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A download manager is a computer program dedicated to the task of downloading (and sometime uploading) possibly unrelated stand-alone files from (and sometime to) the Internet for storage. This is unlike a World Wide Web browser, which is mainly intended to browse web pages, composed of a multitude of smaller files, where error-free moving of files for permanent storage is of secondary importance. (A failed or incomplete web page file rarely ruins the page.) The typical download manager at a minimum provides means to recover from errors without losing the work already completed, and can optionally split the file to be downloaded (or uploaded) into 2 or more segments, which are then moved in parallel, potentially making the process faster within the limits of the available bandwidth. (A few servers are known to block moving files in parallel segments, on the principle that server capacity should be shared equally by all users.)

Features

There are several things that some web browsers are not very good at. That's where the download managers enter the equation:
  • Pausing the downloading of large files.
  • Resuming broken or paused downloads (especially for very large files).
  • Downloading files on poor connections.
  • Downloading several files from a site automatically according to simple rules (file types, updated files, etc. - see also Offline Browser).
  • Automatic recursive downloads (mirroring).
  • Scheduled downloads (including, automatic hang-up and shutdown).
  • Searching for mirror sites, and the handling of different connections to download the same file more quickly (Segmented downloading).
Download managers are useful for active Internet users. For dial-up users, they can automatically dial the internet service provider at night, when rates or tariffs are usually lower, download the specified files, and hang-up. They can record which links the user clicks on during the day, and queue these files for later download. For broadband users, download managers can help download very large files by resuming broken downloads, by limiting the download capacity used, so that the user's browsing is not affected much and the server is not overloaded, or by automatically browsing a site and downloading content specified by user (photo galleries, MP3 collections, etc.), including automatically downloading whole sites and regularly updating them.

Many download managers support Metalink, an XML file listing mirrors, checksums, and other information useful for downloading.

See below for some examples of commonly used download managers. Some downloaders are optimized for a certain function. For example, Offline Explorer is designed to download entire websites.

Download managers, such as Go!Zilla, were among the first adware applications displaying a banner ad in the user interface.

Related to download managers are two other breeds of Internet programs, file-sharing peer-to-peer applications (Kazaa, eMule, BitTorrent, Gnutella) and stream recorders (such as StreamBox VCR).

While download managers are designed to give users greater control over downloads, some downloaders are created to give that control to content distributors instead. Some software companies, for example Adobe [1], provide such downloaders for downloading software on their own site. Presumably this increases reliability and reduces tech support costs to them. A possible reason is increasing the control over redistribution of their software (even when the software is freeware).

See also

External links

A computer program is one or more instructions that are intended for execution by a computer. Specifically, it is a symbol or combination of symbols forming an algorithm that may or may not terminate, and that algorithm is written in a programming language.
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Uploading and downloading are related terms used to describe the transfer of electronic data between two computers or similar systems. More colloquially, they are sometimes applied to transfers to/from removable media such as CDs.
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Uploading and downloading are related terms used to describe the transfer of electronic data between two computers or similar systems. More colloquially, they are sometimes applied to transfers to/from removable media such as CDs.
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Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government
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World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked, hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. With a web browser, a user views web pages that may contain text, images, videos, and other multimedia and navigates between them using hyperlinks.
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A web browser is a software application that enables a user to display and interact with text, images, videos, music and other information typically located on a Web page at a website on the World Wide Web or a local area network.
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A Web page or webpage is a resource of information that is suitable for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser. This information is usually in HTML or XHTML format, and may provide navigation to other web pages via hypertext links.
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Uploading and downloading are related terms used to describe the transfer of electronic data between two computers or similar systems. More colloquially, they are sometimes applied to transfers to/from removable media such as CDs.
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on-line and off-line have specific meanings with respect to computer technology and telecommunication. The concepts have however been extended from their computing and telecommunication meanings into the area of human interaction and conversation.
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mirror is a direct copy of a data set. On the Internet, a mirror site is an exact copy of another Internet site. Mirror sites are most commonly used to provide multiple sources of the same information, and are of particular value as a way of providing reliable access to
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Segmented downloading (also known as multisource downloading, swarming download) can be a more efficient way of downloading files from many peers at once. The one single file is downloaded, in parallel, from several distinct sources or uploaders of the file.
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hot Dial-up access is a form of Internet access via telephone line. The client uses a modem connected to a computer and a telephone line to dial into an Internet service provider's (ISP) node to establish a modem-to-modem link, which is then routed to the Internet.
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Internet service provider (abbr. ISP, also called Internet access provider or IAP) is a business or organization that provides consumers or businesses access to the Internet and related services. In the past, most ISPs were run by the phone companies.
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Metalink

File extension: .metalink
MIME type: application/metalink+xml
Type of format: File distribution
Extended from: XML

For the telecommunication company, see Metalink Broadband.

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Go!Zilla is a proprietary download manager that grants a 30 day trial. GoZilla was created in 1995.

External links

  • Go!Zilla

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Adware or advertising-supported software is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used.
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peer-to-peer (or "P2P") computer network exploits diverse connectivity between participants in a network and the cumulative bandwidth of network participants rather than conventional centralized resources where a relatively low number of servers provide the core value to a
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Kazaa Media Desktop (once capitalized as "KaZaA", but now usually left as "Kazaa") is a peer-to-peer file sharing application using the FastTrack protocol and is owned by Sharman Networks.
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eMule is a peer-to-peer file sharing application for Microsoft Windows. Started in May 2002 as an alternative to eDonkey2000, eMule now connects to both the eDonkey network and the Kad network.
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BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) communications protocol. BitTorrent is a method of distributing large amounts of data widely without the original distributor incurring the entire costs of hardware, hosting and bandwidth resources.
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Gnutella (pronounced: /nʊˈtɛlə/ with a silent g, or alternatively /gnʊˈtɛlə/) is a file sharing network.
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Stream recorder, also called a stream ripper, is a computer program capable of saving data stream (containing for instance encoded music or video from a radio or a TV channel respectively) to a file instead of playing it straightaway.
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Freeware is copyrighted computer software which is made available for use free of charge, for an unlimited time. Authors of freeware often want to "give something to the community", but also want credit for their software and to retain control of its future development.
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The following is a list of download managers.

Graphical

  • Aria
  • ConnectFusion
  • Download Accelerator Plus
  • Download Express
  • DownloadStudio
  • DownThemAll! (Firefox extension)
  • Faster Downloader
  • FlashGet
  • Free Download Manager
  • GetRight

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List of various download managers.

Creator Latest stable release Latest testing release License / Price (USD) Interface Runs on Linux Runs on Windows Runs on Mac OS X
aria2 Tatsuhiro Tsujikawa 0.11.
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on-line and off-line have specific meanings with respect to computer technology and telecommunication. The concepts have however been extended from their computing and telecommunication meanings into the area of human interaction and conversation.
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