The File Sharing Program Thread.

Cardcaptor Takato · Post by **Cardcaptor Takato** » Mon May 10, 2004 7:30 am

This is the thread to discuss your experiences with file sharing programs like Kazaa, Winmx, eMule, etc. Which file sharing programs do you like the best? What're some of your good and bad experiences with them? I used to use Kazaa, but I can't stand it anymore. I hate how the files will stop downloading all of a sudden and sometimes it'll take forever for it to start back up and I'm a rather impateience person when it comes to downloads. ^^;; Winmx is even worse because it has such long queues (or however you spell them). Right now I'm using eMule which has tons of anime for download, but it's always so slow. It has even slower queues than eMule, but you can apparently make your downloads go faster with the more stuff you have uploaded or something like that. I also have no clue why they have a resume button when it can never be used and I don't know how to tell how much of a file I've downloaded or how to connect to other IRC servers via their IRC client (any help would be appreciated). Anyway, those are my file sharing program stories, what's yours?

Akarui Kibuno · Post by **Akarui Kibuno** » Mon May 10, 2004 7:35 am

Oh oh oh... this is going to be a good thread

My history:

Kazaa: used to be good to find some anime eps, plus Buffy and Charmed. I always seemed to pick the good files that would download quick, but it's become to much of a bother now...

Bit Torrent: at least this one is clear. If you're on the tracker and it says "no seeders", you won't hope to download it. You know what you can/cannot get. The bad point is that some people are just leechers, meaning they don't share at all.

Direct Connect: so far, the best one. Found a hub with *many stuff about Sailor Moon that will be listed only if an admin or a mod authorizes me to do so* , and many hubs will have games, anime, movies... pretty neat I think.

I haven't listed Winmx because it looks too much like Kazaa. And some of the files were really weird too. And I've never used emule so I can't speak for that one

Ni-ban Neko · Post by **Ni-ban Neko** » Mon May 10, 2004 8:15 am

I had really good luck with WinMX when I used it ages ago - no queue problems, and I could generally find anything I wanted. Mind you, though, this was before the RIAA crackdown, and I was really only looking for international music on WinMX.

I tried three different Mac peer-to-peer filesharing programs, and didn't like any of them. Acquisition, Poisoned, and LimeWire all have the same problem - queue issues, random disconnects, and a lack of selection.

Post by **Tiff** » Mon May 10, 2004 10:43 am

hrm. I mainly used my file-sharing program for music and video clips for Anime Music Videos...

1) I first started with Napster, and it was wonderful back before all of that controversey started. Then I was forced to quit that.

2) Kazaa. It used to be good when I first used it..I could find exactly what i wanted. Then, it started loading my computer with ridiculous amounts of spyware.

3) KazaaLite. It was supposed to be spyware-free, but I had trouble with it a lot, and the spyware eventually snuck through. Imagine that -_-

3) Morpheous. Probably one of the better ones, but then the RIAA REALLY started to crack down, and I became too scared to download anymore MP3s.

And i don't want to hear one word in this thread about how evil downloading MP3s are, we should go buy the CD, blah blah blah. This is not a debate over whether file-sharing is wrong. It's a question on good or bad experiences with file-sharing programs.

Sailorasteroid · Post by **Sailorasteroid** » Mon May 10, 2004 11:21 am

I'm going to sound like a crochety old man here, but here we go. When I started downloading mp3s, we didn't have any file-sharing programs. I had to go to link websites to find ftp servers, spend hours waiting for a free connection to become available, browse the selection to see if there was anything I wanted, upload something (if it was a ratio site, and 9 out of 10 were), and hurriedly download before my cheapo dial-up service dropped my connection. Pretty much all you had a chance of finding was modern top 40 stuff, punk, hard metal, and all forms of rap. Small chance of finding anything like classical or jazz, and no chance of finding anything like J-pop or anime.

And, I'll admit, I didn't think file-sharing was going to catch on. I never believed that people who didn't own or have access to advanced computer technology would be able or willing to maintain and share mp3 collections. I have been rarely happier to be proven wrong.

So I used Napster for a while, until it got shut down. Tried Morpheus, buyt it lasted for about a week before I got frustrated, and now I use Kazaa Lite, and it generally gets me what I want, provided I don't ask it for ridiculous things. Bit Torrent is good for new shows and movies, but when I had to download the first 20 PGSM acts, it took about a week to get them all. And while it's not quite file-sharing, the binaries newsgroups are still an occasional vein of gold.

