How to Use an ATM

• Some ATMs provide audio feedback tones or spoken assistance and braille for disabled users.
• Practice using an imaginary ATM with the link at the bottom of the page.
• If you are still unsure how to use ATM, go inside the bank or ask an employee or ask someone you trust to help you the first time.
• If you make a mistake entering a number or you pick a choice you didn't mean, press "cancel" or "no". Most machines will ask you "is this correct?" to give you a chance to change your entries.
• Some banks do not require a deposit slip. If you're not sure, ask. In this case, you may need to write your account number on the check when you endorse it.
• Prepare your deposit before putting in your card, especially if you have checks. You can take some extra envelopes and prepare deposits ahead of time, in your home or car.
• Some ATMs have headphone inputs for disabled users.
• If your card is lost or stolen, call your bank as soon as possible to tell them it is lost and obtain a replacement.

Computer sales

hey! check out this new flash movie i just created!

How to Get Your Blog into Google in less than 72 Hours

Posted by MickeyMouse in Internet

Getting into Google is the most important step a blogger can take. Luckily, Google gives users a fastlane to getting indexed quickly. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to get your blog spidered as soon as possible.

Getting a blog into google frustrates many new bloggers. Just submitting the URL of your blog to google may not yield quick results.
The key is to use google sitemaps to give google the exact information needed to index your site.
1. First, create and log into your google sitemap account. If you already have a google account, even better. You do not need a separate sitemap account for every site you have.
2. Add the full URL to your site in the Add Site textbox.

3. Next you need to verify your site. You can verify it either by uploading a certain file to the root of your site or by inserting a particular metatag into your blog. If you are able to upload directly to the root directory of your site, this is the easist method. Putting a metatag into your blogs is typically not very hard but will obviously vary based on your blogging software. For example, here are the directions for putting metatags into WordPress.

4. Next, you need to point google to your sitemap. The most simple method of doing this is just to use your RSS feed for your sitemap. DagonDesign has a nice sitemap generator plugin for wordpress. Arne has released a nice one as well.

The advantage of a true sitemap versus a RSS feed is that a true sitemap will contain all your pages while a RSS feed will only contain the pages in your feed. For older non-indexed sites, sitemaps are preferred. For new or already well-indexed sites, RSS feeds are fine.
5. Once spidered, you will also benefit from all the extra stats and SEO information that google sitemap uses as a reward for using their service.

Bonus:
Google’s adsense spider now adds (ads?) information to the main index as well. Therefore, if you already have an adsense account, placing an adsense box on it will also increase your chances of getting spidered. I have had amazingly quick results by placing an adsense for search on my new sites.

Artificial intelligence desktop assistant

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Sarah is your personal desktop assistant. She can browse the web, alert you to incoming emails, chat and so much more.

How to build and host a website for free - 1

Part 1 - Your Website ... The Big Decisions

Decisions to make
Creating a site
Flat and dynamic sites
Domain names
 
Websites
Lots of people need to have a website now, but apart from "What will it cost?", there are two major hurdles to get over first:
- what's it all about and how do I do it?
- where do I find all the kit I need?
OK, well, we'll try and distill a ton of knowledge into a very short space here. It can't be that short, though, 'cause it took about 10 years to learn it!
 

Is it really free?

You can build, host and run a site entirely for free, no matter what type - even giant CMS (content management system) sites. Of course there is a catch - you most likely won't get hosting that is absolutely ideal in all respects, especially traffic bandwidth, or maybe with the right URLs (page addresses) due to restrictions, but that's all. Apart from that, it really can be done.
However, let's be honest here, the 100% free route is best for small sites without a commercial agenda. A business site needs paid hosting - but the free version is fine for many types of basic sites. And of course, you can try out your site building capabilities, and whether the host is any good, before paying up.
 

How it all works

1. Buy a domain name
2. Arrange hosting for site
3. Build a site on your PC, upload it to the server -OR- install website software on the server
4. Open champagne
Firstly - how to build your website (we look at how to buy a domain name further down the page).
You can create a website on your PC then upload it to an Internet server. Alternatively, you can install software on a server that does the whole lot for you. But you still have to write the content though :)
Servers are rented out by hosts, aka a web hosting provider. Although most people choose shared hosting, you can also find free hosting. There are always restrictions of some kind, so it's not optimal - but these vary between the different free hosts, so you may well be able to find one that suits.
Shared hosting is the normal type of deal, and it's where there are 50 other sites or more on the server. The less sites the better, as the server slows down with a lot of sites on there as you might expect. You can get paid hosting from $50 (£25) a year and up, but high quality hosting - which means servers limited to a maximum of 50 sites - starts around $150 (£100).
Otherwise, hosting at around $70 - $100 means maybe 200 - 300 sites per server, and free hosting and up to $60 a year may mean thousands of sites per server. For example I checked a server at GoPappy (or similar) and there appeared to be 3,400 sites on it. This is OK for many types of sites (especially HTML sites), but not ideal for business sites run off a database.
A new site doesn't need to worry too much about this, you can always move to better hosting later on. You don't lose anything in any respect by moving hosts.
 

