Configuring Shareaza for Maximum Performance
Shareaza is a P2P (peer to peer) application that supports the Gnutella2, Gnutella, eDonkey2000, and BitTorrent protocols. It happens to be one of my favorite clients, but it can be confusing for new users to set up. This guide will make familiarize you with some of the settings of this program. It will also help fix common problems such as slow download speeds, slow searches, and network connection issues.
You will need to download Shareaza if you do not already have it:
http://shareaza.sourceforge.net/?id=download
Install Shareaza with the default settings, but do not run it at this time. Users of Windows XP Service Pack 2 will need to modify some system settings before continuing. Users of Service Pack 1 and other versions of Windows may continue to the next step.
Service Pack 2 Only:
While Service Pack 2 includes many enhancements such as a Security Center, it also changes some settings that affect the performance of P2P clients.
The first setting we much change is the amount of half-open connections that are allowed at one time. This can be done with a patcher located here:
http://www.lvllord.de/?lang=en&url=downloads
Extract and run EvID4226Patch.exe. You will hear a beep, and then it will prompt you to change the limit. Press the 'C' key. If you are confident in your antivirus software to protect against fast spreading worms, enter 16777214. If not, just enter 100. Ensure you have entered the amount you wanted and press the 'Y' key. Press 'Y' again to move to the next step.
You will now be prompted to reinstall the system files that got replaced. Press Cancel as we need these files to stay at our custom amount.
Choose "Yes" when prompted to keep the unrecognized version of the file.
Service Pack 1 and 2:
Open up network connections via the control panel. Look at the "Status" column and see if any connections are firewalled.
If one or more are, right click on the connection and choose properties. Click the advanced tab, and then the first settings button. Click the exceptions tab and add an exception for Shareaza if it is not already present. By default, it is located at C:\Program Files\Shareaza.
The last setting we must change before actually doing anything with Shareaza is forwarding ports on our router. This is important as connections cannot be made to other peers without having the port open. If you don't have a router, feel free to move on to the next step.
Shareaza's default port is 6346. A great website about port forwarding can be found here:
http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/routerindex.htm
Find your model of router and follow the instructions until you know how to add port 6346.
That may have seemed like a long process to go through, but it is worth it in the end. Now we will move onto Shareaza's settings. These are the settings that I work the best for me, but you may find that you get better performance with other values.
Open Shareaza and choose the setting that applies to your connection. Ignore the warning about Service Pack 2 as we will deal with that later on. If you see a NAT error, follow the firewall and port forwarding sections again.
We will be spending most of our time in the settings window.
Click "Tools", then "Shareaza Settings…"
Rather than typing out every setting, I took screenshots of each window.
Internet:
Connection:
Fill in your preferred port and ensure your download and upload rates match that of your connection. My maximum upload rate is about 47 KB/s, so I set it to use 39 KB/s for the sake of sharing more. I would recommend using 80% of your total available bandwidth for the upload setting. You may test your upload rate here: http://www.dslreports.com/stest?flash=1 Remember to convert it from Kilobits to Kilobytes with this tool: http://www.matisse.net/bitcalc/
Networks:
eDonkey2000:
I would not suggest connecting to the eDonkey network as it is better suited for larger files and tends to have very slow downloads.
Advanced:
Change the values of these settings:
Gnutella.ConnectFactor - 5 (The value of this setting is heavily reliant on your internet connection. Dialup users should set it to either 2 or 3. If you notice poor performance after modifying this value, play around with it and see what works best.)
Downloads.ConnectThrottle - 100
Downloads.MaxFileSearches - 4
Downloads.MaxConnectingSources - 50
The rest of the settings are a matter of personal preference.
The last step will help you get connected to the Gnutella network. Close the settings dialog and press the "F9″ key. This opens the Discovery Services tab. Go to this website: http://gcachescan.jonatkins.com/
Copy at least five of the URLs under the "Cache URL" list and add them to your list in Shareaza. This can be done by right clicking anywhere in the window and clicking "Add Service." Once you have added some healthy caches, double click them in Shareaza to query them. This will greatly improve the speed at which you connect to the Gnutella network.
Searching is a vital part of any P2P network. Without it, no one would be able to find anything to download. Gnutella has been the target of many spammer and hacker groups who spread viruses and worms via files on the network. Shareaza includes a security feature that allows you to filter out bad results. Download this file which blocks bad peers and files: Magnet Link
When it finishes, press the "F7″ key and right click anywhere in the window. Click import and select "All-In-One AntiSpam Filter [June-21-2008] {By Cyko}.xml" located in your downloads folder. (C:/Program Files/Shareaza/Downloads by default)
This configuration will suit most users that have either Cable or DSL. If you are on dialup I suggest you upgrade to a faster connection as it will help both you and your fellow peers download faster.
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