Additional µTorrent Settings

Introduction

These are some additional µTorrent settings that I have put together based upon issues I have seen people have at the various fora I visit on the web.
I would first point out that almost all issues can be resolved using the µTorrent help file (Press F1 while µTorrent is open).  This is the best help file I have seen for any program.
If you want information on any features not listed here, then please post in the Comments below.
If you have questions or corrections on any of the features listed here, please post in the comments below or at the Internet, Webware & Networking section of Gizmo's Freeware Forums.
This is a work in progress and I will post more information, when I have the time.

• Adding Search Sites To µTorrent's Search Box
• Setting Remove Options
• Dealing With ISP Interference
• Enabling IP Filter
• How To Pronounce µTorrent
• µTorrent Support Links
• Hiding µTorrent on Start Up
• Organizing µTorrent Downloads Into Category Folders

Adding Search Sites To µTorrent's Search Box

To add a search site, you go to the site, do a search, delete the search term from the address bar,  then copy the address bar and then add the site name in front and a Pipe  (| = Shift+\ ) between the site name and address.
For example at btjunkie, I searched debian and got
http://btjunkie.org/search?q=debian  so what I copied is http://btjunkie.org/search?q=
I then added the site name and | - so now it is btjunkie|http://btjunkie.org/search?q=
Which is what you would copy and paste to show btjunkie in the search box.

Then, in µTorrent , at Options>Preferences>Advanced>UI Extras you add them in.

Here are a few that I have done already.   (You can copy and paste the ones you want into µTorrent)
From Searching for Torrents (Popular Torrent Search Sites)
IsoHunt|http://isohunt.com/torrents.php?ext=&op=and&ihq=
btjunkie|http://btjunkie.org/search?q=
Torrentz|http://www.torrentz.com/search?q=
MiniNova|http://www.mininova.org/search/?search=
PirateBay|http://thepiratebay.org/search/
Vertor|http://www.vertor.com/index.php?mod=search&search=&words=
Podtropolis|http://www.podtropolis.com/torrents-search.php?search=
Coda.fm|http://coda.fm/albums/search?query=
TorrentZEN|http://torrentzen.com/search/
Torrent-Finder|http://torrent-finder.com/show.php?q=

And some more contributed by timjac41:

kickasstorrents|http://www.kickasstorrents.com/torrents/search/?q=
AliveTorrents|http://www.alivetorrents.com/search/
Fenopy|http://fenopy.com/?keyword=
ExtraTorr|http://extratorrent.com/search/?search=
Monova|http://www.monova.org/search.php?term=
TorrMatrix|http://www.torrentmatrix.com/torrents-search.php?search=
TorrentZap|http://www.torrentzap.com/search-results1/
JiwangTorr|http://torrent.jiwang.cc/torrents-search.php?search=
SumoTorr|http://www.sumotorrent.com/searchResult.php?lang=fr&search=
TorrBar|http://www.torrentbar.com/query.html?g=0&c=0&page=1&k=
MyBittorrent|http://www.mybittorrent.com/?keywords=
TorrentPortal|http://www.torrentportal.com/torrents-search.php?search=
Seedpeer|http://www.seedpeer.com/search.php?search=
Fuldls|http://www.fulldls.com/search-all-torrents/?qa=
TorrReact|http://www.torrentreactor.net/search.php?words=
TorrentDL|http://www.torrentdownloads.net/search/?search=
BitTorrent|http://www.bittorrent.com/search?client=%v&search=

Setting Remove Options

I often see posts from people who have hit the red X at the top of  µTorrent by accident, which ends up deleting the torrent and data.  The settings for the remove X can be adjusted with a right-click on the X.  Below is a screen shot of the options available.  I suggest using Remove as this will remove the torrent from µTorrent, but not delete the torrent or data.  A right-click on the torrent in µTorrent and selecting Remove and will give the different options for removal.

Dealing with ISP Interference 

If you are having troubles with your transfers after Optimizing µTorrent for Speed and choosing good torrents, then your ISP may be interfering with bittorrent.   This section offers some information on determining if there is interference and how you can try  to circumvent this interference.
 

