- In most countries, using torrents to download copyrighted material is against the law.
- In certain jurisdictions it is illegal to download content through peer to peer networks such as bittorrent.
- Downloading torrents can slow your computer down. Recommended specs for each client vary, but on average you should have at least 512 MB of RAM and a 1 GHz CPU. You will also need space for the files you want to save.
- Make sure you check the comment section before downloading, if there is one, to see if the torrent is real or not.
- Keep your virus protection program up to date. Software downloaded from unknown sources on the Internet can be home to some pretty nasty viruses. There are free anti-virus applications, as well as top-of-the-line apps such as Microsoft Security Essentials, AVG, and Avast. If you do happen to get a virus, remove it .
- Downloading torrents can slow your overall internet connection down if you don't properly tweak your upload rate. DSL and Cable modems have problems downloading if you're uploading at your maximum rate. Set your clients maximum rate to 80% of your maximum upload rate if you can adjust it. If you set your upload rate too low, your downloads will slow to a crawl.
- Torrenting is a bandwidth intensive act which is frowned upon by some ISPs, leading them to throttle any torrent traffic, slowing down your downloads or even stopping them altogether. Traffic encryption can solve this, but it may or may not work in your specific circumstances.
- As with any bandwidth intensive application, make sure you know how much data you've transferred if your ISP implements a quota system (90 GB/mth). Remember that finished torrents are seeded (uploaded to others) when the torrent job is running and you might exceed your ISP quota unintentionally.
