Given the nature of this blog’s content, it’s safe to assume that most of our readers are familiar with .torrent files. A .torrent file basically contains metadata (filenames, size, checksum, etc) about other files it makes downloadable. However to work the magic of a torrent, you usually need a BitTorrent client such as uTorrent or Vuze. How about converting a .torrent file to a stand alone exe so that users can download it even on machines without a BitTorrent client? Torrents2Exe is an innovative free online service that allows you do just that. It’s still new but looks like it can come in handy for both regular users as well as torrent site owners.
Torrent2Exe currently runs two versions of its online service – the stable release and the beta version. Beta of course has more features so this post and the included screens are based on it. Anyways if you are wondering as to why you’d ever need a service like this, several potential uses are listed on their website itself (and I’m pretty sure there are more):
- Publish exe files on your site or blog.
- Add extra functionality to your torrent-related site. You can put direct links to these downloads along with links to torrent files or use special script that will do it automatically.
- Process torrents before sending them to your friends who don't want to be bothered with installing the client.
Converting a .torrent file to exe is easy and involves only 1 mandatory step; you have to select the .torrent file you need converted (obviously). This can either reside on your hard disk or you can directly link to a torrent hosted online. Additionally, you can select the size of the generated exe (this and other advanced features are available only in ‘Convert Torrent’ page). There are two options; ‘Normal Size’ and ‘Small Size’. Exes generated under ‘Small Size’ option will be around 50kb in file size. These however will automatically download around 1MB additional components the first time a user executes it (this will be a fully automated one time download and will not be repeated for different exe files). Exes built under the ‘Normal Size’ option will be sized around 1.4MB – there will be no additional component downloads as the Torrent2Exe BitTorrent client will be embedded in the executable (You can even download the client separately, install it on your machine and download regular .torrent files with it).
As said above Torrent2Exe uses its own internal BitTorrent client for downloading and offers basic functionality such as seeding, setting min/max download and upload speeds, selecting the download location, pausing downloads, creating new torrents, hide to tray, DHT support and so on. All of these features are available even when downloading torrents in exe format. If you want you can exit the download altogether and restart it at later stage - downloading will resume from where it left off and won’t restart from scratch.
Links
[Click Here] to visit Torrent2Exe (Beta) homepage
[Click Here] to visit Torrent2Exe (Beta) online torrent conversion page
[Click Here] to visit Torrent2Exe (Stable) homepage
CAUTION: Using Torrents2Exe with .torrent files downloaded from private torrent trackers is not recommended. Torrent2Exe uses its internal BitTorrent client for downloading and this is most likely not an allowed client on private trackers. Additionally, most private sites prohibit sharing of .torrent files and you could end up getting banned if you distribute generated exes as this will essentially be you sharing your torrent with another party along with your unique passkey etc.
