Oh yeah...
 

...did I mention that I have the version, loaded correctly, that this thread recommends? Everything works, other than the above mentioned problem...

Copy down that SHA1 number, go to the Library and find which file has that exact same number.
It's just under a different name you aren't expecting to find, and is probably a spam file.

BearShare
 

I have no useful information for you except that you would be wise to listen to Aaron and follow his directions. I believe he has a copy of the BETA version of BearShare and BearStart. He's been extremely helpful in the past.
Good luck.
itsbrkn

Not only does he have the copies you mentioned but so do 1,000s and 1,000s of others thanks to his placing download links in the very first post of this thread !!!

:yikes:

BearShare
 

When you find someone you can relate to and is so helpful and that you feel you can trust, you don't lose their name.

itsbrkn

Well...
 

I'm not sure you understanding exactly what is going on, Aaron. I am unable to dload the file with the most sources (the optimum file, as it were), because its appearing to have been already dloaded. I'm not sure what a SHA1 is, but the file I am trying to dload comes up in the search as already having been dloaded, so I can't copy anything down cuz there isn't a dload for that file on my computer.

For example, when I left-click the supposed already-dloaded file (I just did after searching u2 + twilight, and it came up with a file, in green, with 238 sources) and then click "Browse Hosts", most of the hosts (but not all!) only have that particular file in question listed. In other words, something is smelly here.

Is that a bit more clearer?

I understand perfectly, having used and helped to develop the program almost
since it was first compiled.

It showed up in green. You do have the file. That's the way it works. Period.

Since BearShare uses the SHA1hash to identify it you will be able to quickly find it
on your system by making the SHA1 column visible. Note the first few characters
of it and then go to the library, sort by that column and scroll down to find it.

As I said before, right-click in the column headings to show a list of columns you
can enable.

So its best to use the version that Aaron has sugested in the very 1st post then,
the expired beta 5.1.0b25 and the BearStart utility.

So the expired beta is the actual bear share program just that its expired, but what is the actual bearstart utility? how dose it work.
Obviously its to do with starting up bear share, is it needed because of the bearshare being expierd?

Cheers for the help.once some one tells me this info ill get on to downloading and installing it too my xp laptop.

One lsat thing. What can you download using this version? as i did have one of the newst, well i downloaded it like 2006 -07 i think, but all u cud dl was music and video clips. and yet the person who told me about bearshare said that the older version he had you cud dl games, apps, music , films etc,

Cheers.
jme.

The "newer" ones are deliberately crippled and the "v6" software is not even BearShare at all and
doesn't even connect to the real gnutella network. The "older" one isn't crippled in any way and
in fact is still more advanced than the "v6" counterfeit even after three years.

Wow.
 

I would tend to be suspect when someone makes absolute statements -- experience has taught me that when I make statements like that, I more than likely will be wrong.

I. Did. Not. Download. That. File. Period. Now, taking that statement by face value, if there is anything in your experience that matches what I have said in past postings? If not, please let others try to answer the question.

Here it is, again, for anyone else: Taken as a given that I have dloaded and configured BS as suggested at the beginning of the thread. I put in a search request ([edit] for example). Take it also for granted that I HAVE NEVER DLOADED ANY TYPE OF FILE THAT EVEN COMES CLOSE TO THE VALUE STATED ABOVE, i.e., no "[edit]" and no "[edit]" The search returns with a lot of files, of course -- popular band, popular song. The experience I am seeing, over and over again with almost all file requests, is the file with the most sources, either immediately or very shortly, becomes green indicating it has already been downloaded. When clicked on anyway (as if I wanted to dload it), it sometimes WILL say its been dloaded, but to a different directory and a file name not in existance.

Aaron suggests looking for this supposedly already dloaded file by its SHA1 hash. Excellent suggestion! Unfortunately, I cannot find a way for Windows to identify files by SHA1 hashes, and when I try to get BS to look at the library, it blows out the prog and I have to restart.

I see the problem as having to do either with something the owners are developing to hamper users, or people putting files up that are erroneous. I find the latter to be suspect, simply because of the amount of sources that BS is reporting -- hundreds in some file searches.

If Aaron is still with us at this point, I would welcome a stab at a cause that does NOT reflect me "forgetting" (apparently) that I already downloaded the file in question. Its an understandable assumption, but please, believe me when I tell you, unequivocably, that this is not the case.

- Ol BS User

Like I said before, the file will have a different filename, one that you don't expect.
That's why you have to use the SHA1 value, which is absolutely reliable.

Your assumption that you don't have the file is what's tricking you now.
Your absolute statement is definitely and clearly wrong because BearShare itself is telling you
unequivocally and explicitly that you already have that file. BearShare is basing that
determination on the fact that the file you already have is an exact byte-for-byte copy
of the one you are trying to download, even though the filename is different enough that
you can't recognize it.

For the third time I will repeat (Do this in BearShare, not in Windows):
Right-click the column headings in the the Search, Downloads and Library views
and enable the SHA1 column so you can search your folders and can tell which
file it is.

