The Review Blog

Time for a Restart!

2009-04-08T01:12:00.000-07:00

Ok...i admit it, this blog went to the dogs...so in an effort to salvage whatever is left of it...i'm gonna make it what in essence allready has become, a PIRATE BLOG!, seeing that the most popular post here has been my Norton trial reset which i just upped for fun...but since it worked out so well, i think i'll start this pirate blog, and the main focus being bitorrent...it may take some time, a new look, a new motive...and maybe i'll give up the pirate blog idea(which was jsut a joke)..
Smell ya later!

Convert Your File System from FAT to NTFS- WITHOUT LOSING DATA!

2008-12-12T11:22:00.001-08:00

What is NTFS and FAT32?

They are formats (file systems) for your harddrive. For Windows 98SE and before, FAT32 or FAT16 is the filetype for your harddisk. NTFS is the standard for Windows XP. People say that NTFS is faster than FAT32, as it is far superior. Especially when defragmenting, FAT32 is way slower.

When Can You Use This?

When you buy a external harddrive, the standard is FAT32. Annoying. Moreover, some WinXP installations (in particular, XP upgrades) are done on FAT32 drives.

So, Why Use NTFS over FAT32?

Let’s say you have FAT32. You want to unrar a large file (> 4 GB) and Windows tells you that you cannot unpack it because you don’t have enough hard drive space. Even if you do, you’ll still generate this error. This is because FAT32 drives do not support large files on it (anything over 4 GB).

Consequences:

I’m not responsible for your actions! When converting FAT32 to NTFS, you WILL NOT LOSE any files or data; however, there’s always the chance that something can go wrong (remember, it IS Microsoft, by the way).

Solution / How to Do It:

You don’t need to install a program to change the filetype from FAT32 to NTFS.

1. Press the Start button.

2. Go to Run…

3. Type in "cmd" without the quotes, press OK.

You will then see this:

4. Go to your C:/ folder, by typing in cd\, (or "cd.."just as long till you have reached C:/ ). See above image. Likewise, type in "cd c:\" works, as well.

5. Go to your "My Computer" icon, and see the name of the letter that stands in from of the drive you want to convert!

6. Back in cmd, Press in "CONVERT X: /FS:NTFS" (without the quotes). The X is for the letter your system drive, or external drive name. (see Step 5)

7. On the question ‘convert lost chains top files Y/N?‘ press ‘y‘ and continue.

8. cmd will now check the file system and the rest. If your cmd finishes, your file system is converted to NTFS. You can close down cmd. (If you want to check if it really did finished, go to ‘My Computer’ and right click on the drive, select ‘Properties’ to see what kind of file system it has).

9. If cmd says: ‘X: was not converted to NFTS, the conversion failed etc, you must follow the next steps!

10. As you can see above, my cmd failed the first time. Next solution.

11. Type in "chkdsk X: /f", where X is the letter of your drive. Wait a while to finish.

12. You’ll be asked to ‘convert lost chains top files Y/N?‘ press ‘y‘ and continue. Wait for it to finish.

13. After this, cmd will say that converting was successful. Check it by going to your computer, and single click on the drive to see what kind of file system your drive has. You may need to repeat step 6.

Working Around Bandwidth Throttling! Bittorrent!

2008-12-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

So, you’re encountering issues with slow upstream speeds and it seems like the uploads level off at 0, right? Maybe you’re using Comcast or another similar ISP that is employing bandwidth shaping or using "Sandvine." Damn your ISP! But you aren’t without options! Here are the different methods which people use in an effort to combat these terrible nuisances… and if none of them work, feel free to switch to a different provider in protest or find a workaround that nobody else has thought of.
1. VPN - Virtual Private Network

This will more than likely cost you some extra money a month. You have a few options:
Relakks: https://www.relakks.com/?cid=gb
Witopia: http://www.witopia.net/personalmore.html
VPNTunnel: http://www.vpntunnel.co.uk/
Metropipe: http://www.metropipe.net
Hotspot Shield - Free but AD supported: http://www.anchorfree.com/downloads/hotspot-shield/

There are more and a simple google search can help you with this one. Here are guides for setting up a VPN for each OS:

WINDOWS VISTA:

https://www.publicvpn.com/support/Vista.php

(ignore the stuff that’s included in and after the ‘Select the Connection Properties’ section)

WINDOWS XP:

http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Configure-VPN-Connection-Windows-XP.html

LINUX:

http://www.linuxhelp.net/guides/vpn/

MAC OS:

http://www.external.ameslab.gov/is/remote-vpn-osx.html

Replace the connection info with whatever VPN you choose for any of these tutorials and it should work.

