How To Turn Your Old Windows PC Into A Remotely Controllable Torrent Box

Chances are if you’re reading this article you’re the type with an attic full of silicone chips, sticks of RAM and old bits of printer. I’d hazard a guess and say you’ve got more spare tech equipment up there than Christmas decorations, and it’s time to revolutionize your filesharing with a torrent box.

Log in and you will be presented with uTorrent’s web user interface. From here you can add, remove and manage your torrents, as well as update your preferences. It’s quite literally uTorrent, within your web browser.

Accessing your Web UI is all well and good on your network, but what about when you’re not at home?
Well if you have a static IP ““ no problem, simply visit http://yourip:port/gui/. You can get your IP from What Is My IP on your home network. If your internet service provider rotates your IP then you can use a service such as DynDNS which provides you with a domain name for your home network. There is an excellent guide about doing this here.

Conclusion

I’m always searching for new ways to use old technology, and a torrent box fits my needs and costs nothing to set up. If you’ve already got an existing media centre or file server, adding torrent functionality is another simple step you can take to streamline your home setup. Remote access gives you the freedom to peruse from afar and have your downloads ready for you and the rest of your network the second you get home.