From Wendy Boswell,
Your Guide to Web Search.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

This article about BitTorrent search engine Isohunt is in three parts:

• What are BitTorrents?
• Isohunt BitTorrent Search? Download a BitTorrent Client First
• Use Isohunt To Find The Best BitTorrents

What is Isohunt?

Isohunt is a BitTorrent search engine. Isohunt does not host BitTorrent files, Isohunt only helps you find BitTorrent files, and therefore is a completely legal service. From a Isohunt forum thread: "IsoHunt crawls several torrent sites, and when you search for torrents here, you get links to HTML pages on these sites where the .torrent files can be found."

BitTorrent Search with Isohunt

The Isohunt home page is very sparse. At the top of the page is the main file search query box, under that you choose which file extension you're looking for, and under that you can choose what BitTorrent you'd like to find, whether it be BitTorrent, IRC, or Cdcovers. Here's a brief explanation of these three options.

BitTorrents: If you search for BitTorrents on Isohunt, you're searching for actual .torrent files. From Slyck's Guide: "To download something with BitTorrent, you must have a .torrent file. This file contains in it a location that tells the BitTorrent client where to go to find the tracker that manages the uploading and downloading of the archive. An archive is a complete set for downloading which may include one file or many files. The one .torrent file contains the archive information also. To download on this network it is simply a matter of clicking on the .torrent file in your web browser, then the BitTorrent client kicks in and asks where you'd like to save the archive. That's it, from there you just sit back and watch the client work it's magic."

IRC: IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. It's another way to share files across networks, otherwise known as peer to peer file sharing.

CDCovers: CDCovers is pretty much what it sounds like. You can search for all kinds of covers, including Bollywood, CD's, DVDs, Gamecube, Karaoke, Psx2, and more. You must download CDCovers free printing software in order to print your covers. Clicking on this link will take you directly to the CDCoverssite.

How to Find BitTorrent Files Using Isohunt

The process is simple. All you need to do is type in your search query. There's a nice list of top BitTorrent searches at the Isohunt Zeitgeist, and some of the more popular search queries at the moment include:

• Lost: Various Lost episodes, trailers, etc.
• American Dad: An animated political satire; you can find past episodes here
• Bob Dylan: Songs, CD's, etc.

Isohunt does not seem to like quotations around phrases; for instance, I typed in: louis armstrong "what a wonderful world" and got zero results; however, when I changed it to: louis armstrong what a wonderful world I received some pretty good results.

Essential Isohunt Links

Isohunt can be a bit tricky to navigate around in. Here are a few of the most essential Isohunt links:

• Isohunt Plugins: for Firefox only; you can install an Isohunt plugin for your 24/7 torrent search needs.
• Isohunt for your site or blog: Put the most popular torrent searches on Isohunt on your site or blog.
• Isohunt FAQ: Answers to the most frequently asked Isohunt questions here.

Isohunt BitTorrent Search Summary

Here's what you need to know in order to use Isohunt:

• Download a BitTorrent Client.
• Search for .torrent files on Isohunt.
• Download .torrent files.
• Play .torrent files.

This is a VERY simple explanation; Paul Gil has a much more detailed explanation of how the Bit Torrent download process works. But this is the basic version.

Remember, you must always, always keep in mind that these are copyrighted files and you run the risk of legal action by downloading them. Please consider these legal consequences before downloading the entire collection of "Godfather" movies.

Don't feel like jumping headfirst into the world of torrent search? No problem. Check out my multimedia articles:

• Free Movie Downloads: Find free movie downloads, download a movie player, watch an online movie, or catch the latest movie premieres.
• Free Video Downloads:One of my favorite things to do on the Web is find great videos to watch - and there are a TON of good ones out there. Here's where I'll share all the best free video downloads with you - check back frequently as more will be added on a regular basis.
• Free Downloadable Music:Free downloadable music on the Web really does exist; as long as you're willing to listen to music other than what's on the radio and top 40 (for the most part). Here are a few places on the Web where you can find free music downloads.