1.  Check for ISP Interference:  You can check at Azureus-Wiki: Bad ISPs  to see if your ISP is known to interfere and for suggestions on how to circumvent their interference.  
If your ISP is not listed, your ISP may still be interfering.  FileShareFreak has a good article on the ways to test for this at 6 Things You Can Do to Test Your ISP for BitTorrent Throttling.

2.  Encryption: If your ISP is interfering with bittorrent transfers, µTorrent offers a variety of options.  The settings for encryption in µTorrent are at Options>Preferences>BitTorrent.
I would suggest starting with encryption enabled and allowing incoming legacy connections.

A.  Outgoing:  The Outgoing dropdown menu allows you to select the mode of encryption that you prefer µTorrent to establish. All modes will accept incoming encrypted connections, and the encryption is 2-way.

• Enabled - This is the recommended option for all users, as it provides µTorrent with the largest pool of peers to pick from for connecting to.  Allows µTorrent to establish encrypted and unencrypted outgoing connections, depending on how the peer responds to the handshake.
• Forced - forces µTorrent to establish only encrypted outgoing connections. Any peer that doesn't support encryption will not be connected to.  This should only be used if your ISP actively thwarts unencrypted outgoing connections as it will limit the amount of peers you can connect to.
• Disabled - will force µTorrent to attempt to establish only unencrypted outgoing connections.  This should only be used if your ISP throttles all encrypted transfers (like Rogers).

B.  Allow incoming legacy connections:  

• Enabled - allows µTorrent to accept unencrypted incoming connections.  This is the preferred setting as this will allow for the most connections to peers.
• Disabled - any incoming connection that is unencrypted will be ignored.  This should only be used if your ISP actively throttles unencrypted incoming communications.

3.  Lazy Bitfield  Some ISPs (like my Comcast) interfere with seeding.  The usual symptom of this is that upload  is fine while downloading, but connections cannot be maintained after the download is complete.  Enabling Lazy Bitfield has µTorrent always send send a faked incomplete bitfield, which may help in defeating this ISP interference.
The setting for this in µTorrent is at Options>Preferences>Advanced. 
Set peer.lazy_bitfield  to True to enable.

IP Filter

Enabling this requires creating an ipfilter.dat file and placing it in the µTorrent Application Data folder and enabling ipfilter in the Advanced settings of µTorrent.
The µTorrent IPfilter.dat blocks the IPs entered within it.  Most commonly, the blocklist from BISS is used to block  IPs that are "known" to interfere with bittorrent.   There is some controversy over whether these lists are useful.  There is some evidence to support their use in this article and there is some evidence that they are not useful in this post.
The µTorrent  website is on the BISS list (wrongly so, I believe).  This will not affect downloads, but will affect the results of the µTorrent built in port test.   I leave it up to you as to whether an IP Filter is necessary for your situation. 

µTorrent only supports manual updating of the IP Filter.  There are two sources for blocklist download, BISS and Nexus23.  For BISS  use the nipfilter.dat.gz (extract) and for Nexus23 use the ipfilter.dat.

• BISS:  nipfilter.dat.gz download
• Nexus23 ipfilter.dat download

To enable IP Filter in µTorrent follow these steps:

• Download the filter list you want to use.
• Go to Start->Run and type %APPDATA%\uTorrent\
• Place the ipfilter.dat file in that directory.
• In µTorrent go to Options>Preferences>Advanced and set ipfilter.enable to True.

The lists are updated regularly, so it is a good idea to update them at least once a week.  To reload the list in µTorrent, there are several ways:

• Highlight a torrent and go to the Peers tab at the bottom.  In there, right-click and select Reload IPFilter
• Close uTorrent, and open it back up.
• Disable ipfilter.enable and re-enable (see above)

 You can check to see if the IPFilter was re-loaded under the Logger tab at the bottom.
Also, you will see all blocked IP requests on that Logger tab.

How To Pronounce µTorrent

Obviously, this is not an issue, but I do see a lot of talk on the web on how to pronounce µTorrent.  I did run across a post by the µTorrent developer Ludvig (Ludde) Strigeus on this, so I will pass it on.  The usual offerings are:

• you-torrent
• mu-torrent
• micro-torrent
• my-torrent

The correct answer is any of these or any way you want, although Ludde used you-torrent.

µTorrent Support Links

µTorrent has excellent support options to help understand and get the most out of µTorrent.

