FOREWORD
This post might read long, boring and a turn-off to you, but these are all things I wanted to share about Clubbox (and more recently, Gogobox), which is a new found skill (well, somehow, since not everyone claims they can do it, but actually, it’s all easy, you don’t an IQ of 100 to do it.) There I digress already. These words may not be helpful to you, could be incomplete and with too many voids and additional info, so please don’t blame me if you don’t like what you read (don’t tell me you wasted your time). Read a proper tutorial instead. Also, since I wrote this before I’m into Gogobox-ing, please note that since CB and GB use the same technology (with almost identical functions and features), CB or Clubbox in my sentences could refer to Gogobox as well.
HOW I STARTED
First off, I won’t post tutorials on how to do them. There are too many tutorials already on the Internet (try this or this). What I am sharing is my experience (which, again, may not be relevant to you at all) using this tool coz I’m a freak for downloading stuff (some would never be of use to me even). Below are things that I knew and learned after scorching forums if I should use it or not. This excludes if you wanted a clubbox for yourself, I couldn’t help you with installing one. Actually creating your own clubbox is somewhat discouraged because unless there’s a high demand to what your box could offer, like rare vids, or animes, or subs, there’s no need to create one since if you never reach a maximum download, chances are, your box will die (in other words, life will be cruel to you and your upload will be–gone).
I don’t really remember how, when and what reasons I had why I signed for an account. All I know is that sometime before, I probably use my little brain, followed some instructions on the Internet on how to install and create a user account, the totally forgot about it (maybe I did it in my sleep). Just some weeks ago, after being too troubled by my missing Sho Sakurai videos, that I decided to give CB another chance. I tried a username-password combination, and viola (users doesn’t expire?!), the rest is history (or a history of downloads).
Little facts for new users:
- it only works on Internet Explorer (because it uses ActiveX components)
- it doesn’t run immediately, wait for a few minutes to see if it downloads or not.
- it uses Korean fonts. Somehow I am lucky coz I started with Kdramas before Arashi and can read their alphabet. I used Arashi’s CB account and Arashi’s names are in Korean. Sometimes, even the title of the downloads were written in Korean. Like "Otousan" becomes "Aboji" which is Japanese and Korean terms for "father" respectively.
- every hour, if you don’t close your CB even after download (and while downloading, of course), you earn points that when it reach to a 1000 points, can help you DL (download) faster. Something above 50kpbs, if your connection permits it. But there’s a catch to this which I’ll tell later. (see "What is Bandwidth?" below)
- it is said to use the P2P technology, the same principle for torrents, limewire, kazaa, in which you do not only download from their servers, other people are also downloading from you, therefore uses YOUR bandwidth. Now, this is the catch.
- The program could be found at C:’Windows’System32’Clubbox.exe (it automatically install itself there, you might need permissions to install there).
- If you are downloading from Clubbox and you open Task Manager (like through CTRL+ALT+DEL), you can see FSCAGENT.EXE and CLUBBOX.EXE. Don’t try to close either one of them or it won’t work. CLUBBOX.EXE is the main program while FSCAGENT.EXE is said to be the P2P service for ClubBox.
- Good thing, all files looks somehow free from spywares (but don’t take my word for it)
GOGOBOX.EXE - http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/49290479891fead4d404e8e11ef20724
GFSCAGENT.EXE - http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/0011aa29dab28179dabc1994bba2b457
FSCAGENT.EXE - http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/504a438648fbff04922593cc0e1de1dc
CLUBBOX.EXE - http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/4cb8939f48062cd02328b4548690ce1f
- sometimes, you need to be a member of the ClubBox account (like friend-ing or comm-joining) to download some files. (and I’m still trying to know if there’s any catch like do they deduct points from me, heh! I think they don’t)
- sharing contents off CB — sometimes they don’t allow, sometimes they do, but you have to credit them.
- sometimes, when CB goes missing on your screen, you have to run the .EXE files and re-queue your downloads (meaning, go back to the page and download again). It will resume, provided you never changed the locations of the temp files. By sometimes I mean, I’m not sure if it stays on queue on other people, but for me, I have to re-queue my downloads. So take it one step at a time.
- you can re-order the sequence of files downloading. Those interrupted will resume though, again provided they stay on the same file location.
