DC++ is one of the best file-sharing programs currently available for downloading movies. The only drawback is that users need to share files to get into the hubs (servers), but this is also the reason you will find a greater selection of movies and music than on other file-sharing networks. Since it's possible to share any type of file, you can find just about anything in DC++ hubs. The best thing about DC++ is that it just gets better and better. As you get more movies, you will get into better hubs with more files shared.
We don't recommend DC++ to new members that haven't used file-sharing programs before, since it can be a bit complicated to learn and users have to share files. A better program to get started is KaZaA Lite, which is easy to learn and doesn't require you to share files. However, if you've already got some movies and know what you are doing, ie. you have some general computer knowledge, DC++ is for you. As we see it, having to share movies to get movies is not necessarily a bad thing. It just means that there will be more files shared and less people downloading, so you will find more movies and get faster downloads.
The first thing you need to do is to download the installation program. When the download has finished, run the exe-file and follow the instructions.
To start the program, simply goto the Start menu -> Programs -> DC++ folder and select the DC++ option. Alternatively, you should have a DC++ shortcut on your desktop, simply double-click it to start the program. The first time you start the program you will be asked to configure some basic settings. These settings only need to be configured once, and they can be easily changed later on if you want. If DC++ also opens a readme.txt file, you can just close it.
The first thing you need to configure is the Personal Information tab, where you have to enter some personal information about yourself. Nickname is the name which other people will know you as. Your e-mail address is optional, so you should just leave it blank. The description field is also optional, but can be used to give a short description of what you are sharing. Finally select your Internet connection type from the dropdown list.
The next tab is the Connection Settings tab, which only needs to be configured if you know that you are behind a firewall or using a shared Internet connection. If you are unsure if you are behind a firewall, first try to use the program in Active mode and if it doesn't work, try changing it to Passive mode. Most people can use DC++ in Active mode, but if you have any problems downloading files or getting search results you can try switching to Passive mode and see if it helps. Please note that if you use Passive mode, you won't be able to download files from other users that use Passive mode.
Now switch to the Downloads tab, where you can configure where your downloaded files will be stored. The maximum simultaneous downloads setting specifies how many files that you can download at the same time. The default value is infite, which means that there is no limit.
Finally switch to the Sharing tab. This is where you choose which folders/directories you want to share with others. The more you share, the better hubs you will get access to. You can find more information about Sharing files later in this guide. The upload slots specifies how many files that can be downloaded from you at the same time. Most hubs require a minimum of 3 open slots, so 3 is a good choice. Be careful so you don't accidently share files you don't want to share, ie. personal documents or similar.
You don't have to worry about the other tabs for now. When you get more used to DC++ and want to customize it, this is where you do it.
You should now be ready to connect to your first hub. Click on the Public Hubs button in the upper left corner to view the list of available hubs. Please note that it can take a couple of seconds for the list to load, so please be patient. The public hub list contains information about thousands of hubs that you can connect to, and as you can see below most hubs offer a description of what their users are sharing. The description also usually contains a GB (gigabyte) value, which specifies the minimum amount of files/data you have to share to connect to the hub. Anyone meeting the minimum requirements can connect to the hubs and download files. For example, if the hub description says 10GB you need to be sharing 10GB (10,000MB) of files to connect to the hub.
To connect to a hub, simply double-click the entry in the hub list. In general it doesn't really matter which hubs you connect to as they all offer a great selection of movies and music, but there are two things that you should keep in mind. First of all, you must meet the minimum share requirements, otherwise you won't be able to connect. Secondly, always try to get into popular hubs with a lot of users connected, they are usually popular for a reason. This basically means that you start from the top of the list and work your way down until you find a hub you can get into.
