Error Using Transmission

I recently had to reboot my MBP due to me being a fool and deleting a crucial file. Unfortunately my copy of the install disc was at school an closed for vacation, so I went out to buy a copy of Snow Leopard and it installed perfect, except for not having iLife '08 (which comes on my install copy at school). Everything appears to be in order EXCEPT torrents that I try to download using Transmission. The error message reads: "(torrent) is not a valid data file. The torrent file cannot be opened because it contains invalid data." So what does that mean? Is it because I installed purely through Snow Leopard that my MBP somehow has missing information pertinent to run and download torrents? What could I be missing, and how could I fix this?

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~bump~

Bad torrent file.

I *seriously* doubt that though Just the other day, yesterday morning actually, I was downloading the SAME file and it was uploading on Transmission, flawlessly. It couldn't have gone bad coincidentally in just those few moments. Also, torrents I have downloaded in the past have been considered "invalid torrents" as well.

bump...

Okay, so now Transmission is working, albeit strangely. It spikes from 6 kb/s to a good 900 kb/s. It also displays the colorful pinwheel occasionally when I mouse over it. Not quite sure what is going on to have it fluctuate in such strange ways, but perhaps someone could shine some light on *this* occurrence? Thanks.