Direct Connect, eMule, and WinMX I haven't heard of, but if there's some good anime stuff, maybe they're worth a google. IRC I've never had patience with, and it'd take some serious stuff that I really want to get me to wade through it.

shansen · Post by **shansen** » Tue May 11, 2004 1:20 am

I've used a fair number of file-sharing related programs, as well as stuff before P2P programs.

Initially, people had free webspace accounts with now-defunct websites like i-drive and freediskspace (or something like that). In fact, i-drive is how I got 99% of SM Classic, SMR and Stars (back in ... the summer of 1997? Wow ... that was a long time ago). I also had some luck with ftp sites, but not much. (All crappy RealMedia files, by the way)

Let's see ... next was Hotline. It was a program where the files resided on servers, and you downloaded from there. However, most servers demanded a good upload-to-download ratio, or you got banned. The others tended to be very busy. Nevertheless, it's how I got Neon Genesis Evangelion (in .rm). A couple years ago I looked at the files and laughed at the horrible quality before throwing the CD's on which I had burned the episodes.

WinMX was the next one I used. I still have it, but I don't use it nearly as much. The queues aren't too bad - you just have to be willing to leave your computer on for a while. I got a ton of stuff that way, and I still use it for getting anime music files.

The only other one I use regularly is BitTorrent.

I've also tried:
- Direct Connect: didn't figure it out (I can't remember why)
- IRC: didn't have a lot of what I wanted. It seems to be better for downloading manga scanlations.
- Kazaa: always scares me with Adware (even with Kazaa Lite). Plus it seems to be 99.9% music, which I don't download much of
- eDonkey/eMule (whichever one doesn't have spyware): After reading about their incredibly confusing way of assigning "credits" that are used to determine download order + hearing about slow download speeds, I decided to abandon it.

I pretty much stick to BitTorrent, with WinMX thrown in every so often (only for old stuff & the odd OP/ED theme).

I've heard a lot about DC ... maybe I'll try downloading it again and give it another try. From what I can remember, though, you need to share a lot of stuff.

One last thing - does anyone use Streamload anymore? It took over for the free webspace accounts, and I know a lot of people used to use it. However, you have to pay for downloads, and with the current P2P programs I wonder if maybe it's not as popular.

Jumbled Thoughts · Post by **MarioKnight** » Tue May 11, 2004 1:48 am

Wow, I feel like I've been downloading stuff off the net longest around here. Way back when I was 9, a good few years or so before the WWW boom, I was downloading media and such through special download sections from AOL 1.5 on a 2400 baud modem running on a 486. My family went on and off AOL for years until somewhere around version 3. The only things I really downloaded back then included MIDIs, WAV clips, screencaps of games, and codes.

It wasn't until spring 1999 when my family got a new computer with a 56K that I really started to have fun. The WWW boom had already taken place, so between web sites and AOL download sections, I kept up with downloads, eventually learning of MP3s and beginning to download some from video games and some Japanese songs as well. I never used any actual program until I convinced my parent's to get a cable modem half a year later in that November, where I was finally free to learn FTPs and newsgroups. Napster came to be not long after, and like damn near anyone in the country, I was using it widely. Spring 2000 I opened MKBO with my own FTP and various fireediskspace.com accounts to distribute the fansubs. I did try out stremload, and I'd say it would be worth the money judging by how well even a free account worked (though very little downloading). I wanted to upgrade my account, especially with 200GB+ of anime stuff sent to it, but for whatever reason, never got to it. Probably because once I was able to pay for it I was in college and the network sucked.

I pretty much stayed with websites for various downloads and Napster for MP3s, sometimes went to FTPs if I saw stuff I wanted, all through 2000. The start of 2001 brought about Direct Connect, and I was among the first to jump on the bandwagon, having a hub be created for MKBO, which was the first anime hub on DC. I also learned IRC later that year, though have never relyed on it for finding things, mainly used it for chatting and serving. I've also used Hotline a bit more recentally, mainly to help admin my housemate's hotline server. Also have been using BitTorrent since last fall which is by far the best actual program for stuff provided that a site with BT links is popular enough to have many users.

