Azureus, my favorite program for downloading large files off the internet. Heard of it? If you have then you probably know how extremely customizable the program can be, and how easy it is to get lost in its configuration or pressing to many buttons which might cause global warming to increase its speed by 10% may be. But this is (to me) without a doubt one of the best tools for downloading torrents.

I've used Azureus for about 3 years now and stick to the older version 2.5.0.0 which doesn't have all the advertisement scattered on it like I'm watching an infomercial. I've attached version the version I use at the end of this article since its what I'm going to use to show you how to configure Azureus, if you are using the new version which has been turned into a freak show I suggest you dump it and get this version as its cut and dry torrent fun! Some of the features I really enjoy about this Torrent program are, multiple torrent handling, highly configurable interface, the ability to control uploading and downloading speeds independently and its colorful design. On top of all my favorite things about this program, I also enjoy the long list of available plugins that you can download and install directly from the program! No searching the internet for files, it all can be found in a nice descriptive list, we'll talk more about that later though. By the way, I use the Advanced user interface. If you've installed Azureus and selected novice or intermediate your interface might look different.

Azureus 2.5.0.0 Overview

Click the image below to enlarge. 

Lets have a looksie at Azureus 2.5.0.0.

As you can see there are a few basic buttons which pretty much symbolize their function, move up/down, move to top/bottom, the higher the download in the list the higher its download priority so if you have a large list of downloads and you want one to finish first simply move it to the top of the list by clicking on the file name in the list then clicking the double up arrow which will move the torrent to the top of the download priority. The divided window will display torrent being downloaded in the top window and torrents that have finished and are being seeded by you for others to download on the bottom. Its fairly straight forward. If you can use MS Word you shouldn't have a problem navigating the default Azureus window.  

The interface

From the look of the image above, Azureus seems user friendly and it is on the surface, but if you are experiencing slow torrent downloads even after you let your download sit around for a while then you might need to pop the hood and slap some buttons around! I see lot of people all over the internet saying they keep getting NAT errors, or their downloads stay at grass growing speeds, this is usually the fault of a inproperly configured Azureus client. But at least you g et to look at a color NAT error light huh? 

The Plugins

Azureus has 41 plugins available directly from within the program, to access the list of plugins simply go to [Azureus / Plugins / Installation Wizard] and click "By list from Sourceforge.net and your plugins list magically appears out of nowhere! I love the internet. The plugins range from categorizers which help you keep structure to your torrent downloads to Sudoku, yes I said Sudoku. If you're still looking around at the plugins list go ahead, I'll wait. Welcome back, nice list huh?

Installing plugins via the Azureus plugin window is very simple, just check the box next to any of the plugins you wish to install then click Next, it might ask if you want to install the plugin for all users, this basically means if you have multiple people using the same computer with separate Windows XP accounts that the installed plugins will only be available to your account, thats up to you though, I usually leave the default selected and click Finish. Once you've clicked finish another fancy window pops up labeled "Azureus Plugin Installed" don't let the name intimidate you, its just showing you which plugins you are about to install, clicking "Install" will begin the process of automatically downloading and installing the plugins for you.

Once the plugins are installed they can usually be found under the [Azureus / Plugins] but some plugins (usually the more technical ones) will reside in the [Azureus / Tools / Options] window on the left hand site under an expandable list named "Plugins". You more then likely won't need all the plugins of course, unless you just want them. I usually get the "Advanced Statistics" and "Category Changer" which seperates the still downloading torrents from the completed torrents. 

The Options Screen

Lets get technical, the Azurerus option screen is where all the Doozers live and work to make Azureus run like a well oiled machine. While it can be frightening to look at on its initial introduction and probably many introductions after that, theres really only a small handful of things that might need to be messed with if your Azureus client isn't working efficiently.

If you are behind a router you might have to tell Azurerus which port to use, when selecting a port for torrents its good practice to use high numbered ports like 20,000 and up, lets not get into detail on why higher ports are preferred, lets not upset the internet gods. As you can see I have my Azureus client set to port 22500, feel free to  try different ports out if you experience any trouble using a specific port.Its vital that you open  which ever port you ener on this screen for a clean connection for Azureus, people often get slow download speeds if the port isn't open, so be sure! 

The Infamous Azureus NAT error

If you get the NAT error while using Azureus there are a sleuth of things that could cause such an issue, unfortunately I'm taking the easy route and I'm just going to suggest you take a look at the page: NAT problem - AzureusWiki. Read through that page to help you further diagnose your NAT issue.

Azureus Portforwarding

For any issues of how to  forward ports for your router, there please visit PortForward.com. There is an extensive list of routers on the site and detailed guide on how to configure all types of routers. Visit the site, use the guide, find your router in the list then it will bring you to a list of programs, find Azureus in the list, click on the Azureus link and you will be taken to a detailed page specified for your router on how to configure ports for Azureus, its a very nice site and I use it often.

The Conclusion

Theres my basic run down of the Azureus client made for downloading torrents off the internet. There are of course many other Torrent clients out there but this one is my favorite. This article isn't meant to be a complete thorough diagram of the client but more of a breaking the ice and getting to first base introduction to Azureus 2.5.0.0. Theres much more configuring that could be done but thats really for advanced users and probably only needs to be configured to meet advanced needs, this guide shows you how to do a basic setup of Azureus 2.5.0.0.

If you have any questions or comments go ahead and leave them in the comment form below, I will be glad to answer any questions you may have.