Paranoia Help



  • About Paranoia

    • Paranoia is actually a demo application demonstrating the power of DIYP2P. DIYP2P is short for Do-It-Yourself Peer2Peer. With DIYP2P anyone who has some HTML and JavaScript knowledge can create his own file sharing application already connected to the Gnutella and Gnutella2 network. Based on GnucDNA, your application has all the abilities of a solid file sharing application. All you have to do is think of a cool name, logo and interface. Read more on DIYP2P website.

  • Start Paranoia

    • This is the simplest step. Fist of all, you have to start Paranoia. You can do this by clicking the start button, then click program files, then click Paranoia and finally click the Paranoia icon. If you choose to put a link to Paranoia on your desktop during setup, you can also start Paranoia by double-clicking that icon.

  • Open the preferences

    • Click on the preferences button or preferences link to open the preferences window.

  • Share your files

    • Click on the Share link on the left side menu. Now click the add button and add browse to the folder with files you want to share. Repeat these steps, until you have added all the files that you want to share.

    Unless have a very slow connection to the Internet. You should share your files.

    When you have finished sharing your files, click Save.

  • Searching and downloading the files you want

    • If you want to download a certain file, you first have to search for it, type a search criteria in the search bar and press enter or click "Search". E.g. if you are looking for music from Mozart, type the word Mozart in the search bar.
    After you have started the search, search results will be coming in. If you are getting a bit too much results and want to make your search more specific, type any additional keywords.
    Now, simply click on the file you want to download

  • Using the files you downloaded

    • When you have started downloading one or more files, you can view the progress of the download by clicking the transfers icon. A new screen will then be opened in which you can view the progress of your downloads.
    When a download is complete, you can run it by clicking on it.

  • General things to check first

    • Before blaming Paranoia for this, try checking some other things on your system:
    • Are you connected to the Internet at all?
    • Are you using a firewall? configure it to work with Paranoia! (see Set incoming port to and I am behind a firewall in the prefences windows)
    • Are you running an up to date version of Windows like WinXP or Win2K? Paranoia is know to be unstable on older versions
    • Are you running the latest stable version?


  • Paranoia crashes on startup

    • This problem seems to be caused by the an oversized GnuHashes.ini file in your Paranoia directory (Usually "C:\Program Files\Paranoia") Deleting the file will (in most cases) solve the problem.
    Paranoia is using GnucDNA so some problems are being inherited by it. Many times you can find answers on Gnucleus forums such as this one.

  • What do these download statuses mean?

    • During your download, there are several errors or states that can occur, Paranoia will keep you informed about the status of your download. You can find the most common one's below:

    Status Explaination
    Completed Your download was succesfully completed
    Connecting to host x of x Paranoia is trying to connect to the source serving the file you want.
    Waiting, more hosts needed Paranoia can't connect to any of the sources serving your file. It is waiting for other sources serving the file you want
    Receiving, x% Paranoia is downloading the file you want
    Receiving, x% from x hosts Paranoia is downloading the file you want, but from multiple (x) sources
    Stopped You have stopped your download. Paranoia is not doing anything with this file
    Searching... x hosts found Paranoia is searching for alternate sources to get the file you want from. This message is shown only when you manually click re-search.


  • What is hashing?

    • Hashing is creating a special sequence for a file that accurately reflects that file. This is done in such a way that the same file will always have the same hash and even files that differ only slightly have very different hashes. Paranoia and the Gnutella/Gnutella2 network use hashes to search for files (as opposed to searching by filename), so to function in the network, Paranoia needs to know the hashes of the files shared.

  • Why doesnt it connect?

    • Make sure you are connected to the internet. If you are at a college or university and it blocks gnutella, try forcing your port to like 27910, it might help. Paranoia does have settings to create a private gnutella network on your LAN so explore that option also if you cannot get on.

  • I have a modem, can I still use Paranoia?

    • Yes. To make your downloads faster you may want to disconnect from the network when you're downloading something.

  • How do I get the most out of my search?

    • Break the name of the file you are looking for into keywords that you are sure of. Do not use astriks, wild cards, dashes, commas, or dots. Just use keywords. If the file you were looking for was called 'party at john's house-1998.mpg', search for 'party john house 1998 mpg'. No quotes either. Using this search method should maximize the effectiveness of your search. Do not search for 'mpg' or 'mp3', you've been warned ;)

  • Why don't searches stop?

    • Your search never stops ;). One of the advantages of gnutella is that you get your results from searches immediately. Your query is processed by everyone instead of one central server. Any new connections that are made while the search window is open will be searched also for matches.

  • Why is the search button disabled?

    • The search button is disabled as long as Paranoia isn't connected to either Gnutella or G2 networks.

  • Why is my download slow?

    • As every other file sharing program, your download speed is dependent solely on who you are are downloading from.