Hi!! Newbie here. This seems to be the place for help with BearShare :)
If I download an earlier version of BearShare (I have 5.2) will I have 2 versions installed? Also will my downloads automatically go into the new version?

You can configure both to put downloads anywhere you like. If you install it to
anywhere on the same disk and don't touch the download settings, the downloads
will go to the same My Downloads folder.

Okay. Thanks Aaron.

Hello Im also having problems i have tried all different bearshare versions and none open up its says bearshare has to close i have vista, and also i tried that v.6 and that works fine! Any advice for me please?

Is that one of those generic Widows error messages?
If possible, see if you can get more info out of it.

Also, in Vista it helps to right-click BearShare.exe and BearStart.exe
and in Properties set compatibility mode to XP.

It says Microsoft Windows.... Bearshare has stopped working and needs to close


Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: BearShare.exe
Application Version: 5.1.0.25
Application Timestamp: 431de467
Fault Module Name: StackHash_31dc
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: c0000096
Exception Offset: 00373237
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 31dc
Additional Information 2: 5aad2513f48781ba79c6b5a34205b53f
Additional Information 3: e90e
Additional Information 4: e14bce59055837d1df624183301d5a69

Grab a copy of BearDiag and continue this at the TechNutopia forums.
I think it may be something we can fix once the data is collected.

I have Vista as posted above it does not work

You gave the solution to make it windows xp compatible

But it does not work

the script does not change the time

It works if I change the time manually ;)

Maybe having a new script compatible with vista will be best

Thanks

Good Lucking Out

Set it's properties to run in administrator mode too.

hey aaron. i downloaded this test version of BS, and the utility program. it worked beautifully for me for the past 2 years. now i upgraded computers and have Vista. now when i run the utility program, it doesn't work. there's just a little box that comes up and says, ''This Copy of Bearshare has expired". why doesn't the utility program work with Vista? i can't live without BS, so, can you or someone else provide a fix for this? thanks.

If at all possible upgrade the new computer from Vista to XP. http://www3.telus.net/Aaron_Walkhouse/tongue3.gif
BearShare will detect Vista as an unknown Windows version and impose
limits designed for windows 98.

Right-click on both programs and set them to work in XP compatible mode
and with administrator permissions. Most people find this works.

You can also try the normal versions 5.1.0.27 and 5.1.0.28 and remove
the adware with the adware's own uninstaller program. The upgrade nags
never stop but neither will the program.

actually, i just changed the date manually, and it worked! beautiful! thanks for the suggestion about running in XP mode. i will try that. thanks!

Hello, Am also having problems with my bearshare. Am using vista, I tried those links given in this forum but they don't work for me. What can I do. Or I a better link to get it.

ok. What you have to do is download the "Bearshare Test" file. Go ahead and try and run it. It should say something like, "this copy of Bearshare has expired". Go down to the time, and change the date back to 3 or 4 years ago. Then open the Bearshare Test. It will run then. Once you enter all your details, it will open up. Then near the top, click on "Setup", and it will bring up a drop down menu. Click on "Service". It will bring up a box. In that box, you will want to check the box that says "Forced Ultrapeer". It says something about "debug only", but, don't worry about that. You need to check that box and make sure that you become an ultrapeer in order to get lightning fast speed and connections. Then you're all set to download whatever ya like, such as anything that's not copyrighted. (sarcasm) Hope that helps.

I'm having problems with connecting to BearShare Lite 5.2.5. I have had it for about 5 years. I left home and went to college in August and when I got here I was unable to get a connection to BearShare. I can connect to the internet and everything. But when I get on BearShare it continuously looks for host. If anybody can help fix this I will be so greatful.

Jessica, in this thread, go up to the link that says, "First" and click it. The first post in this thread is by Aaron Walkerhouse. He has a test program, and if you are using Windows XP, he also has a ''starter'' program that comes with it. Download those two things. Then, go back a couple of posts in this thread and read the instructions I gave the last guy about how to use this Bearshare test. Using my tips will help you run bearshare with ease and lightning fast! If you don't understand any of this, just reply and I can help you some more. Hope that helps!

If your BearShare has been sitting unused for awhile it's cache of addresses to
connect to will have gone stale. Shut down BearShare if it's running, download
connect.zip and unzip it into the folder called "C:\Program Files\BearShare\db"
and then start your Bear up again.

If that doesn't work, grab BearDiag, use it to generate a full report and bring it to
the original BearShare experts at Technutopia.

oh course me zipping the file didnt work. 8-( Now what I'm doing is running the BearDiag. Aaron Walkerhouse, the action that vansnoob is talking about will it work?

vansnoob...i did what you were talking about also. it says that BearShare has expired. It didn't even change the date that it said it was going to change on my computer.

ok, you downloaded the test program. that's good. yes, it is going to say that it is expired. now, are you running windows XP or windows vista? because if you're running vista, then the starter program isn't going to work. if you're running XP, then use the starter program. it was in the same post by aaron walkerhouse that you got the bearshare test download. i think it's called "startup utility" or something close to that. basically, what the utility program does, is, change the date on your computer for a brief second, which tricks the bearshare test program into thinking that the date is way before now. then it opens up bearshare for you. you will never notice that the date has changed, it just does it long enough to start bearshare.

if you are running vista, then you will need to change the date yourself. it's annoying, yes, but, it will get the program to work. you will need to change the date back to around Jan 2005 or so. Once you change the date, the program works. if you're using vista, the startup utility us useless, because it won't work. you will need to change the date first, then start bearshare.

then, go back a few posts ago and follow those instructions i left the other guy, about changing the settings to maximize your download capability! and you're off!

if you have more questions, feel free to ask!

