Download managers

[Richard Steinfeld]

I've been downloading within Outlook Express, but I'll soon change to
Firefox for my browser. I've had no truble downloading.

I'd appreciate a description of download manager programs: what do they
do? Why do people use them?

Thanks!

Richard

 

[Renan]

At date Sun, 01 Jan 2006 16:50:18 -0800, Richard Steinfeld
([email protected]) wrote in article <43b878cc$0$95951
[email protected]>, for newsgroup alt.comp.freeware:

I've been downloading within Outlook Express, but I'll soon change to
Firefox for my browser. I've had no truble downloading.

Do you mean Internet Explorer?

I'd appreciate a description of download manager programs: what do they
do? Why do people use them?

Download managers are ways to easily pause/resume downloads and to sort
them.

 

[kenny]

A download manager is a program that provides mainly the following
functions:

1) The ability to stop and resume a download
this is helpful if you want to restart and continue your download

2) Downloads faster
it breaks up the file into several parts and downloads them in parallel
streams
decreasing considerably the overall time of the download

3) Download throttling
this means that you can defined the percent of bandwidth available for the
downloads.
This is helpful when you want to browse without stalling while downloading.

4) Download batches of files from a page
For example you can have a web page with 100 images..
with one right click on the page you can download them

5) Scheduled downloads and turning off the pc when done.

6) More depending on the program

The ones that I think are the best are the 2 following, with FLASHGET as the
best one I have every used.

1) www.freedownloadmanager.org This one is free
2) www.flashget.com this one is free for 30 days and then has a small nag
window..

If you will use firefox be sure to use the extension called FLASHGOT with it

this will allow you to use firefox with the download managers I told you

http://www.flashgot.net/

Take a look at my site
www.computerboom.net for more info and programs

Kenny

 

[kenny]

As well as firefox you should try out www.avantbrowser.com

also for the flashgot extension I mentioned earlier you can install it on
firefox
by going to this page with firefox and pressing the "install now "link

https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=220

kenny www.computerboom.net

 

[Saxman]

A download manager is a program that provides mainly the following
functions:

1) The ability to stop and resume a download
this is helpful if you want to restart and continue your download

2) Downloads faster
it breaks up the file into several parts and downloads them in parallel
streams
decreasing considerably the overall time of the download

3) Download throttling
this means that you can defined the percent of bandwidth available for the
downloads.
This is helpful when you want to browse without stalling while downloading.

4) Download batches of files from a page
For example you can have a web page with 100 images..
with one right click on the page you can download them

5) Scheduled downloads and turning off the pc when done.

6) More depending on the program

The ones that I think are the best are the 2 following, with FLASHGET as the
best one I have every used.

1) www.freedownloadmanager.org This one is free
2) www.flashget.com this one is free for 30 days and then has a small nag
window..

If you will use firefox be sure to use the extension called FLASHGOT with it

this will allow you to use firefox with the download managers I told you

http://www.flashgot.net/

I see your point, butI can see Richard's as well. With a broadband
connection, these advantages have become redundant with me. I no longer
have a download manager installed.

 

[kenny]

Hello,

Not all broadband are made equal.
There are broadband connections around the world that start at 256 Kbps.


Furthermore its a good idea to use a download manager if you are going to
download big files like Linux distros even if you do have a fast broadband.

 

[Roger Johansson]

I'd appreciate a description of download manager programs: what do they
do? Why do people use them?

They are very useful if you have a good connection to the net, but the
net itself is very slow in your country, if you live in China, for
example.
The downloadmanager creates 5 different channels through the slow net,
and your download speed comes closer to the possible speed of the
connection you have.

I only use a download manager for very large files, 100+MB.
I use Download Express and let it use 4 threads.
I use it to be able to see what happens more than because I gain any
speed.
But sometimes there is a very slow server, so I gain from a download
manager.

The worst case I have experienced was when trying to download a linux
version which they offer as download but don't want people to download,
they want to sell a CD instead. Their server lowered the speed step by
step until it stood practically still.
Then I raised the number of threads in DE to 16 and got it downloaded
at last.

To use 16 threads is very uncivilized, and stupid in most cases,
because you block download channels for others, and you don't gain
anything from more threads than 3-4, because of the overhead in putting
these parts back together again and administering the whole procedure.

For all other files I use the download manager in Opera.
All browsers nowadays have resume (when the server allows it) so you
don't need a download manager to the get resume possibility.

Using a dlmanager with multiple threads can get you banned on some
servers.
Some server owners dislike it very much when one person takes up all
the capacity of the server, making it unavailable for others.

When I tried to use 4 threads the other day the server only allowed one
thread, and this may become more common in the future.

 

[Gert van der Kooij]

I see your point, butI can see Richard's as well. With a broadband
connection, these advantages have become redundant with me. I no longer
have a download manager installed.

To download batches of files I use Down-Them-All which I found to be
very usefull.