  • Configuring Paranoia - Local

    • Set local IP to ...
      In case Paranoia can't correctly determine your IP address, use this option to lock your reported local IP to a specific address
    • Set incoming port to ...
      Use this option to lock Paranoia to a specific port on your computer. This comes in handy when you are behind a firewall, you only have to open the port specified here on your firewall.
    • Send Paranoia to tray when minimized
      Check this option to send Paranoia to the system tray (as opposed to the taskbar) when you press the minimize button.
    • Send Paranoia to tray when closed
      Same as Send to tray above, but do this on pressing the minimize button
    • Show splash screen on startup
      Set this option to show the splash screen when Paranoia starts.
    • Start Paranoia at Windows startup
      Set this option to automatically start Paranoia when windows loads.


  • Configuring Paranoia - Local Network

    • Connect to Gnutella
      Check this option if you want Paranoia to connect to the Gnutella network
    • Connect to G2
      Check this option if you want Paranoia to connect to the Gnutella2 network
    • Able to become an Ultrapeer or Hub
      Set this option if you wish to be able to become an ultrapeer. An ultrapeer is a node that indexes files and executes searches for leaf nodes.
    • Host a max of xxx leaf nodes
      Select how many leaf nodes you wish to allow to connect when you are in ultrapeer mode. More leaf nodes consume more bandwidth and cpu power.


  • Configuring Paranoia - Local Firewall

    • I am behind a firewall
      Check this option if you are behind a firewall and not able to open up a port for use by Paranoia. But note that this option significantly reduces your chance of succesful download, use it only as a last resort.


  • Configuring Paranoia - Connect

    • Auto-Connect on startup
      Check this option to automagically connect to the Gnutella network every time you start Paranoia
    • When in Child mode keep at least xxx Connects
      READ ONLY - Connect to xxx ultrapeers when in child mode (you probably run Paranoia in child mode).
    • When in Ultrapeer mode keep at least xxx and a max of xxx connects
      READ ONLY - Keep this amount of connection when in ultrapeer mode


  • Configuring Paranoia - Connect Servers

    • Host Servers
      Since the introduction of the GWebCache system, this option has become obsolete. You do not need this option.


  • Configuring Paranoia - Connect Filter

    • Filter Nodes
      Enter any nodes here that you do not wish to connect to. This option is useful to prevent Paranoia from trying to connect to bogus IP addresses, or addresses that it cannot reach anyway.


  • Configuring Paranoia - Search

    • Double-check results with original search
      Check this option to double-check your search results. Your searches will be more likely to yield successfull downloads.
    • Don't display results from filtered nodes
      Check this option to actually filter out the nodes set the Connect Filter section.


  • Configuring Paranoia - Search Filter

    • Filter Results
      Add any words you wish to filter out of your search results here. Its usually a good idea to block files with the .exe and .vbs extensions as they often contain harmful viri. Ofcourse you can also filter out other search results like adult content. Don't expect you can remove every trace of porn from your search results though.


  • Configuring Paranoia - Search Block

    • Blocked hosts
      Use this option to hide hosts that send bugus search results usually containing porn commercials or viri. With a bugus search result we mean things like exact matches for every search you do.


  • Configuring Paranoia - Share

    • Shared Directories
      Add the directories containing the files you wish to share here. Your downloads directory is shared by default. Remember that filesharing is a give-and-take game. If nobody shares, nobody gets! So rememeber: Share!
    • Sub-Directories
      Check this option to also share the sub-directories (sub-folders or the folders contained by a folder) of your shared directories.
    • Set a max of xxx replies to a query
      Return a maximum of xxx results on somebodies search. Since the introduction of ultrapeers, this option is obsolete as people don't reply on queries themself anymore.
    • Only send results when there are upload slots available
      Only return results on a search when there are free upload slots available. Since the introduction of ultrapeers, this option is obsolete as people don't reply on queries themself anymore.
    • Include path following root of shared directory in reply to a query
      Send the full path of a file as a search result instead of just the filename. This option is NOT obsolete as the path info is now sent to the ultrapeer who replies on searches on behalf of you.


  • Configuring Paranoia - Transfer

    • Save Downloads to
      Select the directory where you wish to save your downloads to, here
    • Save Partials to
      Select the directory where you wish to save your partially downloaded files to, here
    • Maximum simultanious downloads
      Set the maximum of files you wish to be able to get at once, here.
    • Maximum simultanious uploads
      Set the maximum of files you wish others to be able to get at once, here.
    • Disable Multi-Source downloading (for modem users)
      Check this option if you have a VERY slow Internet connection and wish to disable downloading the same file from multiple people at once. Multi-source downloads over a slow connection cost extra bandwidth and actually slow your download down if you are on a slow connection.


  • Configuring Paranoia - Bandwidth

    • Bandwidth and Transfer limits
      These options do not function, they will be fixed in some future release


  • Configuring Paranoia - General

    • Switch to Transfers View on download
      Check this option to switch to the Transfers View every time you click on a file to download.
    • Use Paranoia to open URIs (Hash Links)
      Check this option to make Paranoia handle web links (URIs).
    • Number of records per page:
      Since Paranoia uses a browser as a framework, to much data on the screen can make it work slower. You can set the number of results (records) per page to make Paranoia work faster.


 Many help topics and explanations were taken from Gnucleus help files and here.