Ares has always been one of the best P2P download clients we could use on Windows. Although it is true that it is not the most complete (that position is occupied by eMule), it is one of the fastest and easiest to find and download all types of relatively popular files. However, despite being a program designed with ease in mind, if we want to take full advantage of it, it is necessary to learn to configure it correctly to find the largest number of files and, also, download them at maximum speed . And this is what we are going to teach you.
The popularity of this program, together with the crusade of many organizations against this type of software, have made Ares, despite being OpenSource, difficult to download. If we want to avoid problems, the best we can do is download the latest version from SourceForge. Although there are more recent versions on some websites, these are modified by unknown people and usually hide malware. The only way to have an official and secure version is this.
Install Ares in Windows 10
The first thing to keep in mind is that the antivirus should not give us any warning, if we have downloaded the official version. If Windows Defender , SmartScreen or any other security measure triggers the alarms, something has not gone well, and surely we have a false and dangerous version of the program in our hands.
The Ares installation wizard is very simple. The only thing we are going to have to do is accept the license terms, choose where to install the program and that’s it. The process of copying the files will automatically begin and, in a few seconds, it will be finished.
We already have Ares installed on the computer. By default, the program will run automatically after installing, and here it is important to make sure we give it permission in the firewall.
If there is a new version of the program, it will notify us and give us the opportunity to download and install it automatically. Of course, we must be careful when doing this.
Common dangers
Installing Ares in Windows , although it has no difficulty, can endanger our PC if we do it wrong. For example, depending on where we downloaded the program, the installation wizard may offer to install unwanted software. Careful with this.
In addition, depending on the (false) version that we download, an assistant may appear that asks us for permission to use our hardware while we are not using it. What it does is give up our PC to use it as a VPN proxy, or to perform calculations with the CPU, while we are not using it. And, of course, it is something we must avoid at all costs.
Configure Ares – Step by Step Manual
Once Ares is installed on the PC, and we have it open, we will click on the ” Control Panel ” button, from the program’s toolbar, to enter its configuration. The panel to configure Ares in Windows is divided into several tabs, in each of which we will find a series of different options.
general
This is the main section of the program. From it, the first thing we are going to be able to do is change the language of the program. We will also be able to configure several basic options of the program, such as whether we want it to run automatically when the PC is turned on, show the status in the title bar, control the program’s notifications, close it completely when clicking the close button and Finally, pause the videos on your player automatically when we change sections.
If we have accepted (or not) the transfer of our hardware with the Luminati, then we will be able to activate or deactivate this option.
Download
This is probably the most important section to be able to go down at maximum speed. From it what we will be able to change is:
- The port we want to use.
- Maximum shipments to the same user.
- General maximum shipments.
- Simultaneous downloads.
- Download and upload limits.
We will also be able to choose where we want these downloads to be saved by default, and other options such as showing the percentage of the download, asking for confirmation when canceling a download or a file filter.
Chat
Ares has a built-in Chat feature. We will be able to configure (if we want) our data within the program, protect the session with a password and even customize the status. This section has no influence on the performance of the program or the speed of the downloads.
Once the profile is configured, we can start using the chat rooms in the purest IRC style.
Net
In this section we will be able to configure, basically, if we are connected through a Proxy server, but nothing else. If we connect through this server we will have to specify it and fill in the connection data. Otherwise, we can skip this section.
Hashlinks
In addition to adding new downloads from the search engine, we will also be able to add new files to download through their Hashlinks codes. A hashlink is a link that is associated with a single file, specifically its hash. In this way, we make sure that we are downloading a specific file and not, for example, a fake. From this section we will be able to add these links.
Skin
Customizing the appearance of programs is not new. Ares has its own system of “skins” that will allow us to give it the personalized touch that we want. By default we have two official themes, but on the web we can find a large number of different themes so that we can choose the one we like the most.
Bittorrent
In this section we will be able to configure the folder where we want the default downloads of the BitTorrent client included in Ares to be saved. This is useful for users who like to have everything neat and organized, as well as for those who have a larger capacity hard drive to store data.
In any case, to download torrents it is much better to opt for other specialized programs, such as uTorrent or Transmission.
FileSharing
Finally, in this tab we will be able to configure the folders we want to share, in addition to the main download folder from the previous section. The P2P network works because users share their files, otherwise it would not be possible. But it is necessary to be careful with the directories that we share, since we can be exposing, without knowing it, personal files.
It is important to have this section controlled to share only what we want to offer to others, but nothing else. Ares will allow us to auto-explore and select the directories automatically (not recommended) or choose by hand each one of the directories that we want to share.
Tips to download faster from Ares
The Ares download process is mainly divided into two steps. The first one is the file search. To do this, we must go to the “Search” section at the top. We will have to write in the box that appears what we want to search for, and at the bottom specify the type of content it is about. The more precise the search, the sooner we will find it and the faster we can start downloading the file.
We must find the download that has the most stars. In this way we will make sure we have more “pairs” to download faster, and we will have less probability of downloading a fake file.
Once the download that we want to download is located we have to double click on it to start the download. This will automatically go to the ” Downloads ” section, from where we can see your progress. Thanks to DHT we can download the files from any source, even from other networks, such as the BitTorrent network.
When the file is finished we will have it copied to our PC, and it will automatically be shared. We remember that in P2P networks it is important to share.
Some tips that we can take into account to download files faster with Ares are:
- Make sure that the program is allowed in the Firewall.
- Check that the port you are using is open (although with UPnP there should be no problem).
- Always look for downloads with many seeds.
- Enable DHT peer discovery.
- Make sure we have a free network. If other users are downloading from other PCs, or watching streaming video, the speed will drop.