FILEnetworks Blog

Posted: 26 Dec 2008 07:04 AM CST

Waffles.fm, one of the best private music torrents trackers, has banned all Romanian users from the site since the 23rd of December. The ban has not only affected potential new users but has resulted in existing members who are from Romania not being able to access the site as well.

Below is quoted from an update posted by a mod @ Waffles.fm:

Due to Romania being largely a cesspool of spam, viruses, phishing, and fraud, and phishing attempts, fraudulent donations, cheating, and the like from various Romanian IPs with zero action on the part of Romanian ISPs, Romania is hereby banned from Waffles. Please take care to not invite people if you know they're in or from Romania. We will not take action against you, but may change tune in the future.

Waffles is not the only country to ban Romania – several other high level trackers such as SCC have been blocking Romanian IP ranges for for quite a while now. In almost all of these cases, the cause of the ban has been above-the-norm number of cheaters being reported from Romania. Obviously this does not mean that every Romanian BitTorrent user is a cheater – it's a prime example of how a handful of cheaters can ruin it for a number of good users who probably followed every tracker rule.

On the other hand, I can't understand why anyone from Romania would want to cheat. As far as I know broadband connections in Romania are damn fast. Plus they have some of the best private trackers around such as iPlay, SceneFZ, CZONE (which AFAIK is an actual ISP), TorrentBits (Open) all of which have tons of Romanian users and still have great download speeds.

How to update Kaspersky 2009 products and other Anti-Virus software offline

Posted: 26 Dec 2008 06:26 AM CST

It's a well known fact that you need to have your Anti Virus software up to date in order to be protected from latest viruses and other malware. Most security software vendors tend to provide updates over the internet. But what if you have a computer that is not connected to the internet or is having limited internet connectivity (low bandwidth, data cap, etc)? This article describes how you can update your Anti Virus software manually using offline definition updates.

Although most Anti Virus software have a built in automatic updates feature, vendors tend to release standalone update installers usually through their official website. Once you download one of these offline installers, you can use it to update virus definition files even on Anti Virus software installed on computers without internet access (Ex- Download offline installer from work computer which has internet access and then use the installer to update home computer which is not connected to the internet). Below is a list of locations where you can find and download offline definition update installers for several popular Anti Virus software.

1. Kaspersky Internet Security and Kaspersky Anti Virus
kaspersky logo
Offline updates for Kaspersky version 5, 6 and version 7 products can be downloaded from this page. If you are using the new Kaspersky Anti Virus 2009 or Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 products, there is a separate procedure you need to follow. A complete tutorial on how to update Kaspersky 2009 (version 8.0) products offline can be found here.

2. AVG

These offline definition updates are for the free version of AVG. AVG 7.5 offline updates can be downloaded from this page while AVG 8.0 definition updates can be found here.

3. Mcafee

Note that not all of Mcafee's Anti Virus products support offline updating. I'm not sure if products such as Mcafee Total Protection 2009 can be updated offline. However, updating some versions such as VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i/8.7i is possible. You can download the latest virus definition .DAT files from this page.
Note: DAT files are definition updates, SUPERDAT files are definition + scan engine updates

4. BitDefender

Although many people don't know, BitDefender releases offline updates for almost all of its security products including BitDefender Internet Security 2009. All of these updates can be downloaded from this page.

5. Symantec/Norton security products

Most Norton Anti Virus products and Symantec Anti Virus products including corporate versions can be updated offline. Visit this page and choose your product under 'Download Definitions by Product' option.

6. Trend Micro

Trend Micro offers pattern files to update a number of security products offline including Trend Micro Internet Security. Latest pattern files and installers can be obtained form this page.

7. Sophos

Sophos definition files are called Virus Identity Files (IDE) - self extracting zip files with latest IDE files are released regularly. You can download them from here. Note that Sophos products older than 3 months cannot be updated offline.

8. F-Secure

F-Secure regularly releases a file named latest.zip which includes the newest virus definition files. You can download and use this file to update your F-Secure security product manually. The most current version of latest.zip and a tutorial on how to manually update can be found on this page.

9. Avast

Only 4.X versions of Avast! can be updated offline. You can download the iAVS utility which will update your Avast! product automatically. Latest iAVS can be freely downloaded from this page.

10. Avira

A number of Avira products such as Avira Antivir Windows Professional, Avira AntiVir Premium and Avira Premium Security Suite can be updated offline using the VDF update. You can download latest offline definition files for Avira from here.

If your favorite anti virus software is not listed above, please let us know via a comment. We will try to find an offline updates source for it and update the article if we manage to find one.

Private Tracker Watch: 2008 Christmas Bonuses

Posted: 25 Dec 2008 02:33 PM CST

It's the holiday season and the festive atmosphere is everywhere –even in BitTorrent trackers. Many trackers seem to be offering bonuses to members such as double upload, free leech, competitions and open signups these days. Here is a quick update on how some of the most popular private torrent trackers are celebrating this Christmas.

1. BitMeTV (BMTV)

After declaring a relaxed invite policy for December 2008, BitMeTV (BMTV) caught me by surprise when they announced site wide freeleech today.

Santa Dropped by BitMeTV!!

This year he brought us all site-wide Freeleech.This will take place for the next few days before going back to normal. Please check the news posts for Updates. Also remember this just affects your overall total and it might not be reflected on individual torrent stats.

As you may know, Freeleech on BitMeTV is very rare. It definitely is a godsend for those who are struggling to maintain a good ratio so start downloading right now.

