Other Methods of P2P / File Sharing

 

FileShareFreak is doing what no other website will do: We are actually testing various P2P programs under WinXP, and giving a personal review in our own words – not just some ‘cut/paste’ from the software publisher’s website. All programs were tested to be functional* in Nov./Dec. 2007, all are ‘Freeware’, and all are free of adware/spyware (unless otherwise noted). *Functional being that they connect to a network (with other users) and generate search results.

See the bad P2P programs page for a list of clients that didn’t make the cut – and why.

Also, we don’t include everything on this list. There’s only so many clones of Limewire and eMule we can handle! (Open source software often gets a miniscule makeover, bundled with third party adware, toolbar addons etc. and viola! a new product is born! – most of which we don’t include here). If you really want a complete list of available P2P software, visit www.download.com and search for "P2P program" or "MP3 finders" – you’ll be inundated with clones and the like. Know a good P2P program that’s not on the list? Try our Top Ten P2P page.

Additionally, we wanted a list of P2P programs that contain variety. Most of these programs connect to their own network, or to multiple networks, thus diversifying the search results available in P2P. What point would it serve if we only included a bunch of programs that connected solely to the Gnutella network? – all of the search results would be the same.

NOTE: Keep checking back at this page, we add new ones regularly!

Although these programs are adware/spyware free, most of these applications are not considered P2P safe (i.e. "anonymous" or "encrypted traffic" type programs), unless they are properly configured via the Proxy (SOCKS) settings internally.

See our Anonymous P2P Clients section for exclusively anonymous P2P clients & networks.

BitTorrent clients are not listed here, since there are only about three Bit clients that should be used anyways (see here). Moreover, the Bit client is not at all indicative of good search queries – this quality is ordained by the BitTorrent website hosting the .torrent files.

Other things not included in the list below (categorized elsewhere):

• • IRC Clients/Software
• • DC/’Direct Connect’ Clients
• • Usenet Newsreaders
• • BitTorrent Clients
• • Anonymous P2P Programs
• • P2P Programs that contain adware
• • P2P Programs that charge money
• • P2P Programs that don’t connect
• • Friend-to-Friend Programs (F2F)
• • Instant Messaging (IM) Software
• • Darknets for File Sharing
• • File/Web Hosting for File Sharing

 

THE P2P LIST

Addax P2P v2.3

Addax P2P is a Limewire Pro clone – except Addax is freeware. It is an awesome alternative for users who want to use a "Pro"- like version of Limewire, but can’t find a free version or don’t want to pay for the upgrade. Has a neat "What’s New?" section. Like Limewire, it has great search results and excellent speeds. Nothing to complain about here! Connects to the Gnutella network. Download Addax from their website, or from www.download.com.

Aimini v1.9.9

Aimini is a community-oriented P2P file sharing program with an IM (Instant Messaging) twist. Currently, there are about 8,000 total users worldwide, so it’s not huge. We recommend that you sign up for a free account after installation, as to take advantage of more features. Aimini has an OK selection of music – at last check there were 7,600 songs being shared. Note: This program is upload-bandwidth hungry – if you have a ‘capped’ Internet connection, don’t let this one run in the background. Also worth mentioning – this app isn’t for the kiddies – there’s lots of public adult profiles with public adult pictures. Methinks Aimini isn’t really just about the file sharing…

Allpeers (for Firefox)

Allpeers for Firefox is a browser extension/addon that adds the ability to download *.torrent files through Firefox. And it’s fast, too!

Here’s the steps required to adding the allpeers Firefox extension:

1.  Install Firefox, if you haven’t already done so.

2.  Launch Firefox, go to TOOLS > Add-ons – this will open the extensions window. (as seen in the first screenshot below)
3.  Click the "Get Extensions" button. This will launch Firefox to their extensions website. (see second screenshot)
4.  In their search window, enter in "allpeers" and click search. This will show the available addon. Click the green INSTALL NOW button, and follow online instructions. After installation, Firefox will be restarted and will automatically launch to the Allpeers registration page. Enter a "username" and "password". For the email address, it’s not important to enter a working one so make one up or use a hotmail address.
5.  Visit your favorite BitTorrent website and start downloading some illegal files! What are you waiting for?!?

aMule v2.1.3

aMule is an eMule-like spinoff P2P client for the eD2k and Kademlia networks. When connected to the proper networks, there are loads of search results, millions of peers sharing files, and speeds are very impressive for popular queries.

