>>187659
>who the fuck finds their way to an imageboard like this and doesn't know how to torrent?
I had the same thoughts. I use torrents since 2009 or 2010, and I discovered imageboards shortly after. I do not remember reading any "guides" apart from port-forwarding on the router. Things like VPNs, malware issues, etc. are basic knowledge, and those things aren't really relater to torrents per se.

>>187628
This post has so many wrong parts, e.g.:

1. malware can damage your PC without executable files. E.g. if a video player has a vulnerability and a malicious user seeds a "video" file that exploits this exact vulnerability.

2. Windows Defender, my ass Of course it will trigger on stuff like keygens. And not everyone using Windows, c'mon

3. sandboxing is a good thing, but it's not 100% bulletproof

4.
> https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/upload because they scan your file with many antivirus programs for you. If there is no flags I would run it

This is SO wrong. Fooling antivirus detection is the first thing that any 1337 hax0r does. The only way to know for sure is to study software during runtime. Of course, in a tool like IDA pro or Ghidra.

etc, I'm too lazy to address all issues in the OPs posts.