Creating your website - the decisions

Firstly you need to make some decisions -

• is your site going to be easily classified as, for instance, a family home page, a club site, a blog, wiki, forum, or CMS (complicated stuff) type?
• is it going to be 4 or 5 pages, or 50-plus?
• are you going to do it all yourself or hire people?
• is it going to be a temporary site, maybe for an event, at minimum cost?
• do you want it to earn money in some way?
• will it be a shopping cart / ecommerce site?

It's best to know exactly where you're headed for, otherwise things get messy later. If it's a simple site with a few pages and no complicated functions, then a standard HTML site is indicated - that's the usual type with ordinary web pages that exist on the server. You can also go this route with temporary sites for one-off events.
If it's anything else, you would probably be better off with a database-driven website like a blog or a CMS (content management system). This applies especially if you have any commercial intentions. Any site with over 50 pages should use a CMS of some kind unless there are very good reasons not to - and there are plenty of people who would take that number right down to 10 pages, including me. And maybe lower - a micro-cms is just fine for those jobs.
 

Flat sites

A flat site is an HTML page one, that you build on your PC with something like Kompozer or Dreamweaver. It's called 'flat' because it has static pages that don't change once they're built. You upload the pages to the server and it hands them out when requested.
Images such as photos and graphics come from the folders on the server that you uploaded them to. These folders are called directories, but they are the same thing.
The advantages of an HTML site are:

• it's very simple
• you can have precisely the page design you want
• it only takes up a tiny amount of web space
• it's fast on the server
• badly-run servers will still be OK with a straight HTML page website

The disadvantages are:

• someone has to hand-code it
• to edit a page you must do it locally in a visual or code editor then upload the page
• page code changes are not always easy
• it has very limited functionality
• nothing too adventurous is going to be attempted, unless you get a developer in (aka a coder or programmer)
   

Dynamic sites

These run on a database (DB) and the pages don't exist, they are built on demand by the web application on the server, which gets the info from a database. This is the type of site construction that many modern sites use now, and probably most websites with any kind of commercial or advanced functionality will use in the future. Even sites that look fairly simple on the surface use databases now, and some sites, like forums and ecommerce, can't really exist without database-driven functionality. Examples of this type of site are ecommerce, CMS (content management systems), and blogs.
Advantages:

• no coding to do at all, even for the most complex sites, it all works out of the box
• functions / features are added quickly with plugins
• will handle the most complex tasks if someone did that before somewhere (a plugin will be available)
• templates are used for page layout, and they can usually be changed
• building a 1,000 page site is no harder than a 10-page site, the machinery generates the page structure
• menus are created automatically
• all links everywhere are adjusted every time you make a change, there are no dead links
• page edits are done live online via your browser, and they go live immediately

Too many advantages to list, in fact.
Disadvantages:

• needs more webspace than a flat site
• needs a database, usually MySQL
• often needs a better class of host, as servers with old and outdated software and/or poorly set up servers will work OK for HTML sites but not for dynamic ones
• security becomes an issue because there are a lot of attack vectors for these webapps, as against HTML sites
• there is a steep learning curve for newcomers
• to make the templates unique to your site, you need to be able to do basic coding (HTML and CSS)

But in general you will probably know which of these two main classes of website you are going to use. A small and simple site is best created as an HTML site. Also, a site with a complex and different artwork-based layout on every page will need to be an HTML site (or one of its close variants such as PHP or ASP).
Anything else is probably better off as a dynamic site, ie a DB-driven one. This applies especially to a wiki, CMS, forum, shopping cart / ecommerce, membership, directory, or blog website as these can't really function properly without a database.
There is another class of webapps which is dynamic but doesn't use a 'real' database - the flat-file database apps. These are wikis or CMS etc that use a flat-file as the data source, this is a type of text file located among the normal web files. These apps do the job for smaller dynamic sites that don't have a big agenda, and do it very well. They have less functionality but often that isn't a problem. They are excellent for use on a poor server, or one without a database (same thing really), or one where the account management is restricted.
Examples: SkyBlueCanvas CMS, PMwiki.
 