As for KaZaA and its incarnations, WinMX, and various programs that essentally do the same thing Napster did only with all media, I refust to touch them with a giant stick. I've heard too much shit about spyware and system fuck-ups to let that shit on my system, and I obviously know my way around the net well enough to not need to use them anyway. They sometimes might provide faster access to a file, but I'll gladly take slight time inconvenience over fucking up my system.

yamijounouchi · Post by **yamijounouchi** » Tue May 11, 2004 5:37 am

i had kazaa til it caused my computer to crash with excessive spyware and limited disk space. i love bittorrent, but i wish it were as convenient as kazaa (minus the whole computer crashing thing). i liked the idea of emule at first--a spyware-free, kazaa like program. i don't know if it really was spyware-free, but i do know that it takes a day to download one file, i can't play it after it finishes, and when i reopen it i can't find a trace of previously downloaded stuff. had to give that program the boot. i was probably the last guy in america to get a computer, so by the time i had one napster was long gone....*sigh* so i guess that means it's bittorrent all the way for me, since i haven't found even one other program i liked.

Miyamoto · Post by **Miyamoto** » Tue May 11, 2004 8:10 am

Akarui Kibuno wrote:Direct Connect: so far, the best one. Found a hub with *many stuff about Sailor Moon that will be listed only if an admin or a mod authorizes me to do so* , and many hubs will have games, anime, movies... pretty neat I think.

I agree. I like DC the best. I also have a DC hub, called [AN]Darwin Anime, which I won't post the address to because I don't want to self-promote. It should be in the public hub list.

Dan: I remember being in your hub when it started. I was known as SMUsagiFan2k1 SMUsagiFan2k2.. I don't remember which but it was one of those. I was such a n00b then.. lol.. Who was hosting it at the time? You? TuxJim? Xar? Who?

KoiNoVash · Post by **KoiNoVash** » Tue May 11, 2004 1:04 pm

I started using file sharing programs in 2000 with Napster, man that was a great program. After the controversy I wated a few years then started with morpheous, I really liked that, but then it started to get weird on me with the layouts and stuff, so I went to Kazaa, whose layout was like the old Morpheous and was connected to it at one point. After all the spyware started to be shoved on, I shopped around with eMule, Bearshare, eDonkey, and finally I got WinMX with Peer Guardian and I have Bit Torrent as well. My friends keep telling me to use DC++, but it kinda confuses me ^.^;. As for any spyware that might slip in, I use Ad-Aware to get rid of them.

Miyamoto · Post by **Miyamoto** » Tue May 11, 2004 3:52 pm

KoiNoVash wrote:I started using file sharing programs in 2000 with Napster, man that was a great program. After the controversy I wated a few years then started with morpheous, I really liked that, but then it started to get weird on me with the layouts and stuff, so I went to Kazaa, whose layout was like the old Morpheous and was connected to it at one point. After all the spyware started to be shoved on, I shopped around with eMule, Bearshare, eDonkey, and finally I got WinMX with Peer Guardian and I have Bit Torrent as well. My friends keep telling me to use DC++, but it kinda confuses me ^.^;. As for any spyware that might slip in, I use Ad-Aware to get rid of them.

It's good that you have and use AdAware but I've heard from numerous people that some spyware goes undetected by AdWare... Be careful.

RoastedTwinkies · Post by **RoastedTwinkies** » Wed May 12, 2004 5:40 pm

right now, I've only used (and still use) Kazaa Lite. I'm happy enough with that. It works for me. We have spyware removal programs, so spyware isn't too much of a problem.

Starscream · Post by **Starscream** » Wed May 12, 2004 7:54 pm

I never got into the whole file-sharing deal until I was introduced to high speed connections in college, about 6 years ago. Around then, it was all about the MP3s and Napster, and for a while, things were good. Then Napster started going kaput, and I wasn't finding a lot of the things I wanted to hear. I tried Morpheus for a while, then Kazaa and WinMX came to the forefront. I used both about equally; Kazaa would find things that WinMX wouldn't, and vice versa. Unfortunately, as the months passed by, Kazaa added more and more spyware, and WinMX stopped being as useful. I tried Kazaa lite, but again, I stopped finding the kind of things I was interested in. Nowadays, my focus is on shows from Japan - Sailor Moon and Transformers: Super Link - and for that, Bit Torrent has been a godsend.

RoastedTwinkies · Post by **RoastedTwinkies** » Thu May 13, 2004 7:02 pm

hahah I forgot to mention that I use Bit Torrent as well. But only for downloading video. I can't find a lot of anime downloads on Kazaa Lite.

yamijounouchi · Post by **yamijounouchi** » Fri May 14, 2004 6:23 am

i recently came across a program called "shareaza". it's a kazaa-like program. it works fine except for the fact that the downloads take ridiculously long--i've been downloading a 13 megabyte file for the past 2 days. i'm assuming it's free, but that brings about a question: spyware? i don't know; if anyone has this program it would be greatly appreciated if you filled me in. thanks.