This guide is one of a series of guides that are the TorrentSpy FAQ (part of the *Spy FAQ family).
Table of Contents:
- Health Summary
- User Comments
- File Contents
- Trackers and Submitters
- Bookmark the Torrent
1. TorrentSpy Health Summary
The first thing to look at when selecting a torrent, is the health summary - this is information TorrentSpy retrieves from the tracker(s).
Note: this information does not apply for DHT (trackerless torrents).
- In lists, make sure you change your preferences to "2 Line Result" = YES. That way you can see the "Date Submitted", "Queried/Checked", and "Uploader" information:
- On the detail page, the information is here:
- Date Submitted = mm/dd/yyyy
- when the torrent was submitted to TorrentSpy for indexing
- Queried/Checked = time
- how long ago the TorrentSpy sonar (tracker statistics query/checker) received information from the tracker. This indicates how recent the Seed / Downloaders / Health information is.
- never queried/checked: NEW or DEAD torrent - see below: "Health UNKNOWN"
- queried/checked recently: health is a good indicator.
- queried/checked over a week ago: health information is out of date - not a good indicator. The torrent may have been removed from the tracker, or tracker has been down for (at least) a week. If comments are good (and recent) then you can TRY a download (if you have a DHT client - see A guide to DHT (Trackerless Torrents)).
- To "hide" torrents which fall into #1 above (as well as torrents with zero seeders from #2 & 3), change your preferences to "Exclude Dead/Zero Seeders" = YES. Please note that this WILL exclude some GOOD torrents.
- S = Seeders
- The number of people who were offering a COMPLETE copy of the file available for download (as of the last query/check).
- A Blue arrow indicates that the torrent has never been queried/checked
- D = Downloaders (aka Peers/Leechers)
- The number of people who were downloading the file (as of the last query/check). You will be able to download pieces of the file from them.
- A Blue arrow indicates that the torrent has never been queried/checked
- Health = color coding
- This is calculated by using the number of seeders is the primary criterion, and the number of downloaders (peers) with pieces which are combinable into the whole is also factored in.
| Excellent health | | (With a current queried/checked date) If you see health like this then you should have no problem at all downloading at full speed! |
| Good health | | (With a current queried/checked date) You will have no trouble completing the torrent, and with good speeds. |
| Normal health | | (With a current queried/checked date) You will be able to complete the torrent, and with pretty good speeds. |
| OK health | | (With a current queried/checked date) Your speeds may not be great |
| Bad health | | (With a current queried/checked date) Once health gets below 10 seeds, it is starting to get risky, and you may only see slow speeds. However, this can also indicate a brand NEW torrent, with downloaders not yet seeding. |
| Terrible health | | (With a current queried/checked date) Health like this may mean that you will NOT be able to complete the download! No seeds = no full copy of the file. You can try waiting a while before attempting to download - the seeder may come back online |
| Health UNKNOWN | | - submit in last 24 hours?
- The torrent is probably NEW. If comments are good then proceed with download.
- submit days ago?
- the torrent may still be NEW. The TorrentSpy sonar (tracker statistics query/checker) may be down - check here on the forums for confirmation
- the torrent is TRACKERLESS. You can give it a try - see A guide to DHT (trackerless torrents)
- the torrent is DEAD. It was improperly created or the tracker is bad. Nothing can be done - move on to another torrent.
|
2. TorrentSpy User Comments
Read what the other users say! Look for comments about quality, what problems they encountered, and what they did to get the file to work well etc. Even look for comments saying the file is fake!
But take one user's comment saying its fake/not working with a pinch of salt. He could just be new and couldn't get the file to work and instantly jumped to the conclusion that the file doesn't work and therefore is fake.
Scenarios to watch out for: torrents that have seemingly plenty of seeds and excellent health, but strangely enough have no comments posted about them - this COULD indicate less-trustworthy submitters/trackers.
3. TorrentSpy File Contents
Have a look at the file contents. Does the torrent say it is a full 2 hour movie, and yet the total file size is only 200MB? Avi's average 350MB per hour; DVDr should be ~4GB.
But don't get confused about file types! Do you see lots of little 14MB files with the extension .rar or .r01 or .001 etc? These files are usually fine - see How to handle .rar/.r01/.001 files with WinRar. Also images such as .img .iso .bin .cue .mdf .mds are all fine - see bin/cue, mdf/mds, iso, img, daa - Overview. Most music is left in folders with mp3s for your convenience. Most movies are left in .avi or .bin or .rar - see the Video FAQ.
4. TorrentSpy Trackers and Submitters
Once you have some experience you will be able to check the tracker and submitter names for whether they are reputably good or not.
- The tracker URL will always be shown on the detail page
- The submitter is shown on both the list (2-line display) and detail pages.
- If the submitter is anonymous (the person who submitted the torrent was not logged in when submitting) this may be due to privacy concerns, or an indicator of a less-trustworthy submitter.
- A torrent may take a day or a week for its seed information to be updated (assuming it's not DHT).
5. Bookmark the Torrent (if you've decided that this is the torrent you want)
Before you hit that "download torrent" button, make sure you bookmark/favourites the detail page involved. Do NOT rely on your memory - there are often many similar versions of the same torrent - you need to be able to return to the torrent you downloaded.
- While downloading:
- if you have any problems you'll be able to return to this torrent and review the comments (important for seeding feedback & fake identification).
- After downloading:
- You may need to return in case the archive is passworded - see any new/revised passwords
- You may also need to return in case there's installation information you need.
- You should also leave feedback for the submitter and other (potential) downloaders regarding whether you found the torrent good or bad.
Asking for further help
Further assistance
* This thread can not be replied to. For comments, questions, or suggestions related to this guide, please create a new thread indicating what step in this guide you got stuck on: here.
Author:
- Gibbocool, MaggiePixel and other members of the TorrentSpy/IRCSpy forums and mod/admin team.