Choosing a domain name

A domain is the title deed to run a website under that name. It's exactly the same situation as with a house, the title deed is the main thing - not the website, which like a house, is just something parked in that space, and that can be rebuilt if needed. But you can't do anything without the domain, and if you lost it, you'd be pretty well sunk - you'd have to start from scratch. In addition, your domain name can help or hinder you to a remarkable degree, especially for a commercial site.
For these reasons I advise you to think long and hard about your domain name. It will cost you $8 a year to rent but it's worth an inestimable amount more. Once you 'buy' it, it's yours to rent indefinitely, unless you let it lapse.
There are only two realistic choices for a commercial site - a .com domain, or the one specific to your country such as .co.uk for the UK, .ca for Canada. Most sites need to buy both, but trade under the .com domain. There are other choices like .org for a non-profit, .edu for academic resources, but let's assume that this doesn't apply here.
Don't buy a cheap domain because it will cost you a lot of money (unless you're talking about a family site, then it doesn't matter). For example you should avoid a .info domain as these were sold for 60 cents at one time to dump them - and they're still cheap in places - so spammers bought millions of them to 'churn and burn', which means to put spam sites on that would probably be discovered and then banned by search engines, while the spammer built another dozen to replace it. So '.info' means 'cheap rubbish' to a search engine, unless and until proven otherwise. You don't want that, search engines are a site owner's best friend.
Domain name choices
There are two choices - a 'search term' domain or one that takes your fancy. The first type is created to score highly for searches in your chosen niche, so if you're blogging about techno-garage music you pick 'techno-garage.com'. Easy.
Trouble is, the best ones all went years ago, so you have to get a bit creative. Just choose a name that includes whatever people are searching for in your space, add something else if you have to, and break the words with hyphens. Don't get clever or people won't find you.
So for our music blogger, if the first-choice name has gone, we'd maybe pick 'techno-garage-music.com' or something. If you do this, then when someone searches for this material your site is placed higher in the results, as it's more likely to be relevant. And if their search is for *exactly* the words in your domain, this is called an exact-match domain, and you can get right to the top even if your site otherwise rates at #50. This is due to the search engine having to put you up there in case the searcher is looking for your specific site.
Or, you can just choose a name that sounds good to you. This can be a good branding exercise, in that you pick a name that has the vibe you want. Whatever you do, don't choose very long names, or names with tricky spelling. Keep it simple. The best marketing names are simple and easy, like Omo, the soap powder. Chucksbestbarbecueribsandsupplies.com is a mistake. Here's a good example of a successful working domain: picture-research.com
- because it's a search term, it's an exact match, it's easy to remember, and it sounds good for an enterprise.
Go to:
www.namecheap.com
...and create a free account there. This is the best domain name registrar I know of. Their reputation and facilities are superb and you will find the best control panel in domain management there. Actually their prices are nowhere near cheap :) , but you get quality instead.
Login via the *secure* login, so that traffic between you and them is encrypted (in the browser address bar you should see https:/ and not http:/). Research the available domains and buy one or two. Set up the free WhoisGuard identity protection on them, it cuts out spam and other approaches. Do not use spoof names and addresses if you intend that your website has any value - Namecheap are to be trusted (unlike some domain registrars who unfortunately I can't name here), and they handle the business of many major concerns. Note that you should have the site operator's name and address on the website - domain ownership name protection is a different matter.
Otherwise, if you're just dipping a toe in the water, you can get a 'free domain name' at one of the free hosts. It looks like this:
yourname.freeh0st.com
It's not a real domain, it's a sub-domain, and you can't take it with you - it's just a folder on their site. But if this area isn't of much concern to you, if you are putting up a temporary site at minimum cost - it's just fine. Likewise the el cheapo domains like .co.cc and so on. It's OK if you are happy that your business looks to be working out of the Cocos Keeling Islands :)
NEXT:

How to build and host a website for free - 2

Part 2 - Building a small site the easy way

First steps
Let's start with the assumption that you're going to build a simple site with a few pages for your family, or a local group that has a fairly simple agenda. In this case we can use the normal web page type of site, and there'll be maybe 10 pages or less. This will be what is called an HTML site / a flat site / a hard-coded site / a hand-coded site.
As we saw in Part 1, you will need to do these things:
- buy a domain name
- choose a web page editor
- build the site
- choose a host
- upload the pages to the server