• The µTorrent Help File is the best help file I have seen for any software.  It is installed with µTorrent and can be accessed by pressing F1 while µTorrent is open or it can be downloaded here.  Almost any question on µTorrent or bittorrent can be answered by checking this help file.
• The µTorrent Forum is maintained very well.  The moderators are active, knowledgeable and helpful.
• The µTorrent Guides have information to help with several features of µTorrent.
• The µTorrent FAQ has answers to many common questions regarding µTorrent and bittorrent.  It appears that all of the FAQs are included in the µTorrent help file.

Hiding  µTorrent on Startup

µTorrent has a Boss-Key feature that can be used to make µTorrent invisible on the desktop.  Since I have seen several people ask how to have µTorrent be invisible at startup, I have put together this guide.

First make certain that µTorrent is set to open at Windows start up.
Also make sure to set a Boss-Key.
Both of these settings are in µTorrent at Options>Preferences>General
To set a Boss-Key, a combination of modifier key (Ctrl, Shift or Alt) and the key (numbers, letters or function keys) is used.  At default Alt is used.  So if you tick in the Boss-Key box and press C, then Alt-C will be the Boss-Key.  If you wish to use Shift or Ctrl, then that key and the number/letter must be pressed at the same time after you tick the Boss-Key box.  Press OK when through.
Be sure to remember your Boss-Key combination.

After you have done the above, go to Start>Run and type regedit and press OK

You will then see the screen below. 
Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Software>Microsoft>Windows>CurrentVersion>Run

You will then see the µTorrent start up path on this screen
Double-click on the µTorrent entry to amend

You will then see this screen
Add /HIDE to the end of the command.  Press OK

Your µTorrent should now start on Windows start up and be invisible.
To have µTorrent be visible, press the Boss-Key combination you chose.

Organizing  µTorrent Downloads Into Category Folders

I have recently seen a number of µTorrent users requesting help in moving their downloaded content to different folders, based upon categories, and continue seeding.
This move can be done manually or µTorrent can do this for you using the move completed downloads option and labels.

Manually

To move the content manually and continue seeding:

1. Stop the torrent in µTorrent.
2. Move the downloaded content to the location you want.
3. Right-click the torrent in µTorrent and select Advanced>Set download location.
4. Browse to the folder containing the content and select.
5. Right-click the torrent in µTorrent and select Force Re-Check.
6. µTorrent will check and adjust to 100%.  Re-start the torrent.

Automatic

Using labels, you can move the downloaded content to separate folders based upon the categories you choose.  The one condition is that all the categorized folders must be within the same folder.

In µTorrent go to Options>Preferences>Directories and set options as in this image.  You can set the folders (directories) as you please, but the default directory should be set and the move on completion directory must be set.  Also, the options to "Always show dialog on manual add" and "Append the torrent's label" must be enabled.
The"Only move from default download directory" option is up to you, but I suggest this be enabled as you may want to have torrents that you do not move to this location and you can set their download location outside the default directory when adding.

When adding the torrent you should add a label.  This will be appended to the save path and can be used to separate the downloads into categorized sub-folders.  Additionally, there can be sub-folders within the sub-folders (if that makes sense to you).

First when adding the torrent, a label must be added:

Now if you add the label "Music", the download will be save to (in my settings) the Completed Downloads/Music folder.
Now, if you want to have a sub-folder in Music, say "Alternative", you would label as "Music\Alternative".  The completed download will then automatically be moved to the Completed Downloads\Music\Alternative folder.
You can designate as many sub-folders as you want by inserting the back slash (\) between names, for example "Music/Alternative/80s".
If the label contains a path for a folder that does not exist yet, it will be created.  There is no need for you to create the folder.

Again, the one condition is that there be a master folder for all these sub-folders as that must be the default directory to designate.

Related Articles

• Optimizing µTorrent for Speed setting µTorrent up for best download speeds
• Searching for Torrents Popular and unique torrent search sites, with comments.
• Finding Legal (and Free) Torrents sites that offer only legally downloadable and distributable content.

Gizmo's Best Ever Freeware Forums

If you still have issues after using this guide and would like some assistance, you may post here or our Forums.  The comments section here is not well set up for ongoing discussions, so the forums are a better place.

If you have a suggestion or correction for the guide, please post here.

Steve