what type of file extension is a movie downloaded using BitTorrent?

[geek2330]

I guess a dumb question but my friend is asking me this as he's using a BitTorrent utility to download a movie file, he's new to bit torrent and said that as the file is downloading it doesn't show the extension.....

Hope that makes sense.....I don't know bit torrent and not sure what to tell him...

[guns1inger]

BitTorrent is a file downloading service. There is no specific extension for videos downloaded by this method. They could be avi, mpg, divx, or they could be a CD image - ISO, Bin/Cue etc - or they could be in an archive - zip/rar etc.

[redwudz]

Assuming video, they could be any video format the uploader desires, such as .avi, .mpg, or others. But the format is normally shown in the torrent. They may also be compressed formats like, .rar, .zip, .iso, or others that contain the video.

A torrent file is just a pointer to direct your downloading program to a tracker that connects to the uploaders that host the actual files.

Wikipedia may be some help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent

Or this guide has quite a bit of info: http://www.dessent.net/btfaq/

[Midzuki]

IF your friend is using Shareaza, then I guess that he/she has been
downloading an entire folder instead of a single file.
BTW, Shareaza is poorly-designed as a BitTorrent client.

\\\\\

[geek2330]

he told me he's using BitTorrent 6.0.
I just called him, he says that he entered the url for the downloader and it is saving the file as a file, meaning there's no extension, he remembers he got prompted where to save the file and he put a name but there was no extension so he doesn't know.

The file is about 4.7GB in size he says..

Hope that helps so I can help him.....

[redwudz]

Most often a 4.7GB file will be a DVD. It may have a .iso wrapper, but should be some sort of DVD format. The best would be a VIDEO_TS folder. You take your chances with a torrent file, they could be about anything, even malware.

[guns1inger]

sounds like a DVD ISO. Very good chance that when he finishes downloading it he will find it won't burn, was created by a monkey in a moron suit (or this a moron in a monkey suit ?) and he has wasted his time. We have many posts that start with "I downloaded a DVD through bittorrent and when I try to burn it I get {insert error message here}"

[geek2330]

ok, got it, thanks guys.

[geek2330]

he also found it was a .VOB file, but anyways I gave him the needed feedback.

[guns1inger]

It won't be a single, 4.7GB VOB file.