55 replies to this topic

[justme]

for me free download manager is best.
i used getright dap, ida, idm and ... but FDM(free download manager) is the best.
it support zip file preview and query size option
download it from: www.freedownloadmanager.org/download.htm

[doudou]

The best download software I’ve used is BitTorent and other versions of it. I like it because you can find pretty much everything you might think of; from movies to TV series to any music and animes. Also if enough people are either seeding it or downloading it, it is extremely fast. I’ve downloaded 40 min of video in less than 20 minutes.

[pyost]

BitTorrent can't actually be considered a download manager, since it can only be used for downloading torrents - therefore it's a peer-to-peer software. A download manager is something that allows you to download files from servers.

Until a year ago, I used to use Star Downloader, as it satisfied me the most. However, some time after switching to Firefox, i realized that no download manager was necessary anymore. They are useful only for bigger files, and I do not download such things. So I use the in-built Firefox download manager.

[doudou]

I see I see. I guess I've not really used any download managers then. Where might they be useful?

[pyost]

Most of them say that your download speed will increase. This is nonsense - it might increase for a few bytes, but that's too small to be noticed. Another function that actually proved to be useful is the ability to pause downloads. Sure, Firefox also has this option, but most of the time it hasn't worked for me - and it can be useful when downloading pretty big files.

[ThePhenomenalDream]

I use torrents to download my files. uTorrent, very fast and easy to use. Get what you need all the time!

[justme]

I use torrents to download my files. uTorrent, very fast and easy to use. Get what you need all the time!

but why you dont use bittorrent ?
it is a full program and free for all

[yordan]

but why you dont use bittorrent ?

You use bittorrent client in order to download from bittorrent servers.
If the thing you want to download is not on a bittorrent server, you cannot download it.
For instance if you want to upgrade your phpbb forum to the latest level, or if you want to create your phpbb forum from scratch, you donload the distro from http://www.phpbb.com/downloads.php ,
which is a http server, and not a bittorrent server.
In other words,
- you use a ftp client in order to download from a ftp server.
- you use a http client (IE6 or Fireforx) to download from a http server.
- you use a bittorrent client in order to download from a bittorrent server.

And you use myveryprivate client in order to download from myveryprivate server...

[pyost]

- you use a ftp client in order to download from a ftp server.
- you use a http client (IE6 or Fireforx) to download from a http server.

I would just like to add that most of the browsers and download managers can download both from FTP and HTTP servers. That is, of course, if the FTP server is public - no username or password used. I can't guarantee that you can use a browser/download manager for downloading files from "protected" FTP servers. Whereas you might be able to enter them through a browser, I presume you would need a FTP client to download anything.

[XIII]

I used dap, fresh download manager, Accelerator, D4X and much more, but the best always was Gozilla for windows and D4X for Linux, and i'm on the other side from what pysot said, it really increases download speed, ofcourse it doen't touch internet speed, but it uses every byte in your connection to accelerate your downloading speed, so you can notice not less than 12kb diffirence in speed when you use it on 512kbps ADSL for example "the connection i use", also it can pause and resume and this so much helpful in huge files downloading.

[Pharoah]

I just use my browser. I didn't even know that so many people had developed apps to allow you to download better! Do you think I should get one, or stick with firefox (about the only big files I ever download are Linux distros i'm trying out, so i'm leaning towards no). Also, do you have to launch them seperately or do they come up automatically when you click a download link?

[seec77]

I used to use DAP a long time ago. :\
Don't have any meaningful usage for those programs nowadays, I think. It's true that my internet tends to unexpectedly disconnect itself which has caused me some grief before with downloading, but it's only really minor grief as I tend to download small files. And BTW, the reason that download "accelerators" actually make retrieving files from the internet faster is because they tend to look for mirrors to the same file, and thus concurrently download numerous segments of the file from different servers.