WHAT IS BANDWIDTH?
I am a bandwidth freak more than a quality freak (somehow that’s changed now). Meaning, if I can find a lesser size, I would go for it, that’s why I rarely go for unsub videos (because they might get subbed after some time). Bandwidth, to try to explain in simple term, is your connection or traffic. You know those sites has the message "Bandwidth Quota Exceeded"? It’s because too many people are trying to access the site that their servers becomes busy and limited. Now, imagine that happening to you, as depending on your ISP (your ISP would get into trouble and you don’t have Internet connection for days, *ohmyarashidownloadsnewsetc!!!*) So there, when you abuse your bandwidth and your ISP tag you as a "super-user", your ISP might enforce higher charges or revise usage policy or before I go further and make you lose interest reading too technical stuff, it’s as simply as you’ll have Internet connection problems. So yeah, bandwidth, yeah.
Which means, you’re seeding files to other downloaders especially if the file is popular and many people want it. This is the reason why Clubbox asks you to let your software running despite you finish downloading, in exchange of earning points for faster downloading in the future. I already got 3000+ points which gives me 10GB of fast download (more than 300kbps if my ISP permits it) for 15 days. But then, how can I use that if I normally have a slow connection right? Hah! Again, bandwidth issue 10GB for 15 days just for clubbox? What about my megauploads, mediafire, etc? That would give one person at least some 100GB per month of Internet bandwidth! Your ISP will hate you!
FIRST REAL ASSIGNMENT
Since I never really had a problem installing the software, I don’t have a steady tutorial to give to anyone and tell you, "THIS WILL SOLVE ALL YOUR PROBLEMS!" Now, my friend Pat wants to get Arashi’s Summer Final Time 2007 DVD too (the VOB files, the raw, exactly how they were in DVDs) which is available on Gogobox so we try to install it on her system through YM. The darn thing won’t copy files to her laptop even if installation looks like it’s happening. She’s using Vista, and apparently, most people got problem installing thing with Vista, so she’s not alone (you’re not alone, feel any better?). To cut the story short, we turn off her UAC (User Access Control), you know that thing that confirms if you want to let a "malicious program" run, or just any program that Microsoft doesn’t trust? Before I turned off mine, I always get prompted whenever I run Post2Blog. Everyone, that’s Vista. Finally, it’s running on her (she even got a higher speed than me, sigh, poor me LOL!) and she can see the concert after, I think today. Next question is: how to burn them? But that’s solved already, since I got lucky burning my DVDs.
SOME ADVICE
Since CB naturally limits your connection, it will take some forever to finish a download (and most CB files are big like 1GB a file) even if your got a broadband or whatever people advertise as superspeed connection these days. So if there’s another option, I’m sure we’ll buy it (me too, of course). Well, Clubbox (and it’s sisters and cousins like pdbox, gogobox, rankbox, etc) are mainly made for South Korea and Taiwan, those countries where connection is a piece of cake so it serves them the best. Some users even felt disgust when CB opened for international users because downloading becomes comparatively slow (and they get bombarded with silly questions like how to get Gold accounts in days). I only use it as a last resort if I can’t find the files I need like old dramas, or videos or original files of Arashi concerts and DVDs.
Try it, it’s fun (or fun to feat). But if you’re one of those who had a hard time already and it just didn’t work, I sympathize. I’m not an expert to say what’s wrong. I may just be lucky. I think of Clubboxing like learning Japanese, it takes some (or a lot) patience to get used to. It’s handy and once you learn it, it’ll be useful because its clones (the cousins and sisters) because they’re more or less the same principle and technique (how forums work, they’re more the same buttons to reply, post, etc). The more problem would be searching for files you want to download coz most of them are written in Chinese, Korean, Japanese or on all of them. (Do they have Thai?)
But if you can live without it, and can wait for MU/MF links instead, let’s save the world of bandwidth, fellow fangirls! Or we may lose everything, I mean all our Arashi files.
(Note: This thing is written in days and in daze so I myself wouldn’t know if you’ll find this helpful. I specially can’t remember what exactly I was thinking why I compared CB-ing to learning Japanese)
QUESTION: Does anyone wants the links to download 3 Arashi DVDs? (Time, AAA in Dome, AAA in Seoul, Taipei, Bangkok)
Raise your Hands!