JLo Posted December 11, 2017 Report Share Posted December 11, 2017 Hello, I’ve seen some different postings related to magnet Vs torrents and I’m trying to understand the differences between them. From what I understand, with a torrent you see the name of the file, download it and once it has completed downloaded you can open the file. With a magnet link, you are given a link which claims to have the torrent you want, and click on it, and it’s supposed to be faster and still downloads the torrents, however the names of the torrent files do not necessarily appear until you ‘open’ the file? I have read about people who clicked on magnet links and the download results are file names that do not make sense, and then once you open the file the real file name shows up. I’m confused by this-where are these temporary file names coming from, and how come the real names don’t appear? Does the whole file have to be downloaded in order to open the file and see the name or is it possible to open a file while it’s still downloading or at least see the real file name while it’s being downloaded? I’ve read that it’s not always safe to click on a magnet link since you cannot always tell if they are the correct files. Sometimes though it’s hard to tell. The link looks like it’s just taking you to a new website for the download and instead the file immediately starts downloading. can anyone provide clarification on the differences between magnet links and torrents and how they work together, and if it’s typical for file names to not show in magnet links? Thanks- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike20021969 Posted December 12, 2017 Report Share Posted December 12, 2017 Here's some reading regarding the differences between .torrent files and magnet links: https://superuser.com/questions/199970/whats-the-difference-between-a-torrent-file-and-a-magnet-link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiusX Posted December 13, 2017 Report Share Posted December 13, 2017 More to that but if you just did a simple search of: magnet Vs torrents That would answer you question faster as this links seem to give some specs of each. http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/20388/magnet-links-versus-torrent-files/ Advantages of magnet links over .torrent files 1. Torrent index sites will have lower bandwidth and space requirements. 2. Easier to share just a link than to share a link to a file on a server. 3. Magnet links should be updated where .torrent files may not be. 4. Better chance of success even if a specific tracker is not available. 5. Ability to obtain download from alternative, non-torrent methods. Disadvantages of magnet liks over .torrent files 1. Initially they are slower as connections are made to other peers to find the data. 2. It’s more difficult to download specific files using magnet links versus torrents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLo Posted December 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2017 Appreciate the responses and there’s a lot of information I’m getting regarding the differences. I’m still though looking for a direct answer to my question-how is it possible to click on a magnet link and when the download comes in it’s a bunch of random letters and numbers (maybe the hash?) and not the actual names of the files? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike20021969 Posted December 15, 2017 Report Share Posted December 15, 2017 Something a but more technical: Magnets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_URI_scheme Torrent files: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrent_file Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLo Posted December 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2017 On 12/14/2017 at 8:38 PM, mike20021969 said: Something a but more technical: Magnets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_URI_scheme Torrent files: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrent_file Doesnthis mean if I download the torrent file directly I will see the “true” names of the files, but if I were to download a magnet link I would see the infohash (letters and numbers) and not the actual name of the file? How do I know I downloaded the right thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike20021969 Posted December 18, 2017 Report Share Posted December 18, 2017 4 hours ago, JLo said: Doesnthis mean if I download the torrent file directly I will see the “true” names of the files, but if I were to download a magnet link I would see the infohash (letters and numbers) and not the actual name of the file? How do I know I downloaded the right thing? If you open the .torrent file in a client, you will instantly see the contents available. A Magnet link will display the "letters and numbers" until the contents have been retrieved - only then will you know what you can download. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjard Posted January 7, 2018 Report Share Posted January 7, 2018 In summary: A .torrent is a file that contains all the info your bittorrent client needs to download the file you want (e.g. some Linux ISO ) A magnet link is a link that contains all the info your bittorrent client needs to download the .torrent file (that then downloads the Linux ISO you want) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earphonesmarket Posted January 18, 2018 Report Share Posted January 18, 2018 With a regular torrent file, you download the .torrent file using HTTP (usually through your browser, but you can also load from URL within BitTorrent) directly from the URL given on the tracker site. With a magnet link, you never download the torrent file from a server specified by the tracker site. Rather, BitTorrent will search the DHT (in this case, other BitTorrent clients) in order to find and download the .torrent file. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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