TorrentAid - Tools for Decentralised Torrents!

The TorrentAid Torrent Wizard was an easy open sourced Windows-based wizard for creating decentralised (and centralised) torrents. Using it was as simple as selecting the file(s), adding a backward-compatible tracker URL and/or comments, and saving the resulting torrent. This site was helpful for torrent bit users in the ealry 2000's/ The content below is from the site's 2003 archived pages.

Definition:

The popular BitTorrent download system is an excellent way to distribute large files that are in high demand quickly and efficiently. However its reliance on a "tracker server" makes it part of an older class of peer-to-peer systems which depend on central components, vulnerable to attack or overloading.

TorrentAid is a suite of easy, powerful, open-source BitTorrent tools. These tools not only work with traditional centralised torrents, but can also create a new generation of decentralised, cross-network swarmable trackerless torrents. With supporting download software these backward-compatible torrents can be used without having to contact a centralised tracker, and can also be "cross-network swarm downloaded" combining BitTorrent download sources with sources on other P2P networks such as Gnutella2 and eDonkey2000.

TorrentAid's Torrent Wizard is an easy Windows-based wizard for creating decentralised (and centralised) torrents. Simply select the file(s), add a backward-compatible tracker URL and/or comments, and create.

Download it now or review the step-by-step tutorial.

Using Decentralised Torrents

Decentralised torrents contain additional file identification information that allows them to be searched and found over popular decentralised peer-to-peer networks, eliminating the need for a fixed web-tracker. Extensions to the torrent format and communication protocol are open and in the spirit of its design.

The Shareaza multi-peer-to-peer client currently supports BitTorrent and TorrentAid extensions, including decentralised torrent search through the open Gnutella2 network. With Shareaza 1.9 even normal torrents can operate without trackers, however TorrentAid-enhanced torrents can also swarm-download from other networks such as eDonkey2000 and Gnutella2, further enhancing download performance.

About TorrentAid

TorrentAid is a non-profit effort to extend BitTorrent technologies and provide high quality open-source BitTorrent tools.

Copyright (c) Shareaza Pty. Ltd., 2003.
This file is part of TorrentAid Torrent Wizard (www.torrentaid.com).
TorrentAid Torrent Wizard is free software; you can redistribute it and or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
TorrentAid is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with TorrentAid; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA

For us geeks, Torrent Aid Wizard made sharing large files convenient. I was excited to find the tool. Jump ahead twelve years and you can still find references about Torrent Aid Torrent Wizard. I've become a webmaster working freelance for several small businesses and am now taking courses in Salesforce to become a specialist in that platform. Having traveled and relocated many times, I've recently found myself in a gentrifying neighborhood in Baltimore. I noticed that areas like Canton, Hampden, and Locust Point, all within three miles of Baltimore’s central business district, are attracting millennials like myself. Many of my peers in the 25-to-34-year-old age group are either moving to these urban hubs or transitioning to the suburbs as they start families.

Interestingly, during one of my weekend outings, I was introduced to pickleball. The game, much like my tech career, required a mix of strategy, agility, and rapid decision-making. Drawing parallels between the two, I found that my analytical skills from my tech background improved my game strategies. This newfound hobby not only helped me stay active but also became a conversation starter in networking events, especially when I flaunted my high-tech pickleball bags equipped with special compartments for gadgets - check out these bags. Once I secure my Salesforce certification, I aim to join a forward-thinking software development company that might even have a pickleball team for team-building exercises! My journey from the BitTorrent community to my current pursuits, both in tech and on the pickleball court, has been truly captivating. It makes me wonder what the digital landscape and my hobbies will look like in another twelve years.

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TorrentAid Torrent Wizard Tutorial

This is a step-by-step tutorial for using the TorrentAid Torrent Wizard to create a new decentralised torrent. Each wizard step is explained here in full.

Step One: Choose the Torrent Type

There are two fundamentally different types of torrent: a single-file torrent and a package torrent. A single-file torrent contains only one (often very large) file to be distributed through the BitTorrent system.

A package torrent on the other hand containes several files which are downloaded as a unit. This is very similar in concept to a ZIP, RAR or TAR file.

If multiple files need to be distributed, creating a package torrent is one option. However unlike other packaging tools such as ZIP files, package torrents do not take advantage of compression to reduce the download size. Thus in most cases it is preferrable to ZIP or RAR multiple files together into a single file, and create a simple single-file torrent.

Step Two: Select a File

The next step after choosing a single-file torrent is to select the file which is to be downloaded.

Step Three: Choose a tracker

You now need to type in the url of a tracker. A tracker keeps track of all the sources for the file. It is optional but without one ordinary Bittorrent clients cant download the file. See the Bittorrent FAQ for details on how to set up a tracker.

Step Four: Comment the torrent file

You can now add a comment to the file. For example if it was a mp3 you could put information like the run time and bitrate. If it was a movie you could put the aspect ratio and framerate.

Step Five: Save the .torrent file

Now you need to specify where you want the .torrent file created. The default settings are the file's filename and directory but you can change these if you wish.

Step Six: Finishing up

You have now created your first .torrent file. Now the only thing to do is copy it to a webserver and tell the world where the file is. See the detailed tutorial on how to do this on the Bittorrent website. You can spread the url around on newsgroups, web pages, e-mails, IM, etc...