How do i get DC++ and is it a good system...like will i get viruses or will it bog down my computer?

Hi janeller,

There is a lot of information about McMaster's DC++ hub (including instructions on how to get set up) on this thread.
In summary, the hub address is machub.dyndns.org and you need at least 500MB of files available to share in order to connect, but the specific details are on that link (you might need to scroll down a bit).

DC++ isn't a resource-heavy program, so slower end computers should be able to run it smoothly. In terms of viruses, when dealing with peer-to-peer file transfers, it's always good practice to scan everything you download. Fortunately, McMaster students and staff get Sophos anti-virus for free. You can get it here

Enjoy.

so i have another question. I successfully downloaded DC++ to my windows XP but i've tried doing the same to both my friends' windows vista programs but it always comes up saying that there is a magnet key error. we tried what you suggested and changed the dowloading file but this doesnt do anything...any suggestions?

Is that the message you get when you open DC++? If so, I think everyone pretty much gets that message before they connect to an actual hub. Click on the gold star on the top toolbar and connect to the mac hub.

we did connect to the hub...and it connects fine but when we try to search anything it just says that the magnet whatever failed

Try going into settings-->advanced and checking/unchecking "Register with Windows to handle Magnet: URI links"

that didn"t work. Anything else that you would recommend

Ok, just so I'm 100% sure on the situation, you can connect fine to the hub (as in you can see the users on the right panel), but everytime you use the magnifying glass to search for something, the "Error creating magnet registry key" message comes up? Try right clicking on some random person's nick on the right panel and select "get file list" - this basically searches for the files that person has uploaded. Do you still get the magnet key error?
Normally I'd recommend checking firewall settings, but seeing how you can connect to the hub, I doubt that's the issue. The only other suggestion I can give at the moment is to make sure you're using an administrator account with full privileges.