When you successfully connect to a hub you should get a welcome message and a list of rules in the status/chat window on the left side. You should also see a list of connected users on the right side, and the hub tab at the bottom should now have a green outline. If you for some reason get disconnected from the hub, you can usually find the reason in the status/chat window or in a private message window. The most common reasons for getting disconnected is because you aren't sharing enough files, or because the hub is full. If this is the case you can either wait for a while and try again, or choose another hub further down on the hub list. In the screenshot below you can see an example of how it should look when you have successfully connected to a hub.
TIP: To get a complete list of all files a user is sharing, simply double-click their name in the user list.
To search for files using DC++ is easy, simply click on the Search button (looking glass icon) on the menu and a new Search tab will appear. Then enter the title/keyword of the file you are looking for in the search field. You can narrow down your search by specifying what size and file type you are interested in. The search option "Only users with free slots" is useful to filter out users which don't currently have any free slots open for downloads. If you don't get any search results with this option checked, try to uncheck it and search again.
When you get the search results back, double-click on the Size column to order the results by the file size. This makes it easy to find popular versions of a file (many matches with the same size), which can be easily resumed if something goes wrong. If you have to choose between a few matches with different file sizes, the larger files are usually better quality and more likely to be complete. You should expect a typical full-length movie to be about 600MB-700MB in size.
TROUBLESHOOTING: If your searches don't produce any search results, first make sure that you are still connected to the hub, then try to search for a common term such as "mp3". If you still don't get any search results it is most likely a firewall problem. To resolve the problem you should try and open the Settings menu and select the General tab. There you will need to change the Connection Settings to Passive mode. Once you have done this the searches should produce results. You might need to restart the program or at least reconnect to the hub for the changes to take effect.
When you've found a file that you want to download, simply double-click the file in the search results to start the download. If the user that is sharing the file has free slots open the download will begin directly, otherwise the file will be queued for download, and DC++ will automatically retry to download the file until it is successful. If the download isn't able to start because of "No slots available" you can always try to find someone else that is sharing the same file. Once the download has started the file will appear in the Transfer window at the bottom. There you can track the progress of the download, the download speed and the estimated time remaining.
Why should I share files? Good question. First of all, if you don't share the minimum amount of GBs (gigabytes) required for a hub, you won't be able to get in. Another reason is because it will make the file-sharing network better. As long as people find files they want, they will come back and share their files. In the end everyone will benefit from this since there will be more files shared and the downloads will be faster.
What files you share is also important. No one likes it when people share installed programs or other useless files. Therefore you should only share files which you think others are interested in, which typically means different types of media files (movies, music, etc). If you don't have any files to share, you need to start out using a program such as KaZaA Lite, which doesn't require you to share files. Then after you've built up a small collection of files you can begin using DC++.
WARNING: It's important to be careful what files and directories you share. Never ever share the root directory of a hard drive (C:\ for example), as all sub directories will be shared as well. You should also avoid sharing directories with installed programs, as the files could contain passwords or other sensitive information, which you don't want others to get their hands on. We recommend creating a new directory where you place files you want to share.
That's the end of our guide to DC++. You should now know exactly how to Install, Configure, Share, Connect, Search and Download using DC++. If you run into any problems, make sure to read the related section one more time. We've tried to cover most common problems directly in the guide.
Shouldn't this be a sticky like the Hub Guide?
WOW! great guide, scratch! Thanks!
Oddly enough, DC++ was one of the very first p2p applications I used, and I was newbie enough to post asking what a firewall was and which one to use. My husband, who doesn't know the least thing about computers, uses DC all the time, and has never really learned how to use anything else (not that the rare stuff he usually goes for would be easy to find elsewhere).
So I'm not sure I agree that DC is not for noobs. It's just that, without "shares", they will have to wait to get into the larger hubs.
Still, I see your point, and agree that DC requires at least a bit of familiarity with the logic behind p2p. However, I would strongly refrain from suggesting noobs to start with KazaaLite or any other FastTrack application. Why not replace that with Gnutella or Ares?
I went straight from Kazaa to DC++ and never looked back.