Web page editors
These come in two basic types: text code editors (aka HTML editors or raw code editor) and visual (aka wysiwyg) editors. Visual editors are what most of us use, including me - I build the first stage in a visual editor then adjust the code in an HTML editor - and a what-you-see-is-what-you-get editor is just fine for now.
There are two types of these: the popular type like Kompozer (free) and Dreamweaver (commercial), which can all work with HTML files - and the one-way rapid layout type like WebDwarf (free) or SiteSpinner (commercial), which work in a proprietary code then export to HTML, but cannot import or work with HTML pages.
In addition there are online versions of the visual type that are normally called sitebuilder apps or something similar.

The 2 easy ways to build a web page
Here's my take on this: the single hardest thing for any newcomer is laying out a web page so that it looks like what you want, and the bits go where you want them and stay there.
This is so difficult for a newcomer that I cannot even start to recommend a visual editor of the Dreamweaver or Kompozer type, unless a template solution of some kind is used - otherwise you'll simply spend days trying to get the tool to work. And your page still won't look how you want, because your aspirations will be handicapped by what you can do with the tools. You'll know exactly what I mean if you ever started on a website and just gave up because it was too difficult - and that applies to tens of thousands of people.
You really don't want to go this route because it might put you off websites for ever.

Easy method 1
However, as stated, if you use pre-built templates then it is much easier. It works just fine, if you can find the template you need. Search 'free website templates' and you can find plenty of resources.
Online and host-supplied template site-builders work in exactly the same way, you pick one then add your content. Again, this is fine if you like what's on offer. Their template entirely determines what your site looks like. The advantages are that you get your site up fast, and the design will be OK - in contrast to what will happen if you try to go it alone the first time. The disadvantage is that you may need to search for a time, to find a template that is acceptable to you.

