Guide to downloading/uploading [READ THIS!]

[Knight24]

I may be new here but I do have something to say that most would do well to hear, 'specially other new people who repeat questions over and over again...

This will be a guide to help people and keep things up and running around here... Other guides will tell you how to do things such as Uploading/Downloading, I'll tell you how to make things better.



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First, Uploading.

How to Upload

First, You'll need a couple programs.

HJ Split - A program used to split up the files. I don't upload files or split them, So I do not know how reliable this it.

 http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/

WinRAR - A very useful program used to turn files into .rar archives, as well as extract every type of archive I can think of.

 http://www.rarlab.com/

MagicISO - A program used to create ISO image files as well as convert .bin files to .iso and vice versa.

 http://www.magiciso.com/

Making the ISO

First, You'll want to insert the PSX CD into your CD-drive. Access the disc's files and highlight everything inside. Copy or move all the files to a seperate folder.

Next, Open MagicISO and drag all of the files onto the MagicISO. When that's done, click 'Save as' and name the .iso file after the game you have just turned into an image file. For example; [PSX] Final.Fantasy.Tactics.NTSC.US

Congratulations, you've made an .ISO image file. You may use this to play the game on an emulator if you want.

Next, Uploading the file.

First, go to one of the following free filehosting sites.

Note: Many of these sites have not been tested my myself personally, and have not been used. Please report unreliable sites to me, and they will be removed.

 http://www.filefactory.com/  (300MB Filesize Limit)
http://www.filecrunch.com/   (250MB Filesize Limit)
http://www.mooload.com/new/  (500MB Filesize limit)
http://www.zshare.net/   (100MB Filesize limit)
http://www.eggdisk.com/   (150MB Filesize limit, 6GB space and 30GB bandwidth on registration)
http://www.uploading.com/   (300MB Filesize Limit)
Wikiupload removed; Unreliable.
http://www.yourfileupload.com/   (No limit listed)
http://www.f-forge.com/   (350MB Filesize limit)
http://www.files-upload.com/   (1GB Filesize Limit)
http://www.sendspace.com/ (300Mb Filesize Limit)
http://megashares.com/ (up to 10Gb Filesize Limit) 
http://www.oxyshare.com/ (700Mb Filesize Limit)
http://depositfiles.com/en/ (300Mb Filesize Limit)
http://www.Megaupload.com (500mb Filesize Limit)

Conditional, If the site you go to requires you to register an account(Such at Megaupload) do so. Most sites have free registration and payed registration choices, both are fine, however free is recomended(Unless you want to fork up a certain ammount of money)

Second, Use WinRAR to compress the file into a single .rar archive. This may require movement into another folder. Don't worry about the size, You can split it up with HJ Split if needed. The .rar archive has to have a password on it, to 'tag' it as coming from this site. It isn't required, but highly recomended.

 http://www.emulatorworld.com

Third, On the filehost of your choice, You'll want to click the button that says 'Browse'. You'll be met with a windows explorer interface(Most likely) with the choices of going to several sections of your computer(Documents, Desktop, Computer, etc.). From here, go to whatever section the .rar archive is located, and select it. Once that's done, press enter.

Congratulations. Once the upload is completed, you'll have finally uploaded a file.

Uploading tips

1. Do not use Wikiupload

If you are uploading, use Megaupload or Rapidshare.

Wikiupload will delete the ISO/ROM and this will result in dead links to downloads, and empty files. Megaupload is a reliable site, and is recomended over others (By me, and probably others) because it will not delete the file and will keep the file up for quite a while.

2. Please, Do not delete or sell your games/ISOs/ROMs after you've uploaded them.

Despite the fact that uploading to certain sites is a good way to preserve files, I've seen too many people upload a game only for the file to be corrupt or empty, thus resulting in what is essentially a dead game. Purchase a flash drive or even burn the files to blank disks to preserve games just in case a game you do upload, Dies.

Dead games are not fun, and tend to be unplayable or unbeatable.

3. When you upload, please, make sure the game works.

I've seen several instances of games not working after someone uploads them, and then that person either disappears or loses/deletes/discards the game they've uploaded, resulting in a dead game being listed. Also, if the game does not work, put a warning on your thread or delete the link and upload again.

4. If you can, please provide mirrors.

While certain sites are reliable, there is still a chance that the uploaded files may be lost or deleted, as many of us have probably run across people who like to report and delete files or no reason. I'd recommend uploading to Megaupload and Rapidshare, respectively, as they are, at least in my opinion, the most reliable sites available.



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Now for Downloading.