Our Comments: aMule (and eMule) do not use the same ‘decentralized’ architecture as Limewire – they require connections to specific eD2k and KAD central servers that must be imported into the program. It has been estimated that 60% of all currently available eD2k servers are decoys/fakes or some form of scam. But don’t let this dissuade you entirely – eD2k is a great alternative to Gnutella (Limewire) – the emule/amule ‘Razorback’ server alone has almost 1 million users sharing 130 million files online at any given time. The secret is to import trusted server lists. More on that below…

Installation (of program): Download aMule from here, and install. The current file name is "aMule-2.1.3-installer.exe". Read on…

Installation (of servers): There is one server list that comes pre-installed with aMule, but it doesn’t connect (a broken URL). Therefore if you try to connect/search right after installation, it won’t happen. You need to install some trusted server URLs. We’ve listed 3 verified trusted server lists (URLs) below which add approximately 75 working servers to aMule, with 6 million users between them. They are:

1. http://peerates.net/peerates/trueservers.met
2. http://peerates.net/peerates/certifiedservers.met
3. http://www.gruk.org/server.met.gz
4. And there are more eD2k server lists around. Just be sure they’re trustworthy!

How to add the server lists into aMule:

1.  Run aMule, and click on the "Networks" button at the top.
2.  Now, enter one of the lines from above into the slot where it says ’servers’ – (i.e. — http://peerates.net/peerates/trueservers.met ). See the screenshot below.
3.  Last, click on the blue arrow to the left – this will update the servers.

4.  Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each server URL as listed above. Congratulations, you’ll now be connected to many servers. (It may take a few minutes to establish a good connection).

Cabos v0.7.4

What’s special about Cabos is its search capabilities – unlike any other P2P program. Users can filter the search results to show only specific qualities (like ‘bitrates’ or ’sources’) while throwing out all the other results! See the screenshot. Has support for iTunes searches as well. While the Cabos download page is in Asian (‘Cabos-0.7.4-Windows.msi’ installer), the program is in full English, and download speeds were great! Cabos connects to the Gnutella network.

Clickster v1.6.0

Clickster is a unique way of finding music on the Internet. While not classified as a P2P program – it strictly searches for music only and doesn’t connect to other users – download speeds are great and the quality (bitrate) of the songs are impressive. Searching is a little erratic – results are displayed for things completely unrelated to the query, and there is no additional information about the song – just the title only. Also note: Nag popups try to sell you the ‘Pro’ version for $25 – don’t do this. The service isn’t worth it based on the way the search results are shown – see the screenshot.

Deepnet Explorer v1.1

Deepnet Explorer is a web browser that combines browsing with integrated P2P file sharing capabilities and a built-in RSS/ATOM news feed reader. We like the search feature – it doesn’t stop searching for a query after a set number of results – it just keeps searching until that search window is closed. Deepnet connects to the Gnutella network. NOTE: While Deepnet has been discontinued by its publisher, the program still works, and can be downloaded from the Tucows.com website.

eMule Plus v1.2c

eMule Plus is a branch of the original eMule P2P client application with some improved features, like enhanced GUI; Automatic Fake Check; Auto Download Lists; in-program Antivirus support. Download eMule Plus here. See aMule above for adding in ‘Server Lists’ – however, the newly released version of eMule Plus does contain a couple of lists that indeed do connect – and brandish some very respectable search results and robust download speeds. eMule Plus is a great addition to the P2P family!

Looking for other eMule options? There’s a plethora of modified eMule clients out there…check the SourceForge website.

ExoSee v1.0.0

ExoSee is an online community-oriented P2P file sharing application that allows users to share with all members of the ExoSee community or privately. With this being brand-new, there aren’t alot of users or channels to join. The ’search’ only works on XOC files, not for users in the channels – you have to browse the users to see what is being shared. But it is a neat concept, and speeds were excellent. It’s recommended to share files in ExoSee. Download it here.

FileCroc v1.0.1

FileCroc is a runner-up in our Top Ten P2P programs. Features: Integrated radio/media player; great download speeds; excellent quantity of search results; mouseover for additional file info; *.torrent downloading; good search result filtering; in-program chat; and the ability to preview media files before they are finished downloading. At this time, we’re unsure of what network(s) Filecroc connects to, but we suspect Gnutella.

Fusteeno v1.1

Fusteeno is not a P2P file sharing program. Fusteeno is peer-to-peer system which uses a web browser instead of client software installed on your computer. It requires Java and Flash though, and the setup will guide you through that part.

