Frequently Asked Questions about BitTorrent

Q:  I use Mozilla/Opera, how can I use BT?

A:  You need to edit the mimetype associations so that the "application/x-bittorrent"
    mime type is launched by c:\progra~1\bittorrent\btdownloadprefetched.exe


Q:  Does BitTorrent support resuming?

A:  Yes, just save your download to the same location as the existing partial download.
    BT will resume where it left off after checking the partial download.


Q:  How do I know the download isn't corrupted?

A:  BitTorrent does cryptographic hashing (SHA1) of all data.  When you see "Download
    Succeeded" you can be sure that BT has already verified the integrity of the data.
    The integrity and authenticity of a BT download is as good as the original request
    to the tracker.


Q:  I'm behind a firewall/NAT, can I use BT?

A:  Yes, but you will get better performance if other peers can connect to you.  By
    default, BitTorrent listens on port 6881, trying incrementially higher ports if
    it is unable to bind, giving up after 6889 (the port range is configurable.)
    It's up to you to figure out how to poke a hole in your firewall/NAT.


Q:  I published a file but whenever I try to download it hangs saying "connecting to
    peers" and/or the download just never starts.

A:  You need to leave a downloader running which already has the whole file.  The
    publishing step merely registers the download information with the tracker.
    Make sure other peers can connect to this downloader (not behind firewall or
    NAT!)


Q:  When is the Java implementation going to be ready?

A:  Soon after the check clears.



Q:  How do I limit the amount of bandwidth consumed by BT?

A:  BT allows you to control how many simultaneous connections can  actively
    download simultaneously using --max_uploads in the btdownloadheadless.py
    script.  Other than that you'll have to limit bandwidth some other way, perhaps
    at the OS or router level.