The upside: This usually works for most people. It’s even better if you have multiple computers and just use one to seed. If you seed with just that one computer, connect to a VPN with that computer. This should give you a constant stream upwards and you’ll get your ratio up in no time. But don’t go into this thinking it’ll uncap your upstream… you can only go the max that your provider gives you up… and sometimes the VPN might limit it a bit lower, depending on the VPN you choose.

The downside: If you only use one computer then most VPN’s tend to have sketchy service. The downstream might be intermittent on a VPN. Sometimes it might be hard to connect to them. That and most of these places you have to pay 5 bucks a month or more. I have the luxury of having a seeding computer connected to a VPN and a laptop that I just use without a VPN.
2. Force encryption

http://www.scribd.com/doc/273456/Optimize-BitTorrent-to-outwit-traffic-shaping-ISPs

The upside: It’s a free option. It’s a quick fix, if it works out for you.

The downside: A lot of people say it doesn’t really work. But some people swear by it… so give it a shot if you have nothing else to lose.
3. Seedboxes

The most expensive option of the bunch, but a guaranteed success. Here are some host names:

Vectoral, LeaseWeb, Netdirekt, Tzulo, Exportal, OLM.net — There are more and this is a subject you’ll have to research… Basically you are renting out a remote machine that’ll do the seeding for you. You’ll have massive upstream and downstream capabilities, making it easier to get a good ratio. It’s a great option if you have the cash to spend. Here’s a good launching pad on getting to know what a seedbox is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seedbox. More on this at the bottom.

The upside: Insane upstream means you’ll get a great ratio (most places offer a great upstream package, just choose wisely.) It also means that no matter what your provider does to you… it won’t affect your seedbox! Not to mention being able to store your files on a remote computer… that has great advantages.

The downside: Cost… These things can be as "cheap" as 50 bucks a month (if you’re lucky…) but generally range around $85-$90 (US) a month… or more. AND… Most seedbox providers have it in their TOS that they don’t want you using it for illegal files. They can shut off your service whenever they please.
4. SSH Tunneling

I list this one last because, well… I just plain don’t like it. It can cripple the servers of the SSH providers, and make those providers unreliable or force them to take measures as well. If you REALLY want to do this option, and it will cost you at least a buck, then you can read the info over at Torrentfreak. Here’s the link:
http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-over-ssh-071014/ — No upside and downside to this section, as I basically said it all.
5. WIPFW

This option isn’t really all that great because it requires all users to have performed this function before it’ll be any good. Which is highly unlikely to occur… but perhaps it can help you anyway… Go here http://wakarimasu.googlepages.com/home and follow the instructions provided within and it just may help you combat things like sandvine on the comcast network, but I can’t speak for the other ways different ISP’s throttle your bandwidth.

The upside: It’s free. It could completely combat Sandvine on Comcast

The downside: It really only works for "Sandvine" type throttling. Sandvine throttling sends a drop signal to both the receiver and sender so if both don’t have this workaround installed, this won’t work. In a perfect world everyone would unite together, but we all know that isn’t happening. Also, this method isn’t fully tested yet so it’s too early to tell its effectiveness.
SeedBox Provider Recomendations

There are two types of SeedBoxes - you can get Dedicated servers and Virtual Private Servers. Main difference being not only in price but dedicated servers would be like you having the whole server for yourself. While Virtual Private Servers(VPS) is considerably less in price and features but you are sharing this server with others. Most people generally get a dedicated server with people they trust to lower the cost.

A good site that you can find servers is http://ServerADay.com

Also keep in mind, if the server is cheap it is probably self-managed which means you do everything yourself and pay for tech support! So be careful to not screw up. If this is your first server I’d recommend paying a bit more for windows or having a friend who knows a lot to help you. You most certainly would not want to run torrents on a managed box either.

I’ll update this with more details later, however I personally have heard a lot good about Vectoral. Keep in mind some server hosts do not like torrents.

Current Host Recommendations:
LeaseWeb x2
Netdirekt
Exportal
Softlayer
Vectoral x3
TZulo
LeeWare
OVH.es
OLM.net