Downloading. How do I do it?

[DutchLiberal]

Don't laugh. Please.

I'm 24 years old, but when you explain something to me that has got anything to do with computers, please pretend I'm an old fart who doesn't understand anything. Pretend I'm John McCain.

Okay, it's simple. Or it's supposed to be. But I've tried it a dozen times and often wasted entire evenings not getting any results. So what I want to know is:

1. I want to download a certain tv program. I understand that I need a so-called 'torrent' for it. Where do I get them?
2. Once I've downloaded the 'torrent', I will need software to play it. Where do I get this software?
3. Once I have both the torrent and the player on my computer: how do I get the player to play my torrent?
4. How long does it usually take to download either a torrent or the player?

[Kali]

1. I have no idea,

but since you have no star I posted the link to this thread in the computer forum. They are really good over there, maybe somebody will come along and give you something helpful.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=242x31056

[Mojambo]

2. This website has a fine introduction and TONS of resources.

http://www.slyck.com/bt.php

Read up.

[blogslut]

3. Are you unable to pay to download the program?

Is there some vital reason why you wish to save it to your hard drive as opposed to viewing through an online player?

[DutchLiberal]

5. I would be fine with viewing it through an online player.

I'm not sure what it is you're asking, or implying...

[blogslut]

9. I'm not implying anything

It's just that, depending on the show, there are usually many ways to view it online without resorting to the possible heartbreak one might face with a torrent download. The thing with torrents is sometimes the files are named one thing but end up being another. It's entirely possible to download a torrent named "Monty Python - Episode 20" and end up getting some crappy/pixelated video with Russian dubbing.

What is the show? I know where a lot of tv programs live that you can view online safely, and easily.

[DutchLiberal]

10. I would like to watch last week's 'Real Time with Bill Maher'...

I usually watch it the next day on YouTube, but I lost my internet connection and by sunday, the show was already taken down by YT.

Thanks for answering. I assumed you implied I was some kind of freeloader, who wants everything for free. Truth is I never download music albums or movies, because I prefer the 'originals'. But Bill Maher's show is not available in my country.

[blogslut]

11. Hmm

You propose a tricky problem. Accessing US video from another country is hella difficult.

There is this:

http://www.casttv.com/video/tt7pmq/real-time-with-bill-maher-episode-12-video

If it's not blocked, what you do is click on the "Close to Play" button at the bottom of the advertisement. If you want to control the video (pause, stop, volume, etc) there are two toolbars - avoid the bottom toolbar, the one with the colored icons - use the flat toolbar on the player. If you pause or stop the video, you'll have to click the "Close to Play" button again.

Hope that works. As I said, you may be blocked from accessing this video depending on what county you're in.

[DutchLiberal]

14. Thank you thank you thank you thank you

[blogslut]

15. So it works?

I hope so. I've got a friend in Canada who says she can't access videos from there so I wasn't certain whether or not you could.

[DutchLiberal]

17. It worked perfectly.

I'm glad I was able to watch last week's show. Thanks again.

[TrogL]

4. Off the top of my head

You're talking about two different things at the same time (as you've mostly identified).

A torrent is a package containing some sort of media, coupled with a way of transporting it.

You will need a program capable of doing all this. I prefer uTorrent (http://www.utorrent.com/downloads) but YMMV.

Install it and configure your download location to somewhere where it's easy to find and you've got lots of room eg. c:/downloads.

Next you need to locate the show you are interested in. Google is your friend. I'd do something like "MASH movie torrent". This will provide you a list of torrent sites. Pick one that has lots of peers. Click on the torrent link and uTorrent (or whatever) should kick in and take over.

You will see your file show up in the viewer, followed by some other fields including "peers". These are all the other people trying to deal with this file at the same time. At first you'll only see download peers, these are people giving you data. As you start to accumulate pieces of the file, you will start to see upload peers - people you are giving pieces of the file to. Make sure at least somebody has 100% of the file or you'll be downloading it forever. I've got one Three Stooges movie that's been sitting at 97% for months.

When it's complete you have two choices.

1. If you've decided you would like to join the file sharing community, can afford the bandwidth, don't feel leery of pissing off your ISP or circumventing the law. Let it run so your peers can pick up the rest of the file from you.

2. If you're like me, remove the torrent from your list and shut the damn thing down.

[DutchLiberal]

7. Thanks! That's the answer I was looking for!

[DutchLiberal]

13. What do you do when the downloaded file only gives audio...?

I only get audio when I play it, no video. :(

One is an .avi file; the other is a so-called 'quark' file (?)

[miscsoc]

18. Download this thing and see if it plays those files, VLC

It's a media player some French university devised, looks primitive but it plays about anything it's possible to play. Simple to use, just open the file with it.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

[rcrush]

6. Try a site like ovguide.com

Torrents are ok but tend to have spyware in them sometimes.

[Duer 157099]

8. My advice is to avoid the "torrent" path unless you know what you're doing

And by your own post, you admit that you don't.

However, DO educate yourself so that you understand it and the risks (if any) and precautions you should be aware of etc. Then maybe try it, but proceed with caution.

FWIW YMMV

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

12. Not at pirate bay.

FFFFFFUUUUUU

[Mojambo]

16. If you're going to do torrents for TV shows, it's one a stop shop

EZTV

No fakes. Ever.