (who is on the same network) uses this program, my internet connection slows down to an almost unusuable rate. Is there anything I can ask him to do without asking him to stop downloading his beastiality porn.

Yeah, there's some alternative bit torrent programs that allow you to adjust your download/upload rates. Tell him to get one of those and cap it to half of your connection's max bandwidth.

[GuilewasNK]

If you leech, please die. You are a dishonest dirty peice of crap scum of society peice of ****

I agree leechers bring the whole thing down but we shouldn't say they are dishonest. If we do that, that is the pot caling the kettle black because technically the whole idea of downloading other peoples intellectual properties without paying for them is dishonest in most peoples eyes in the first place.

[jalu6]

I don't know if anyone else has had this problem with BitTorrent, but when my housemate (who is on the same network) uses this program, my internet connection slows down to an almost unusuable rate. Is there anything I can ask him to do without asking him to stop downloading his beastiality porn.

yeah, i had this problem too. you are saturating your upstream. you need to download a bit torrent client that lets you cap how much you are uploading. if you upload too much at one time, your download drops since your computer cant tell the ones you are downloading from that you got the data.

I started using this client and capped my global upload to 10kb/s and ive been able to use surf the net and all since then.

http://azureus.sourceforge.net/

[WildWop]

Usenet is hit or miss, though, as most ISPs have some kind of download restrictions set. I used Usenet all the time back at school (Adelphia), but found it impossible to get anything useful here at home (Comcast).

[GuilewasNK]

And for you Xnews users. There is a new alternative. It's called Newsleecher. Look it up. Unless you post to text groups, you will never go back to Xnews.

I'll check that out when I get off of work. I am a big fan of Xnews and if you say you'll never go back, it must be something worthy of looking at. Also, I agree that usenet is where it is at. The only bad thing is that my ISP (Earthlink) has a 5GB download limit per 30 days. After that your speed gets cut back to about 7 or 8kb per second. Because of that I gotta be selective with what I download. Earthlink's retention is decent but they don't add new groups often enough.

[jmcc]

Usenet is hit or miss, though, as most ISPs have some kind of download restrictions set. I used Usenet all the time back at school (Adelphia), but found it impossible to get anything useful here at home (Comcast).

Due to download speeds or the server breaking binary posts? Because the latter problem has been largely remedied with the advent of par and par2 files.

[Steggy]

Warez, its a good small p2p with a lot of files.

[organicow]

does no one use SoulSeek these days? its great because you only have to share with people you meet in a chat-room type setup.

[daphatty]

Usenet is hit or miss, though, as most ISPs have some kind of download restrictions set. I used Usenet all the time back at school (Adelphia), but found it impossible to get anything useful here at home (Comcast).

Then you really haven't used USENET. Comcast does suck. Verizon, however, is really good. As you said. ISP support of USENET is hit or miss. But if you rely on your ISP as your sole link to USENET, then you really shouldn't be using it at all. Get a pay service. A good unlimited pay service will start at $15 a month. Trust me. It will pay for itself in no time. Going over to USENET is like getting laid for the first time. It changes you in so many ways it's not even funny.

[Syncmaster]

I've always used kazaa, but now I use kazaa lite (get it at techtv.com) it's the best, but I think it's called Edonkey? That's good too. Some other people use WINMX, but I like Kazaa Lite overall of them.

[famousmort]

I still can't figure out IRC, I think it's a matter of patience and perhaps my firewall isn't helping...

I use eMule as an all-purpose program, and get new-ish anime thru Bit Torrent. Anyone looking for new unlicensed anime should check Animesuki.com for legit torrents, they organize all the ethical fansubbers.

For holes in the collection I use Direct Connect (worked better for me than DC++).