Easy method 2
On the other hand my preferred method is to use a rapid-layout app because that way you get exactly what you want, without the layout hassles. You can layout a page exactly how you want almost immediately, and move anything anywhere instantly. There are none of the issues that you have with Kompozer, for example, trying to get stuff to stick on the page where you want it. But the fast layout apps have two disadvantages: they are one-way only, they work in a proprietary file format and then export to HTML - you can't tweak an existing page, you can only rework the master file and then re-export it. And also you have to design the page yourself, there are few templates for use with these apps.
Nevertheless, this is my preferred solution. One you can try is WebDwarf, which is free. The best commercial version that I know of is SiteSpinner. These applications export to HTML based on divs and CSS, which is a layered, vector technology that is now recognised as the best (and now of course the only acceptable) system. They did so years before Dreamweaver had cottoned on to this, and was still using tables for layout. Table-based layout is the old, 90s-era method, that is now long superseded except for tables of data.
WebDwarf is a free version of SiteSpinner and is still developed, CoolPage is similar but ceased being supported in 2002, though it is still viable for specialist use. WebDwarf validates to HTML Transitional but not Strict, meaning that it is not of the highest quality but acceptable for our purposes.
My easy web page build method is quite simple: build the page in a rapid-layout app, then clean it up in a text code editor. In your case you will use a simple visual editor like Kompozer for this second stage.
As it's not easy to find a quick review of webpage editors from someone who puts usability as the #1 feature for any tool anywhere, and a review having the potential to save you you a huge amount of grief, I figured I'd oblige. ==>
Dreamweaver
One of the best web page editors. Does everything - visual and code, layers or table-based, HTML / PHP / ASP. Extremely hard to use for the beginner, like Photoshop, but probably even harder to get the result you want. Good for improvers, very good for experts. Much of the benefit comes from all the add-on features, like the very good validation tools.
SiteSpinner
Another of the top apps. Was using the current code layout system of divs and CSS a long time before Dreamweaver. A one-way fast layout program with capabilities similar to Dreamweaver, but far easier to use. Builds the same page in about a tenth of the time it takes in Dreamweaver, as it works in real code and with layers. The page is output to .ims format, which is then exported to HTML.
Frontpage
Microsoft's venerable web page editor. Was a good tool in the 90s when pages were built with cells and tables - very low quality by any modern measurement. Produces poor-quality code, with low accessibility and code validation scores. Using it with Frontpage Extensions on a server provides hackers with lots of nice attack vectors. Hard to lay pages out correctly until you learn its ways (like many web editors though). Frontpage-created websites are often crude, due to the restrictions imposed by the creaking method of page construction using cells. RIP!!
NetObjects Fusion
Another one-way app. An alternative to SiteSpinner, but on balance SS is better. In theory NetObjects can read / import HTML pages but you need to see the result - 'not usable' is a polite description.
CoolPage
One of the leading layer-based web editors back in the day, around 2001, this is one-way quick layout app was maybe 5 years ahead of most other apps. Developed by a brilliant coder who was years ahead of his time, this is the fastest of all web editors - you can layout a complex page in a couple of minutes, to pixel-perfect positions, with anything wherever you want. However there are numerous drawbacks to this program now and I certainly don't advise you to use it, it's a fascinating example of what could have been if it had sold and was still supported. The code isn't good now, it's old HTML, upper case, validates to HTML Transitional with a little work. Not for use except by experts who can clean up the resulting code - but the best there is for concept layouts.
Kompozer
This is an update of Nvu, the open-source web editor which ceased being supported. Kompozer is also not one of the busiest projects. It's basically a simpler version of Dreamweaver - you'd use it if you like that style of working but don't want the complexity. Not a bad editor in this style. For novices, its best use is for adding stuff to a page created in a basic rapid-layout app like WebDwarf. You can build a page fast in WebDwarf, export it to HTML, then touch it up with Kompozer.
MS Sharepoint Designer
Lots of arguments about whether this is a valid choice or not as a web editor. Some say it can only be used within the Sharepoint system (and this seems to be Microsoft's stance), others that it's OK, and yet others that it somehow caused system problems and had to be uninstalled. Given the latter I think this one is best avoided, since there are plenty of alternatives.
There are also of course a very large number of other choices in free web editors - check out the page on this site:
Best Free HTML Editor
I'm not familiar with the editors on that page so perhaps one there is a better choice than the one I'll suggest for you. You need to ask two important questions though:
1. Can you lay out a page fast with it?
2. Does the code validate?
These are the crucial issues with web editors now, due to real-world requirements that include time constraints and commercial results. If the answer is no to both, then I think it wise to look elsewhere. The ideal web editor builds a page very fast in rapid-layout mode, and the resulting code validates to a Strict doctype (a Transitional doctype is basically a bodge-up that puts a browser into quirks mode). The only one I know that complies is SiteSpinner, though since this isn't my game any more (I only work with CMS and ecommerce now), I can't state this as fact.
WebDwarf
The free version of SiteSpinner, this is the web page editor I advise if you're interested in usability. For me this is vital as I just want to lay the page out quickly and get on with other stuff. It's a one-way app that doesn't work in HTML, it builds the page in a proprietary code (.ims) then exports it to web format. This is a fast way to build a page that has a lot of advantages over the Dreamweaver type that only work in HTML native. The problem with native HTML apps is that you can't really do much in HTML, it's a pig to work with and very limited - much better to work in real code and then export it. However, this means you can't import and work with a web page.
Download WebDwarf

Build that site
Let's go ahead using WebDwarf. We'll build a small, simple site, and upload it to our chosen host. You'll need these basic pages:
1 - the index page, aka front page or home page
2 - some 'inside' pages with your desired content
3 - an About Us page, with your name & address, and what the site's purpose is
4 - a Contact page, with quick-contact details such as your email and phone number
5 - a Links page, for weblinks to other useful sites, and for building reciprocal links
6 - a TOS page, with your terms of use for the site and any conditions, copyright etc
So you can start with 4 to 6 pages or so, and that will do fine. But note: if you are definitely going to have 10 pages or more, don't use this method - I advise you to use the micro-cms method we will look at later on. It's far less painful and it's the modern way. In the hands of novices (of course it's different for experts), the HTML page method is suitable for very small sites with a limited agenda.

Local site folder
You need a folder for your local site, ie the master files on your PC. Create a folder within My Documents or wherever else you think best, and call it 'website' or whatever. Inside it create three folders: html, gfx, and master. These folders hold the web pages, the graphics used, and the master files or source materials.
Set up WebDwarf to open in and save to the master folder. We should start with the index page or index.html - this is the filename of the front page (and is always this name or a close variant). I advise you to use the .html file extension, out of the possible variants such as .html, .htm, .php, and .asp.