2. BitMe.org

BitMe.Org which is probably the best E-Learning tracker out there, is celebrating this Christmas with global free leech till the 30th of December and then double upload for another few days.

It's that time of year again and we are happy to announce free leech beginning today and running through Dec 30th. after which double upload will run for a couple of days.

If you have any large video tutorials, E-book packs or anything else downloaded from BitMe, now would be a good time to do so (and build you ratio while you are at it).

3. SCL (The Clover)

SCL celebrates this Christmas with free leech, double upload and plenty of competitions. The entire site is on free leech till the 27th of December. They also have doubled upload enabled on the 25th and the 26th (double upload can be extended merely by participating in a competition). SCL admins have awarded all members with 1 temporary invite which will have to be used before the 27th of December.
Note: Mentioning full tracker name or posting SCL URL is prohibited.

4. PassThePopcorn

PassthePopcorn, the popular movie tracker, is celebrating this Christmas with free invites, open signups and free leech. They have opened registrations for 48 hours and every new torrent uploaded during this time will be free leech. All new users will receive 1 invite upon signup as well.

Need to get a gift for the picky geek in your life? Why not give the gift of torrent? For the next 48 hours, our site will be free-leech (new torrents only) and open registration to new users. Every new account will get a free invite to our tracker for later use.

Above is quoted from a new post on the site. Open signups and free leech will be enabled on the 25th and 26th of December.
Signup URL: http://passthepopcorn.org/register.php

5. TranceRoute

Popular trance music tracker TranceRoute will be opening signups on new year's eve. The site will be open from 31st of December 2008 till the 1st of January 2009. A note on the homepage reads:

1. With immediate effect are all torrents FREELEECH till 01.01.2009 11am GMT (12am CET/ 2pm MSK)

2. from 31.12.2008 00:00 am GMT (1am CET/ 3am MSK) till 01.01.2009 11am GMT (12am CET/ 2pm MSK) is open sign up to TranceRoute (status n00b). Please tell it your friends!

So if you are looking forward to get into TranceRoute, make sure you check the signup page on the 31st of December. An article on this tracker will be posted on FILEnetworks Blog when it's open.
Signup URL: http://www.tranceroute.com/signup.php

6. BlackCats-Games (BCG)

Christmas spirit at BCG is quite high with 'download free week', referral giveaways and many competitions. The text below is quoted from a forum post by stoi (BCG SysOP)

And as a way to say thank-you, I have give all of our members, Kitty Litter and No Badge Of Honour included, 10 referrals.

According to stoi there are now over 330000 unused referrals in the system. Meanwhile they have implemented something called the 'Download free week' which is the BCG alternative to a free leech system. You can read all about it in this forum thread (members only).

7. RevolutionTT (RevTT)

I was expecting an open signup from RevTT but it was not to be. There are however plenty of competitions including Wallpaper Competition, Forum Christmas Hunt, RevolutionTTree Competition, Banner Competition and Cake Competition. Winners usually receive gigabytes of free upload credit.

8. Ace Torrents (Ace-T)

Ace Torrents, a private tracker with excellent pre times, is celebrating Christmas with free leech, double upload and open signups. According to Ace-T admins, signups will close on the 1st of January and will remain closed for 6 or more months. If you want to get in, now would be a good time.
Signup URL: http://www.acetorrents.net/signup.php

Diskeeper Pro Premier 2009 v13.0.835 – Disk Defragmenter for Windows

Posted: 25 Dec 2008 12:51 PM CST

A new version of popular disk Defragmentation software Diskeeper has been released. Diskeeper 2009 (version 13.0.835) introduces a new feature called InvisiTasking which allows the program to defragment the file system in real time. I-FAAST 2.0 and Frag Shield 2.0 are two more updated features in the new version. This post features the Diskeeper 2009 Pro Premier version which is targeted at power users.

I have not used Diskeeper extensively so I cannot comment on its effectiveness. So far, the reviews I found (for version 2008) on the internet seem to be largely positive. Diskeeper 2009 is so new and currently there aren't many reviews around for this version.

Developer Description

Must-have max system performance for the power user. Diskeeper 2009 Pro Premier edition provides unparalleled peak performance for power users and high powered workstation computing, delivering the ultimate in performance and reliability to those who appreciate it most. Diskeeper 2009 Pro Premier will extend the life and increase the efficiency of your systems while greatly increasing workplace productivity.

Features

Breakthrough Technology! InvisiTasking^™ —Available in Diskeeper 2009, InvisiTasking provides up-to-the-moment defragmentation without tapping into active system resources.
Real-time defragmentation —Handle fragmentation as it occurs, providing maximum speed and performance at all times!
Uncompromising file and free space defragmentation —Defragment in the most extreme hard drive environments.
"Defragmentation Intelligence" enhancements —Diskeeper monitors and analyzes each drive, then chooses a defragmentation strategy specific to the needs of that drive.
Frag Shield^™ 2.0 —boosts reliability and availability by automatically preventing crash-inducing fragmentation of critical system files.
I-FAAST^™ 2.0 (Intelligent File Access Acceleration Sequencing Technology) automatically boosts access speeds for the most commonly used files.
Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Compatibility mode —Diskeeper works intimately with the automatic backup system already on your PC.
Native 64 bit operating systems support.
BOOT-TIME MODE safely performs Microsoft®-recommended defragmentation of critical system files.
Network Management Support —control Diskeeper settings and functionality via Diskeeper Administrator edition or Group Policy.