Appreciate the heads up and take the advice into great con sideration!!1

www.oldversion.com

for old version of old software from olduser ...

Edit: http://www.oldversion.com/Bearshare.html (ignore Bearshare 6 as that's the new owner's version which will give you little) * apologies Olduser

1. When the time is pushed back for installing the beta mentioned in post #1, does the computer clock time need to permanently stay around that time or is that only for the installation & setup process & period? eg: after initial installation & set up, can the computer clock then be changed to now or does it permanently need to be before the beta expiry date?

2. Does the person installing need to manually change the time back or is that achieved with the utility?

If running eXPee (nooo not brave enough to attempt to taste Vee-star curry flavoured 'oh'-niu-peer-rating system), what are the steps for installing the bee-tar? (hmm where did I leave my pidgin-english translation bookmark) lol :rofl:

The time rollback is only needed for the first few seconds as BearShare starts up.
That's all the BearStart utility does, sets the date back for a few seconds while
starting BearShare. The installer doesn't care what the date or time is.

The only people who need to manually set the time are the poor victims of Vista.
Presumably, future victims of Windows 7 will have to do that too.

Seems to work fine, just had to delete the desktop shortcut to the program & use the utility instead to open the program. Auto transferring of downloads to iTunes seems to work ok.

Does this version of BearShare utilize UPnP?

No, Vinnie decided not to bother with it since the tech was unreliable and effectively deprecated.

i still have problem it wont connect to host and i've instaled beta version that u gave and runned it with BearStart.can any1 help

Try look here :
http://www.gnutellaforums.com/open-d...a-network.html
You need to replace old hosts cache (connect.txt) with new copy .

Aaron,

i have Vista and i've done most of what you recommended (setting the date, Admin & XP compatiabilty). So i am no longer gettine the expired error message. Bearshare is giving a new error mgs.:

.\GLibraryWatchDb.cpp (#176) Fatal Error: Unable to load library database.
Reason: Generic Failure
BearShare will automatically attempt to create a new database when it is restarted. Your old database files have been saved for possible diagnosis. Contact technical support for more information.

any ideas?
We apologize for the inconvenience.

go to program files>bearshare test>db and delete all files that have the word 'library' in them..of course, do this while BS is shut down....

restart BS and it will rehash the files in shares and you will be set....

i get the same problem, i install bearshare 5.1.0 lite. and change it to compatibility mode SP2 and set up the new db folder. but then i get the issue that it doesn't always want to connect sometimes it will connect for a few mins and then wont find anything and sometimes it wont connect at all. i have set up port forwarding and still doesnt want to connect. what can i do

please help

thanks

the removal of the library files in the db folder only solves the issue of the above described fatal error issue...it has nothing to do with connection issues...

since you are getting connected to some degree, either your ISP is filtering or the henchmen of the RIAA/MPAA are attacking your..the attacks can be mitigated by using PeerGuardian2

ok i think it seemed to have worked. will post back if it gets the problem. thanks

many thanks m8

same thing again m8 im running peer guardian and then bearshare 5.1.0 lite. and it doesnt want to connect. any ideas.

Have you tried the beta & my recent connection cache postings, particularly the latest one. ;) http://www.gnutellaforums.com/344799-post7.html

http://www.gnutellaforums.com/host-c...tml#post344825

i tried the new connections nothing still didnt connect.
i installed the new beta and im lost now, i installed the beta, copied the new db files, ran the bsstart. and then clicked continue. is that correct? as the start thing doesnt make no sense.

still not connecting.

to test it wasnt my anti virus i disabled it and ran it and still didnt connect. also when it does connect it comes up in the top corner non firewalled.

thanks

any more ideas what it could be.

you say "also when it does connect it comes up in the top corner non firewalled" which indicates you are getting connected every now and then...

FYI your AV is NOT a firewall....you DO need a real firewall for EVERYTHING you do online, end of discussion IMO...not having one is like walking around naked...and being naked on Gnutella these days is stupid and opens one up to damaging consequences caused by the paid henchmen of the RIAA/MPAA

the BearStart utility is a time/date stamp hack for the expired beta version...it changes the date to a time when the beta version used to work so that it can work in present time....this can cause some issues with certain programs that depend upon a certain time date stamp to operate, but is not a big issue...

I will again strongly suggest that all filesharers use PeerGuardian2...

My Kapersky anti-virus always gets annoyed when I open BS because it upsets its subscription date. lol :D But the time-date changer only runs for a few seconds simply to get the beta open.

Have you tried setting to forced ultrapeer mode? This may help with connecting on a more regular basis.