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Wondering if BitTorrent is safe? You've come to the right place
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Torrenting is one of the most popular forms of peer-to-peer file-sharing, allowing you to download essentially any file you want. But are BitTorrent and other torrenting apps safe? There are inherent risks associated with torrenting, but there are things you can do to reduce the risk involved in downloading torrents. This wikiHow article teaches you how to download torrents safely, with expert tips from computer expert Luigi Oppido.
Is torrenting safe?
Downloading torrents is safe if you protect your devices and hide your activity. Risks include downloading viruses and malware that could damage your device or compromise your privacy. Additionally, you could download copyrighted material, which could lead to fines or throttling of your internet service.
Steps
Section 1 of 4:
Avoiding Viruses and Malware
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Ensure that you have an antivirus installed. Oppido explains that viruses can come from anywhere, and that includes torrents. You should have a good malware detection program and an antivirus program on your computer to protect against malicious torrents.
- Windows comes with Windows Defender, which is perfectly sufficient for catching most viruses. It's enabled by default as long as you don't have any other antivirus program installed.
- If you'd prefer, you can install a third-party antivirus like Malwarebytes or AVG.
- See How to Install an Antivirus for instructions on picking and installing an antivirus program.
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Check the comments before downloading. This isn't a bulletproof way to stay safe while torrenting, but reading the comments section of the torrent can help you determine if it contains any viruses. If there are a lot of comments but nothing about a potential virus, then chances are better that it doesn't have one. If lots of comments talk about viruses, you probably want to avoid that torrent.Advertisement
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Look for torrents with lots of seeders. Lots of seeders generally mean that the torrent is free from viruses. This is because others have checked and found no viruses, and then started sharing it. While this certainly is not a guarantee, it can help you whittle down the list. A lot of seeders will also result in a faster transfer. [1] X Research source
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4Avoid files that seem too good to be true. Files that purport to have unreleased movies or albums, leaked files or media, or free (cracked) software that is normally paid usually contain viruses or malware. These torrents should be avoided at all costs.
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Avoid file types that are prone to viruses. Try not to download torrents for programs, as executable files, script files, or package files (i.e., “.exe”, “.bat”, “.apk”, “.dmg”, “.pkg” files). These files are the most common way of transmitting viruses and malware. Cracked programs are the most dangerous files you can download through torrents.
- If you are downloading movies or music, make sure the files contained in the torrent are media files, such as “.mp3”, “.mp4”, or “.mov” files.
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6Scan downloaded files before opening them. Once a torrent file is finished downloading, scan the files with your antivirus program before opening them. You can also use a file analyzer like VirusTotal to check downloaded torrents for malware.
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Join a private torrent community. If you can get an invite to a private torrent community, you're much less likely to get a torrent with a virus. This is because the torrents are all created and shared by members of that community, so they should be much more trustworthy. It can be difficult to get into a private community, as you usually need to know someone who can give you an invite. The best way to do this is to be active in various online communities and befriend someone who has access to a torrent community.
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Section 3 of 4:
Using a Trusted Torrent Client
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1Download and install a trusted torrenting program. You need a torrent program to download torrents, but not all torrent clients are secure and private. Make sure you download a safe, trusted application from the official website and not a third-party site. The following are some torrent clients you can use:
- qBittorrent: qBittorent is one of the most popular torrent clients. It is free and open-source, meaning anyone can examine the source code and verify that it doesn’t contain any malware. It has a simple interface that is good for beginners or people who just want to download and don’t want to deal with a complex setup.
- Deluge: Deluge is another popular torrent client. Like qBittorrent, it is free and open-source. Deluge offers more advanced options and the ability to install plug-ins. It seems very barebones out of the box, but you can customize it using plug-ins. This requires more setup and may not be good for beginners.
- uTorrent: uTorrent is another popular and trusted torrent client. It has been around since 2005 and is easy to use. The downside of using uTorrent is that the free version of uTorrent is ad-supported and contains a lot of intrusive ads.
- Vuze: Vuze is a torrent client that supports media playback and magnet links. The free version of Vuze contains ads and doesn’t offer as many features. Vuze Plus comes with integrated virus protection.
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2Bind your VPN to your torrent client. Binding your VPN to your torrent client prevents your torrent client from transferring unless your VPN is connected. In order to bind your VPN, you will need to know the IP address for your VPN’s network interface. You can get this information by contacting your VPN service. You may also need your username and password. Then you can use the following steps to bind your VPN to your torrent client:
- Make sure your VPN is connected.
- Open your torrent client.
- Open the Options or Preferences menu.
- Open the Advanced or Network options.
- Select the Network Interface option.
- Select your VPN from the drop-down menu or enter your network interface information.
- Sign in to your VPN if needed.
- Click Ok .
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Community Q&A
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QuestionI'm downloading a .torrent file for a hackintosh. Is this legal or safe? I don't know the number of seeders or peers.Blake FosterCommunity AnswerMost torrenting clients should show you the number of seeders that are in that torrent. Before you download the torrent, check the files that you are downloading. If any of them have a .exe or .bat file extension, then it's probably not safe. But that is up to you to decide.
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QuestionCan you recommend any other clients if my antivirus software removes Utorrent as malware?Community AnswerI've never had that problem, but I've never used anything other than version 2.2.1. A tracker site I use has blacklisted anything newer than 3.3.1. If you have anything released after that, you might want to switch. Google "older versions of uTorrent" and you should be able to pull something up. If you still have that problem, you'll probably have it for all torrent clients. Either add the client to your exceptions list, or switch to Avira (which is an excellent antivirus software).
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QuestionHow do I search for a torrent file?Blake FosterCommunity AnswerIf you are trying to search for a torrent on a torrent website, there will most likely be a search bar in which you can type what you would like to download. If you can't find your torrent that you download in your file explorer, just type the title of the torrent in the search bar in your file explorer. If you are still haveing a problem, I suggest you use Utorrent. With Utorrent you can choose where you would like the file to be placed once it's downloaded. First, right click on the torrent and then hover over Advanced. There should be a option where you can choose the location of where you would like your torrent to be downloaded.
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Warnings
- Downloading copyrighted files without permission from the copyright owners is against the law (unless it is protected by fair use).Thanks
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Reader Success Stories
- "Without articles like this and many others from wikiHow, I would be kinda stumped. Of course, there are other sites that provide a similar service, but none with such an elegant, simple, and helpful layout and presentation. From reading help articles, I protect myself online and in reality from threats as simple as malware up to serious cuts when woodworking. Thank you!" ..." more
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"Without articles like this and many others from wikiHow, I would be kinda stumped. Of course, there are other sites that provide a similar service, but none with such an elegant, simple, and helpful layout and presentation. From reading help articles, I protect myself online and in reality from threats as simple as malware up to serious cuts when woodworking. Thank you!"
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"Before reading that, I was very afraid of downloading torrents as it is considered an illegal activity. But now after implementing these steps, I am very sure that there is no risk in downloading torrents."
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"Very educational I didn't even know that my ISP can be tracked. So the information with the VPNs taught me something today. "
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"This is some very sound information about keeping safe on the internet. I will be following all of your advice. Thank you. "
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"Great article. Regularly use torrents and wanted to ensure I was being as safe as possible. Thank you."
