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How to download magnet links as torrents - A short guide


Seveleven

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For all those who dislike the way µTorrent 2.x.x handles magnets, there is a very simple workaround.

(For this short guide, I'll be using Pale Moon (Firefox derivative) as an example, but this should work with any browser. I'll also be using µTorrent 2.0.4 (build 22967) for reference.)

1. First, if not already so, make the bookmarks toolbar visible. This will make things much easier.

2. Right-click the bookmarks toolbar and select "New Bookmark..."

3. In the "Location:" field, paste ONE of the following lines of code:

javascript:var%20magnetLink='http://zoink.it/torrent/%27+document.getSelection();location.assign(magnetLink)+%27.torrent%27;

OR

javascript:var%20magnetLink='http://torrage.com/torrent/%27+document.getSelection();location.assign(magnetLink)+%27.torrent%27;

fL5D0.png

You can name the bookmark if you want. I personally chose to leave it blank so that only the favicon will appear.

Of course I used the Bookmark Favicon Changer add-on for Firefox,

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bookmark-favicon-changer/

to replace the blank icon with the following magnet icon:

magnet-icon.png

The end result is a simple yet nifty little button in my bookmarks toolbar:

A53te.png

(Note that other browsers might not have this cool feature.)

4. Now that you have your little bookmark button set up, you can use it to download magnet links as torrents directly from your browser.

All you need to do is highlight a torrent's "Info Hash" and then click the bookmark button.

HElgl.png

Pro Tip: Instead of manually highlighting the info hash by sliding your mouse, just double-click it.

You can try it out on the following info hash for an Ubuntu distro:

ubuntu-11.10-desktop-i386.iso:

8AC3731AD4B039C05393B5404AFA6E7397810B41

5. The Open/Save dialog box should appear.

Select Open with µTorrent and check "Do this automatically for files like this from now on."

ani4E.png

Click OK and...

cQuhu.png

Voila! The good ol' "Add New Torrent" box. It's the same old routine from here folks.

You're welcome.

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Yes, it's certainly not the perfect solution but it's definitely better than nothing for µTorrent 2.x.x users, or clients that don't fully support magnets. Torrage.com and Zoink.it have most of the torrents available on TPB and other sites except for a few obscure 0day torrents (or torrents with zero seeds).

"Eventually" µTorrent 3.x.x will have better magnet handling, but I'm not going to use 3.x.x for a number of reasons. For one, it's nearly twice the size of µTorrent 2.0.4, and for what? Obviously a program doesn't double in size due to security patches so what else is there? I don't need any more features and don't have any speed problems, so the only things µTorrent 3.x.x has to offer really is more bloat and a UI that's a step backwards. No thanks.

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