Setting up uTorrent for Optimum Performance Part 2

  **If you are looking for information on the new WebUI check out my new post on how to use it here**

IF YOU WANT A GUIDE ON HOW JUST TO INCREASE YOUR SPEED, GO HERE

Please check out part one of this guide hereAlso if you don’t want to use torrents and use a more traditional p2p network check here ( http://iviz.livejournal.com/11041.html ) for my reviews on several p2p clients.

PART 2

Queuing

Max amount of active torrents – This number represents how many torrents you have running at once, be it uploading or downloading files.
(8)
Max number of active downloads – I have this number between 1 and 4. If I want something quick, I set it to one. If I know that a torrent won’t be pulled down by running other torrents or I don’t need it right away, I will set it up to 4, but not higher.
(1-4)

Ratio <= – This means a torrent my default will upload whatever % you enter in there. So if you say 100% it will upload until it has reached that and then stop.
(150%)

Or seeding time – This means it will seed for a set amount of time instead of a percentage.
(Ignore)

Seeding tasks have higher priority than downloading task – This will give your uploads a higher priority (more of your connection) if checked.
(Unchecked)

Limit upload rate to – If you have set your ratio to 100%, and your upload meets that goal, this setting will cap the uploads speed. 0 = stopped
(0)

Scheduler

I don’t use this since I want my torrents running full all the time, but if you want to say have your torrents running at a limit speed during the day, you can do so with the scheduler. Since this won’t affect anything I going to skip it.

Other

Store .torrent files in – This is where your personal preference comes into play. But what this does is save all your current torrent files to one folder. I suggest this. Makes organization easier and cleaner. Plus you won’t need to download torrent files afterwards. If you have this set up, you can just open a file from the download prompt and it will save the file to this folder.
(Torrents\Incomplete Torrents\Uncompleted Torrent Files)

Move .torrent files for finished jobs – Same idea as the other one, but when a torrent is finished it will move the .torrent file to another location. I find this useful for future seeding.
(Torrents\Completed Torrents\Completed Torrent Files)

Auto-load torrents – This is open all the torrent files in a certain directory. Can be useful if you want to wait till the programs next set to automatically load some files.
(not used)

Bosskey – Will hide uTorrent so it’s not seen in the system tray.
(None)

Allow uTorrent to send anonymous version number… – This will just let you know when a newer version is available for download.
(Checked)
Advanced

Instead of me explaining everyone of these options, the uTorrent site ( www.utorrent.com ) does a good job of it. Check here (http://utorrent.com/faq.php#What_do_all_those_settings_in_Advanced_do.3F ) for the details. I will instead explain which one to edit.

The only setting here that you need to edit will be the net.max_halfopen setting. What this will allow is more connects to other. Windows by default blocks a number of simultaneous connections so you will first need to download a patch for that file.

To do this, check out here ( http://www.lvllord.de/ ) for the patch. Install it, reboot and then play with your half open settings. I personally have mine set to 50, but depending on your pipe size it may be better to set around 20-30. If you have a smaller or clogged pipe, you don’t want a high number of connections or it will slow your connection even more.

Please note you will need to run that patch everyone windows updates its self to ensure that it wasn’t repatched!

Also, go here (http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php ), download and run. This may help speed up your connection. It may not.

Disk Cache

Override automatic cache size… – This function (heard by rumor) doesn’t really help but you can set it if you like. It will just cache files before writing them to a hard drive to save continuous writes. If you have a low amount of ram, do not use this feature!
(64mb)

Reduce memory usage when… – uTorrent reserves an amount of space in your ram for files. If the cache isn’t being used fully, this will reduce it.
(Checked)

Enable caching of disk writes – Will just cache your writes.
(Checked)

Write out untouched blocks every 2 minutes – If a block of a file is downloaded and then it moves onto another block without completing the first block it will write it out in 2 minutes. If your pc is prone to crashing this is useful.
(Unchecked)

Write out finished pieces immediately – Pretty self explanatory. If your pc is prone to crashing check it, if not your don’t need to.
(Unchecked)

Enabling caching of disk reads – If you are uploading it will being to cache files that will be uploaded to save your disk reads.
(Checked)

Turn off read caching if upload speed is slow – If you are uploading at a slow write, it will turn of the read cache to save ram.
(Checked)
Remove old blocks from cache – Will remove blocks that haven’t been touched from cache. Will provide more ram.
(Checked)

Increase automatic cache size when cache thrashing – If your hard drive is unable to keep up with your cache write, this will increase the cache size to save files.
(Checked)

User Interface I won’t explain since it doesn’t affect anything relating to how the program works.

Notes:
-Just a note! Ensure that uTorrent has been added to your firewall! If it hasn’t you firewall may be trying to block uTorrent, in which case you will get crappy speeds.
-Green ball = Good
-Yellow triangle = Not so good
-Red ball = Your screwed up somewhere and uTorrent can’t connect.

I hope this tutorial/guide helped you understand uTorrent and allowed for you to increase your upload/download speeds!

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