First thing you'll want to do, is download WinRAR or 7-zip.

WinRAR - A very useful program used to turn files into .rar archives, as well as extract every type of archive I can think of.

 http://www.rarlab.com/

7-Zip - Another useful program for extracting files as well as turning files into .7z archives.

 http://www.7-zip.org/

A download manager might be in order as well. Unfortunatly, I do not have any to recomend and do not have any links to any. Some sites with downloadable content will provide a manager, though I do not know what ones.

First step is to find the file you want to download. That may be a search through the forums manually, or using a search feature on the site. Once you find the game you want to download, highlight and copy the url to the filehost.

Second, Paste said url into the navigation toolbar of your web browser and hit enter. This will take you to the site. Most sites will require you to type in a series or letters and/or numbers to verify that you are a live person and not a program designed to automatically download or sign up or something. Once you type in the letter/numbers and click download, the download will usually start up right away. Some sites may make you wait for about a minute or less, maybe more.

Finally, when the download finishes, simply go about extracting the files from the .rar/.7z archive and sending the files to the folder you keep for games/isos in. If the game is in multiple parts, wait untill each part is finished downloading, and while that happens, move the parts you already have to a single folder.

Downloading tips

1. Understand your extraction device.

I'd recomend using WinRAR however 7-zip seems to be recomended quite alot. Using one of these programs will allow you to extract the files from their compressed folders. Since many people don't tend to understand what that means, it's basically like a can. WinRAR and 7-zip are like the can openers, and the file is the soup inside. To get to the soup, you have to use the can opener.

2. Make a new folder.

Whenever you are downloading a game with multiple parts, make a new folder for it wherever you keep your games.

For example: c:/games/ePSXe/ISOs/(Folder name)

That way, you can save the files you download and move them to the new folder, which makes accessing the file once you've downloaded all the parts that much easier.

Do NOT extract the files without all parts

I've seen too many people make this mistake and repeat the question over and over again, with many people their only post is this very question or some version of it. To get the game to work, you must have all parts, and must have them all in the same folder before you begin extracting. This will allow WinRAR or 7-zip to move along the line of .rar/.7z files in the correct order, and allows the programs to piece together the files.

3. Save the ISOs.

If you download a game, I'd recomend saving the ISOs even if you've beaten the game, as you never know when the download might die and the ISO need to be re-uploaded. It would be very nice if people who have downloaded a game when it worked, would upload it and provide working links should the game/upload break or become corrupted or even be deleted.



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Running the ISO

For those of you who do not know how to actually set-up and run ePSXe to play the ISOs, check out Sorrow's guide.

SoRrOw's guide for ePSXe.

Thanks to Lucullus for the filehost list he provided on the forums

[manaman]

Hey,

Thank you so much! I learned a thing or two from this and I don't consider myself much of a newbie. Excellent contribution to the forum!

Peace,

manaman

[Reiatsu]

Yeah good guide nice job mentioning that Wikiupload sucks wang and to never use it.All the games I uploaded got deleted those bastards.I think maybe it's because their site just started so they check all their files and they caught all my iso's.

[Knight24]

Thank you for the... well, thank yous.

I've been thinking I might put up a list of games that are dead and need re-uploading... Since, no one seems to notice that they are... And I'm sure at least one person still has the ISOs or a cd of the game.

Anyways, Thanks again. I'm off to grab Star Ocean: TSS and Xenogears.

[manaman]

Hey Knight24,

That list of dead links is a GREAT idea! You've got my backing (non-financial).

Good luck,

manaman

[Knight24]

I'll also make the sections of the guide easier to tell apart. (i.e. Turning the header of the section into a larger size, and adding a break between the sections)

As for the list of dead games, I'll look to where I can actually put it, but I already have a list of several games that'd go on it.

Edit: -scratches out the stuff about adding on- I won't, I'll just link to Sorrow's guide... seems to cover everything.

[Shadow Dragon]

If nobody has the games for the dead links then I will upload them. I can get most of them easily. I'll await the list. Will also start uploading new games in the next couple weeks.

[Knight24]

Since I can't exactly find a certain area to post that list in, I'll put it in the trading section alongside this thread.

-goes about writing down all the dead games-

[ANBUkakashi]

um, don't we already have 2 guides on this type of thing? -_-;; Its a little more indepth I suppose. I like your list and this, but sadly, people who come here just for ISOs don't take the time to read these guides.( maybe after they download it and realize, holy crap, i'm lost...) but nice job!

[lilrage]

some people do take the time to read the guides, because sometimes u learn a few new tricks.