Configuring Shareaza for Maximum Performance
Shareaza is a P2P (peer to peer) application that supports the Gnutella2, Gnutella, eDonkey2000, and BitTorrent protocols. This guide will 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 must 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.
Settings
These are the settings that work the best for me, but you may find that you get better performance with other values. Try to experiment with each setting and see what works the best for your connection and computer.
Open Shareaza. Click "Tools", then "Shareaza Settings…"
Rather than typing out every setting, I took screenshots of each section.
Internet:
Connection:
Fill in your preferred port and make sure that your download and upload speeds match that of your internet connection. My maximum upload rate is about 47 KB/s, and I set it between 30-39 KB/s.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 KB/s and kb/s are not the same. Use this tool to convert between kilobits and kilobytes: http://www.matisse.net/bitcalc/
Networks:
eDonkey2000:
I would not suggest connecting to the eDonkey network using Shareaza. Use eMule if you want to use the eDonkey network.
Advanced:
Change the values of these settings:
Gnutella.ConnectFactor – 5 (The optimal value of this setting depends on your internet connection. Dial-up 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 by giving your client a way to find peers to connect to.
Searching is an important part of any P2P network. Without it, no one would be able to find anything to download. Gnutella has been the target of many spammers who try to spread viruses and worms using the network. Shareaza includes a feature that allows you to filter out bad results. Download this file which blocks bad files and peers: 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 [Jun-10-2009] {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 forced to use dial-up, I feel bad for you.
