Cannot share Imcomplete folder

[MAP9475]

Limewire 5.1.4
Windows Vista Home Basic vn.6.0

Currently I am set to share three folders:

Limewire
Limewire \ Saved
Limewire \ Shared

I tried to add Incomplete after reading this thread, especially post 21

http://www.gnutellaforums.com/downlo...al-kind-3.html

but got the message

LimeWire cannot manage this folder because it is either not a folder or cannot be read

It clearly is a folder because Explorer finds it. I can share a sub folder - which I do not want to do because I would be changing the settings every time I opened a new torrent. But Limewire does recognise the folder, because three torrents I have running at the moment are putting data there. They are also seeding according to the uploads screen.

My questions are

1) Do I need to share the Incomplete folder for people to be able to get data or is it shared automatically
2) If I do need to share how do I do it?

M

[ukbobboy01]

Hi M

OK, here we go.

You asked:

Do I need to share the Incomplete folder for people to be able to get data or is it shared automatically

No you don't need to share your Incomplete Folder, I didn't because my impression was that other P2P users do not like to get incomplete files. However, unless you untick a certain box in "Options" (Options >> Sharing >> Advanced >> Allow Partial Sharing) your Incomplete Folder will be automatically shared.

Your also asked:

If I do need to share how do I do it?

See my previous answer.

Hope that helps.



UK Bob

[Lord of the Rings]

With LW 5.4.6 at least you can configure your Torrent uploads. The default setting is not very good. I'd suggest you increase the days else choose seed forever (ie: Upload torrents forever). LW's menu bar -> Tools -> Options -> Transfers.

(click to see larger settings sample view)

[MAP9475]

Originally Posted by ukbobboy01

I didn't because my impression was that other P2P users do not like to get incomplete files.

Well of course any file is incomplete until the upload is finished. Do you mean that users do not want a file until they can be sure that they will get all of it and not just a part? My understanding was that the system allowed a user to get a file piece by piece from several sources, and if only one user were involved that would put a conserable onus on him, particularly for large files. For instance a few months ago I downloaded D.W.Griffith's film Intolerance, which is 2gb in length. I can't remember the statistics now, but I know it took more than a day and I'm sure there were always several users involved. Certainly the diownload did not stall - at least it didn't when I was checking it - which it might have done with a single user if he logged out.

Originally Posted by ukbobboy01

However, unless you untick a certain box in "Options" (Options >> Sharing >> Advanced >> Allow Partial Sharing) your Incomplete Folder will be automatically shared.

Those options are not present in vn.5.1.4 which I am using at the moment. Do I need to upgrade?

M

[ukbobboy01]

Well Map

You make a good point when you said:

My understanding was that the system allowed a user to get a file piece by piece from several sources, and if only one user were involved that would put a considerable onus on him, particularly for large files.

However, your interpretation of my point about incomplete files, i.e.

Do you mean that users do not want a file until they can be sure that they will get all of it and not just a part?

is mistaken.

Let me explain, if you look at the file names in your Incomplete folder they all start with "T-" followed by an eight or nine digit number. Now, my experience of these files may be based on their misuse by others but P2P users, in the past, have ended up with such incomplete files in their Saved and Shared folders.

That is why I personally believe that you should only share complete files. However, I will concede that my impression may have been based on the misuse of incomplete files.

Finally, should you upgrade your copy of LW? Well, that's a matter of personal choice, get to know what you have now before deciding to upgrade simply because not all upgrades are beneficial.



UK Bob

[Lord of the Rings]

Originally Posted by MAP9475

Limewire 5.1.4
...
My questions are
1) Do I need to share the Incomplete folder for people to be able to get data or is it shared automatically
2) If I do need to share how do I do it?

To my knowledge, LW 5 automatically uses Partial File Sharing which means any partially downloaded file is shared back; ie: a large number of hosts you download a file from may not have 100% of the file but are themselves still downloading the file but have portions of the file you don't yet have. This applies to both Gnutella Network & Torrent files.

With LW 4 there was an option to disable Partial File Sharing. No such option with LW 5.

Yes, some people did mistakenly & ignorantly share their incomplete folder with LW 4. Perhaps LW 5 prevents the folder from being shared (for the good of everyone).

Note: Partial File Sharing (good) versus sharing incomplete files (bad).

(1) No, definitely do not even try. (2) No need to. LW will have it's own partial file sharing built in.

Torrent support in LW 5.1.4 was not good & was buggy. Many fixes & changes have been made since to how it worked. If you wish to see the history of torrent fixes & improvements, see Changelog - LimeWire

[MAP9475]

I hadn't realised how long it was since I posted - I just kept putting it off.

What I wanted to ask was, what is the difference between an incomplete and a partial file?

M

[Lord of the Rings]

Frames of reference. Both mean files not fully downloaded. Partial file sharing was a term used by LW 4 referring to a file you were downloading, portions of which were shared back to others.

Incomplete simply means the file is partially downloaded but not complete. With LW 4 was the incomplete folder as a separate listing in the Library window. People sometimes mistakenly shared this folder. This was bad for everyone. Instead best option was Partial File Sharing, which could be set under Sharing -> advanced -> partial files option.

LW 5 users do not need to even think about this option now, it's made easy.

[MAP9475]

Thanks