Anyways, the Firefox download manager isn't that great, but it's OK. And yeah, it's pausing and resuming capabilities suck, but that's a whole lot more than you can say for Windows Live!'s (and MSN Messenger's) file-sharing capabilities. Here's a tip for everyone: if you're trying to send your friends some files through the MSN network, you're rather off setting up the FileZilla Server and sending an FTP link to your friends.

[justme]

I used dap, fresh download manager, Accelerator, D4X and much more, but the best always was Gozilla for windows and D4X for Linux, and i'm on the other side from what pysot said, it really increases download speed, ofcourse it doen't touch internet speed, but it uses every byte in your connection to accelerate your downloading speed, so you can notice not less than 12kb diffirence in speed when you use it on 512kbps ADSL for example "the connection i use", also it can pause and resume and this so much helpful in huge files downloading.

but both dap and gozilla have some adware
just try some adware remover like spysweeper

[yordan]

That is, of course, if the FTP server is public - no username or password used. I can't guarantee that you can use a browser/download manager for downloading files from "protected" FTP servers.

Internet explorer also works with protected ftp server.
You simply have to tell your browser that you are not using an anonymous server, and you have to provide the ftp username first, and the ftp password will be asked.
The way giving the URL providing the ftp username in order to access a non-anonymous ftp server with a browser is :
ftp:myftpusername@myftpserver
You see a popup window appearing asking for the password of the ftp user named "myftpusername".
Simply try it with your astahost account, if you already defined your ftp user and his ftp password, you can access your files both by a ftp client and with Internet Explorer !

[Mark420]

I found Getright Getright site to be the best on the market I even bought it about 6 yrs ago and still use the latest version off my origonal $20.
I used to be on a dial up which was free in the evening and Getright allows you dial at certain times cut off at a time limit or at the end of file..turn off your pc etc etc
A nice feature is being able to do an auto search of differnt mirrors for the file and check the speeds and get chunks of the file from the fastest host.
Also you can download all files from a page say a photo gallery or set of videos with one download..it can even make a folder and rename all the files for you as it does it..

Well worth a look guys..its the best!!

Mark420

[foolakadugie]

I use the DownThemAll extension for firefox, since it is small, functional and integrated into the firefox browser.
I really don't need anything extra and it does have some very nice and time saving features. I love firefox extension because they don't clutter up my hardrive. Also it seems to be much more RAM-efficient then running an entirely different fiull-featured application.

[Omkar™]

Well, from the disscussion going on above, I'd like to clear the definition of a "Download Manager" here! There's a great difference between "Download Accelerator" and "Download Manager"...

A download manager manages your downloads, categorizes them, shows the transfer rate etc. and a Download Accelerator does most the above and also speeds up downloads (Or at least claims to do so!)...

I use Fresh Download (www.freshdevices.com) for my downloads. It fullfils all my needs -

• Categorized Downloads
• Pause/Resume
• Multiple Connections
• Tranfer Rate/Graph
• Estimated and Elasped time
• Integration with Firefox

What more does one need? I got a fast enough I'net connection, so I don't need an accelrator.

The site offers it for free. Just that they take your E-mail ID and send you the link to download and the registration codes (they're free too!) and then they send updates for their products weekly. Might be Spam, but you can success fully unsubscribe!

[ruijie]

My favourite download manager is Internet Download Manger. It increased my download speed by a lot!

[tezza]

I used to use a download manager called Get Right Tray.

It doesn't matter how fast your connection is, if you download big popular files like game demos, Linux installs, or videos, you can still have problems with disconnections or slow servers. GetRight's resuming and acceleration will make your downloads painless and easy--and as fast as possible.

The web link for this software is:

http://www.getright.com/

[Diaphanous]

Orbit is the best...

Guess u guys never heard about it, but try it, I'm sure you'll like it.
It's extremely fast, really...And it's not heavy, has friendly interface, PERFECT browser integration, is practic.
Try it!!!