Building pages
How to actually build pages and link them is really the subject of another tute, in Part 3. For now - just experiment. An outline of what you need to do is as follows: in WebDwarf, create your first page either from scratch or by using a template. I recommend the latter for your first-ever page, using one of the templates they provide, or simply by modifying the start page they give you.
Save the page as 'master' (the page filename). Use it as your own template, and build all your pages from it as a master layout guide. After making this basic page, you'll use it as the basis for all the site pages. So:

• save the master
• export to html
• view the page and check it
• create a template
• build more pages

 

How to Create a Bootable Rescue CD

Sooner or later it will happen to you. One day you'll turn on your PC and it won't boot. No matter how many times you desperately retry, Windows simply won't start up. All the time you will be thinking "why didn't I backup my data."

The good news is your data is probably OK; it's just that you can't get to it. Unless of course your hard drive has died. In that case maybe you really should have backed up your data :>)

Assuming your hard drive is OK, you can access your data and copy it onto removable media or another PC using a bootable rescue CD. With a bit of luck you may even be able to use the rescue CD to fix the problem with your PC and get Windows to boot again.

A rescue CD works by allowing you to launch an operating system directly from the CD so you don't need Windows to be running on your PC. From that CD-based operating system you can then access your hard drive and all your files.There are lots of rescue CDs available based on different disk-based operating systems. Some use DOS or a DOS clone such as FreeDOS. Others use Linux, but my favorites CDs make use of a cut down version of Windows called the Windows pre-installation environment, the best known of which is Bart's PE [1].

Of the half dozen or so rescue CDs I have in my tool kit, the one I use most frequently is UBCD4Win [2]. It's a Windows-based CD that uses Bart's PE Builder to create the operating system. What I like about it is the huge range of tools included. Yes, you can set up a Bart's PE disk yourself with the same tools or even more, but it's not a simple process, while UBCD4Win comes ready to go.

One of the many valuable tools on the CD is the free imaging program, DriveImageXML, that allows users to create and restore images of their disk drives.

It is particularly valuable because it allows you restore an image of the drive containing Windows even if your Windows system is not booting. For this to work, though, you must have created an image before your system failed. That's a topic I covered in this month's editorial.

You can even setup UBCD4Win to boot from a flash drive, providing of course that your computer's BIOS supports USB drive booting. Personally I think you are better off with a CD. CD booting is supported by all but the most ancient PCs and a CD is only marginally less convenient to carry than a flash drive.

By far the easiest way to create a bootable UBCD4Win rescue CD is to order the preparation CD from the UBCD4Win website [3]. It contains everything you need except the Windows installation CD that came with your PC. Note that the preparation CD is not a complete ready-to-go boot CD but rather the components you need to build one. However, full instructions are included. At $5.95 for US customers and $7.95 International it's a bargain. Hey, you even get a free CD burner program thrown in!

If you are too impatient to wait for the CD to arrive by snail-mail or too stingy to pay the $5.95 then you can download the various files from the UBCD4Win website [2]. The instructions on the website are excellent. Be aware, though, that the download is around 230 MB and the boot CD building requires around 2.5 GB of free disk space.

If files that big sound too daunting then try one of the many Linux based rescue disks [4]. Many are smaller and simpler to set up; just download the ISO file and burn it to a CD. The popular Ultimate Boot CD [5] for example is an 87 MB download. Usage though can be a little daunting for those not used to the Linux environment but there's an excellent Linux rescue disk guide for Windows users here [6].

Whatever option you choose, do take the trouble to set up a bootable rescue CD. One day you will need it. This, I can assure you.

[1] http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
[2] http://www.ubcd4win.com/
[3] http://www.ubcd4win.com/ordering.htm
[4] http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php
[5] http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/
[6] http://www.shockfamily.net/cedric/knoppix/
  

Optimizing µTorrent (or BitTorrent) For Speed

Introduction

This guide shows how to speed up downloads in the freeware bittorrent client,  µTorrent. All bittorrent programs need to have their incoming and outgoing communications flow freely in order to achieve the highest download speeds and that is what this guide is about.  This guide will also work for users of the BitTorrent client as the µTorrent and BitTorrent clients are identical.
This guide was put together using information given by the developers of bittorrent programs at their forums, guides and FAQs. There are no secret tricks, just the real basics of proper set up of a bittorrent program. Following these simple steps should result in increased download speed.
These are the basic principles of optimizing a bittorrent client, like µTorrent, for speed:

• Choose a proper port to avoid ISP blocks and conflicts with other programs
• Forward that port through any software firewall and router to allow incoming connections
• Adjust internal settings based upon upload capacity of the internet connection to allow room for outgoing communications and to distribute upload efficiently. 

