how do i help (20th century techno-idiot here)

[asdf29]

i am NEW to downloading. i have finally figured out how to download torrents.

as far as i know, there are magic elves working their asses off inside the computer assembling data and making files on my desktop.

i am trying to figure out how i can help or host. i am weary of this, i never leave my internet connection on (i don't have good security/firewalls. maybe i shouldn't admit that)...

point is, i have no freakin' idea what is going on here and i don't wanna just be another "leech."

i haven't been able to find a page that addresses this (though i'm sure it's here).

(please note, i have been trading tapes/cdr's for years. i'm not NEW to trading, just new to the digital side)

any info appreciated.

[direwolf-pgh]

just donate then

[U2Lynne]

- Get AVG for anti-virus. It's free and I've heard it's much better than Norton
- If you have a router, use it's firewall, but open up a port for just your bittorrent client (find out how at portforward.com)
- Turn on bittorrent when you are on your computer and upload to a show you have completed. You can set your upload rate to much less than the maximum to allow you to easily browse the internet at the same time
- Vine some shows you have downloaded (looking up Vines in the FAQ - and see the forum)
- Offer some B&Ps of shows you have downloaded (look up B&P in the FAQ - and see the forum)
- Once you have this all figured out, help the newbies in this forum when they ask a question like you did
- And, as Wolf said, we welcome your donations to help with montly server costs

Enjoy the site!

[asdf29]

thanks for the info.