Presently in Beta mode, only music searching is available, for now. Our Comments: We don’t want to be too hard on Fusteeno – it is brand-new and quite possibly an emergent breakthrough in the way files are shared! But, we found it a little slow. OK, a LOT slow, actually – some files wouldn’t connect, and some would just stop in the middle. The problem is there’s no way to configure it – so you don’t know if you’re downloading from one person or ten. Fusteeno connects to the Gnutella network.

Gnucleus

Gnucleus is two things: One; a P2P application built for the windows platform. Two; it’s a ’source-code’ model for other P2P programs. We couldn’t get the application Gnucleus to connect, but there’s another program that uses the same Gnucleus source-code which does connect to the G1 and G2 networks – TruxShare v3.8.0.

Jubster

Jubster MP3 Finder is a program for finding music (mp3 files) on the Internet. Our Notes: While Jubster isn’t a typical P2P program, it can help find at least some music that’s out there. The programs is very easy to use – just install and start searching for an artist name or song title. Jubster supports simultaneous file downloading and multiple search windows.

Manolito v1.1.8

Manolito is a file-sharing network that uses a peer-to-peer network similar to Gnutella, with a new private protocol that works without a central server. Our Notes: Beware! 1. – It attempts to install 2 different brands of adware – which both can be ‘opted out of’ during installation. 2. - It changes the registry to start up with Windows. 3. - There’s a pay version called ‘Super Manolito’ being offered through the program for $20. So aside from these three deplorable things, Manolito isn’t a bad P2P program. Connects to the MP2P network.

MasterMax v3.3

MasterMax is a brand-new P2P application used for connecting to the Gnutella networks (G1 & G2). Features an interface unlike any other file sharing program, very simple, low CPU usage, and small file size. Future development includes search expansion to the eDonkey (eD2K) and Ares networks. Visit www.cherribombmusic.com to download the latest version, help pages and MasterMax forums. Since this is new and under active development, check back at their website for future updates.

MP3Rocket v5.0.2

MP3Rocket is another program based on the Limewire source code, but this program comes with a neat twist – it has an added tab for users to watch TV programs, listen to radio stations or play games while you wait for your downloads! We are impressed by this (especially since it also connects to the Gnutella network for great speeds). Having said that…

Caveat Emptor: There is a ‘Pro’ version of MP3Rocket which they thrust at you, and it costs $34.44 for a "Lifetime" membership. Lest we forget what happened to all those users who paid for a lifetime membership to 360SharePro last year? (another Limewire clone). It folded up shop, leaving everyone high and dry. Do not fall prey to the "Your money is now our money!" syndrome – use Addax P2P instead (it’s a free Limewire Pro clone with identical search results and download speeds).

OFF System (Owner-Free File System) v0.18

Perhaps this one could’ve been filed in our anonymous P2P list of software – OFF is similar to anonymous. The caveat being that we assume you can still be tracked to the program (but what you are downloading is likely to be an enigma).

Regardless, OFF sports some nice options, good speeds and decent search results. Download it here. (click ‘OFF System’ on that page). OFF connects to its own network (i.e…other OFF users).

ourTunes v1.3.3

ourTunes is designed to allow you to browse and download from other people’s iTunes Music Shares. We’re not sure how to comment on this one. For us, we couldn’t get it to connect with any hosts (automatically) nor do we even know anyone who is personally sharing iTunes music through ourTunes. Apparently you need to have iTunes running first before starting ourTunes, which we don’t have. But the creator’s boast over 3 million downloads, so they can’t all be wrong. Read the FAQ section in the link above for connectivity issues. And here’s a link to an update for ourTunes. NOTE: We stole this screenshot from their website, because ours looked cheap and empty!

P2P Muzic v1.0

P2P Muzic is very simple – just download the *.EXE and run it – no installation required (we like that!). Features include: an in-program media player (VLC) and great filtering from the search window (users can add data columns for all sorts of file info), and a ’search again’ button to update the results. P2P Muzic searches only for music from the Ares and Gnutella networks (although they advocate FastTrack and OpenFT support – we couldn’t connect to those networks). By default, search results are only shown for queries that contain multiple sources – click the green plus button to enable single-source listings.

Our Notes: We aren’t sure what it really connects to – stats indicate a connection to Gnutella; yet there were only 900,000 users online – this suggests otherwise (or a limited Gnutella connection). Regardless, 900,000 users sharing 500 million files is still not too shabby for a P2P program.