There are some programs that claim to optimize speed in µTorrent.Such programs are a scam and generally contain adware or spyware. I have seen it said, by the developers of all bittorrent programs, that nothing will increase your download speed in a bittorrent client more than the basic steps set forth herein.
This guide will work for all versions of µTorrent and BitTorrent 6.1 (and later). Screen shots are from µTorrent 1.8.2 as the options menus had been changed starting with that version.
If you are not using µTorrent or BitTorrent, there are several other specific guides for other clients and a general guide here:
Optimizing Bittorrent Clients

Choosing A Proper Port

To avoid messing up a network connection that is already cleared, first check and see if your communications are blocked or are already clear.  Have µTorrent running while you test the port.
The port that µTorrent uses is at Options>Preferences>Connection
The port number in your µTorrent should be entered at the port test site.
The Randomize port each start option should be disabled as this could affect router and firewall settings and rarely serves any useful purpose.

Enter the port number from your µTorrent here at the test page and press "Check":

Click to Test Your Port Success-just go to Adjusting Internal Settings.Error- follow all steps.
If you failed the port test above, then you should first set your port to a proper one.The most important choice here is to avoid using a port within the 6881-6999 range. This was the range originally used by bittorrent programs and is often blocked by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). (If your port was in this range, change and re-test).

The safest choice is a port in the 49160-65534 range as this will avoid ISP blocks and possible conflicts with other applications.  This range used to be 49152-65534, but apparently Vista and Windows 7 grabs some of those ports in between. 

Windows users, if you want to make certain there is no conflict.  Go to the command prompt and type in netstat -a >c:\log.txt and the press "Enter".  This will check to see which ports are being used and save a text file called "log" at C:\.  Looking at the log.txt file, you will know which ports to avoid.
Vuze-Wiki: Port is Blacklisted

Forwarding The Port

Introduction
A router will block incoming communications unless an exception is made. All software firewalls will block incoming communications and most will also block outgoing communications, unless an exception is made. If you are "firewalled", then other people will not be able to initiate connections with you (see Why Is Being Firewalled Bad).
As there are many firewalls and routers, this guide can not give explanations as to each. However, there are guides available, on the internet for most firewalls and routers and this guide will link you to them.
Software Firewall - The permission should be set to allow TCP and UDP in both directions. Generally, you will have a choice to set permission for the µTorrent port or for the µTorrent program. Setting permission for the port is the safer choice.
If you are using Windows Firewall, then all you have to do is go to Options>Preferences>Connection in µTorrent and enable the Add Windows Firewall exception option.
Otherwise, you can check these options for guides:

• The help file of your software firewall is the best place to look
•  The µTorrent forum  has some guides posted
•  PortForward.com Firewall Guides(choose firewall and then µTorrent) also has some guides.

Router - There are two choices here. The easier way is to use UPnP. However, this has a possible security issue. Using UPnP allows any program to create a port mapping through the router without consent of the owner. The other choice is to manually forward the port through the router. This does not have that security issue, but involves going through several steps to accomplish. Using the guides linked herein, this should not be that difficult and is the preferred method.
UPnP (NAT-PMP in Apple) - The Easy Way -  Enable UPnP (NAT-PMP in Apple) in µTorrent and router.

Manual Forwarding-The Preferred Way

1. UPnP (NAT-PMP) Must be disabled in µTorrent (see image above)
2. Use the Static IP Guide
3. Set permission for µTorrent port. This should be set to allow both TCP and UDP communications.
   You can check these options for guides:

• The help file of your router is the best place to look
• Portforward.com µTorrent Router Index has guides for most routers 

Click Here to Re-Test Port Success-Proceed to next step. Error- re-do steps or seek help in Forums.  Have µTorrent running while re-testing the port.

Adjusting Internal Settings

Introduction
The most important setting here is to cap upload in µTorrent to 80% of your overall upload capacity. Setting upload in µTorrent is a fine line. The more upload you give, the more download you will get from other peers. However, if upload is set too high, or to unlimited, then download speeds will suffer as outgoing communications (acknowledgment signals, resend requests etc) will be interfered with. Other adjustments are made here to distribute your upload so that you receive back the most download from other peers.

Note:  (Thanks to Roderunner for reminding me of this)

µTorrent does have a built in speed test and Setup Guide (Options>Setup Guide) that will automatically adjust settings in µTorrent. This is a slightly quicker process than this guide.  However, my testing of the Setup Guide settings versus the calculator of this guide showed significantly better speeds with this guide.

