# Torrent downloads and Magnet links



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

For Internet users who obtain content through torrent indexes, you are sure to find that things have changed in the past few weeks. Out of legal necessity, the torrent index sites no longer host torrent files for direct download. Instead they have started to use &#8220;Magnet links&#8221; to direct visitors to torrent files. Unlike website & FTP URLs that locate objects by location (IP address), Magnet links locate objects by content description (i.e., by metadata). The torrent files are located with other P2P clients who share content, so the torrent files have no absolute address. Addresses come and go as individual peers go on and off line.

The problem is that this change was sudden, so web browsers aren&#8217;t configured to deal with magnet links. If you go to a torrent index site and click on the torrent link your browser will most likely tell you that the website can&#8217;t be found. You can try it yourself by going to this link for Linux CentOS 7.

https://thepiratebay.se/torrent/10674521/CentOS_7.0_x64 

Click on the link that looks like this:









If you got a message saying that the page couldn&#8217;t be found then you will need to help your web browser direct Magnet links to your torrent client, which is capable of dealing with Magnet links. The method you use to do that will depend on how often you download torrents.

If you don&#8217;t download torrents very often, simply do this. 

1. Right-click on the Magnet link and select Copy Link Location. 
2. Open your torrent client (uTorrent, BitTorrent, etc.) and click the File drop-down menu. 
3. Select Add Torrent from URL. A popup will appear that already has the Magnet link in it. Click OK. 
4. Your torrent download will begin.

If you download a lot and/or want a permanent fix, do this in Firefox (will be somewhat different for other browsers). 

1. Type about:config in the address bar and press Enter. 
2. Right click anywhere on the page and select New-->Boolean 
3. For preference name enter: network.protocol-handler.expose.magnet 
4. Set Boolean value to false 
5. Go to thepiratebay.se, select a torrent description, and then click Get Torrent. 
6. At the pop-up, select desired torrent client and click OK. 
7. Your torrent client will open automatically for Magnet links in the future.

If you want to learn more about Magnet links I suggest you check out the Wikipedia page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_URI_scheme


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## Peterson (10 mo ago)

Thank you for sharing


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

gastonkilby said:


> Use VPN to download


Yes. There is a compelling reason to do torrent downloads using a VPN. Many DSL & cable Internet providers will slow down subscribers who do torrent downloads, and will sometimes even suspend your account. With a VPN the internet provider only sees the port used by your VPN so they don't know for sure what you're doing.


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