Phex v3.2

Phex is another P2P program that connects to the Gnutella (G1) network. PROs: Great search filtering (which is also displayed in a ‘percentage remaining’ progress bar). Has a neat "What’s New" feature that displays only new files being shared on G1 (mostly *.mp3 files). Also supports RSS downloading. CONs: Downloads were comparatively slower than most other programs that connect to the G1 network (Limewire, Shareaza).

At the time of this review, we had difficulties downloading the Phex install file from their website. Download it from the SourceForge page instead.

NOTE: There’s a spinoff application of Phex, called I2Phex which offers tunneling for anonymous downloads (i.e. ‘I2P over Phex’). See our review in the ‘Anonymous P2P Clients‘ section.

Ruckus v3.5+

Could Ruckus be a real turning point in the way P2P music is being handled? Quite possibly. It offers both FREE and LEGAL downloads to college students (or anyone else that has an *.EDU email address). OK, sure the downside is that the music contains DRMs in it, but so what? College kids need not worry about the RIAA coming after them for thousands of dollars and ruining their lives when using Ruckus. And if the RIAA is somehow behind this service, maybe they’re not the souless ghouls we really think they are! Nah!!

Sigster v1.2

Sigster is a search engine that finds hash quicklinks on the web. These quicklinks helps you download virus-free and fake-free files from various P2P networks. Sigster finds Ed2k, Sig2dat, Magnet and BitTorrent links. Our Test: Sigster isn’t that thorough – it found only 16 results for "aXXo" in BitTorrent (when there are hundreds of viable aXXo .torrents surely to have been properly hashed). Plus, the search took around 5 minutes to complete.

Speedy P2P Movie Finder v1.8

We aren’t sure how to rate this one. With a name like "Speedy P2P Movie Finder" one has to wonder about the motives – sure sounds like MPAA bait for Newbies. Speedy is nothing more than an eMule/aMule clone, while leaving out the other search categories (music, software etc.) Our Test: We couldn’t get it to connect to the Kad network, however there are many good available eD2K networks in the list to connect to. When we went to close Speedy, we were welcomed with a message, "Leaving Speedy P2P Movie Finder open will earn extra credit and help others." Umm…extra credit?? We don’t want credit, we want files! If we want credit, we’ll join a private BitTorrent website. Jokes aside, the credit message is a characteristic specific to some versions of eMule. Also note: Contains third-party adware that you can de-select during the install. The uninstall caused our antispyware software to grumble about Speedy trying to change a file in our MagicISO program. WTF? Bottom line: Skip Speedy and use eMule/aMule instead.

Swapper.NET v4.5

Swapper is P2P software for sharing and downloading files (music, video, programs). Here’s the link to the Swapper homepage, which still works, but the download link is long gone – they yanked the program due to legal fears (get it from here instead). Be careful with Swapper – it automatically searches your computer for folders to share – and it shares them automatically (but you can remove them under the Settings menu). Swapper connects to other swapper users.

Tribler v4.1.4

Based on the BitTornado engine by Bram Cohen (original creator of the BitTorrent protocol), Tribler is a cross between Youtube and BitComet. Our Test: Tribler isn’t great as a bitTorrent search engine – it will hardly replace Mininova or ThePirateBay for content. But it does have some redeeming features like an integrated media player, preview file during download, YouTube search and software-title search capabilities.

WinMX

With WinMX, users have three options:

1.  Visit the official WinMX website and start paying for your downloads. Not recommended.
2.  Use an older version of WinMX and start connecting to some OpenNap networks. Recommended. See our link here about WinMX & OpenNap for that.
3.  Use a patched version of WinMX (v3.53) to connect to the actual WinMX Peer Network. Highly recommended.

Option 3 – Patching WinMX with MXPie.info.

MXPie has come up with a way to patch a slightly older version of WinMX so that it connects with current users on the WinMX Peer network. We tested this and it works great; a search for ‘Metallica’ garnished 1,425 results!

Installation/patch:

Visit the http://www.mxpie.info/ website and click on the "Instructions" link at the left – they explain the simple installation process. You’ll need to first install the ‘patch’ and then install WinMX. Both are available for download there – the recommended version is 3.53. Setup is very straight-forward – just follow the online instructions.

 

OpenNap for File Sharing »

 

A list of Bad P2P Programs »