First of all, the setup guide only offers settings for certain upload rates.  So if your upload rate falls outside their offerings, the settings will not be as precise as those in the calculator below.  Even if your upload rate matches one of the offerings exactly, the automatic settings of µTorrent for that rate are not as effective as the ones given by this calculator.
There is not much more involved in entering the settings from the calculator into µTorrent and the increase in download speed will make it worthwhile.

Speed Test: Speedtest.net (Click for Test)
First the upload capacity of your internet connection must be determined by taking an online speed test. Speedtest.net has test locations worldwide and will highlight the one closest to you.
To take the test you must have Flash installed and javascript enabled.

Before taking the speed test, press Settings in the upper right of the speedtest.net page.  This will take you to another page.  At the bottom of that page is the "Global Settings" options.  Set "Speed Measurement" to kilobytes and press "Save" .  This will facilitate entry into the calculator below and will lessen confusion as µTorrent shows speeds in kilobytes.
 



You should stop all internet activity, including torrents, before taking the test and the test should be taken a few times to obtain a reliable average. Results will now show in KiloBytes. It is the upload rate that is important here.

Another Way To Test Upload Speed
For most people these test results will be reliable (Comcast users see Note). However, you may wish to do a double check on real life upload speed. When you are active on a torrent with a good number of peers and you are using your upload cap, set upload to unlimited and watch for about 5-10 minutes and see where upload settles in at. Then input that number into the calculator in the kiloBytes section.
Note: Some ISPs will show inaccurate results on the speed test. If your ISP has anything like Comcast's PowerBoost, then your results will show higher than the actual speed of your connection. PowerBoost provides a burst of download and upload speeds above your provisioned download and upload speeds for the first 10MB and 5MB respectively. Since the speed test involves relatively small files, this will skew results upward.
If you have PowerBoost, or something similar, my findings from my own results and those of others is that the actual speeds are 60% of the test result.  So if you get 200kB/s for upload at the test, you should enter 120 in the kB/s box in the calculator.  Using Google ("speed result" x .6) will get the proper number to enter in  the calculator and this actually turns out to be very accurate.  You should end up with the calculator showing a cap that is about half of the test result.
Calculator:  Azureus Upload Settings Calculator
Once you have an average upload speed for your connection go to the online Azureus Upload Settings Calculator. Although designed for Azureus, this calculator will work for all bittorrent clients.
This calculator was created by the8472 a contributor to Vuze (fka Azureus) and part of the team that created Bittorrent Protocol Encryption.

Enter your average upload speed in the appropriate box

The calculator will automatically give the proper figures to adjust various options in µTorrent.

 

Input Results Into µTorrent - Screen shots of locations in µTorrent of settings to be adjusted

 

 

Peer Sources & Encryption

Having the proper peer sources enabled, such as Peer Exchange (PEX) and Distributed Hash Table (DHT), will help download speeds as they will help you find additional seeds and peers for a torrent.  Local Peer Discovery should be enabled as it supposedly searches for peers on your ISP or those on an extended network or on a LAN party. it can be very useful on a LAN party.  I have not found it to make much of a difference when not on a LAN or extended network.
Encryption was primarily designed to thwart Internet Service Providers interference with bittorrent.  Having encryption enabled and allowing incoming legacy (non-encrypted) connections will provide you with the largest pool of seeds/peers to select from.
These settings are at Options>Preferences>BitTorrent and should be set as in this image:

Good Torrents

The general rule here is to choose torrents that have a high seed to peer ratio. Seeds have 100% of the content associated with the torrent and are only uploading to peers. Peers also upload to other peers, but are also looking for other peers to upload to themselves and their download capacity is almost always higher than their upload capacity.
This applies even though one swarm has significantly more active users than another. For example, a torrent with 30 seeders and 70 peers (30% seeders) will generally be faster than one with 500 seeders and 2500 peers (20% seeders) as the average upload capacity available to the peers will be higher. (TorrentFreak).
For more information see Good Torrents

Related Articles

• Additional µTorrent Settings information on other µTorrent features.
• 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.
When posting on a speed issue, please provide

• Your speed test result for both upload and download speed in kiloBytes per second (kBps)
• Your result at canyouseeme, both before taking any steps and after.  Just indicate Success or Error do not post your IP address.

If you have a suggestion or correction for the guide, please post here.
Those who wish to post a thanks may post here or in the forums. I always appreciate hearing from those who this helped and I do read the posts regularly. I used to respond to each thanks, but realized it was clogging up the comments section. I thank all those who have posted their appreciation and all those who will.
So, to those who post a "Thanks", I appreciate it.
Steve