Be Wary Of Download Managers We're sad to say that download manager software has been polluted by disreputable companies in recent years the same way that toolbars, anti-virus software and computer cleaning software have been. While most download mangers do exactly what they say they'll do (ie speed up your downloads to an eye-popping degree) there are a small handful of download managers out there that don't. Instead, they'll take advantage of the opportunity to access your system to load your PC with adware, spyware or other malware if you install and run them. So we recommend that you double-check any company offering a download manager - especially if it's a free one (How? Simply by Googling them to see what other people have to say about them, and/or by making sure the developers have real-world contact details on their web site). Many free download managers are quite legitimate. But be aware that not all of them are. The companies and products we list on this page certainly are all 100% legitimate. But if you have any doubts at all, then set your mind at rest by Googling them too.

Other Download Manager Software Resources A Comparison of Download Managers Download.Com's Download Managers List Softpedia's Download Managers List

Download Manager Software

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Background: A download manager is a software program dedicated to downloading (and sometimes uploading) files from the Internet. But download managers differ from web browsers and FTP programs by doing the job better and faster.

In general, most download managers are capable of:

• Pausing the downloading of large files
• Resuming broken or paused downloads
• Downloading files on poor connections
• Downloading files from a site automatically according to simple rules (eg: only certain file types, only updated files etc)
• Automatic recursive downloads (ie mirroring)
• Scheduled downloads (including automatic hang-up and shutdown)

The biggest advantage of download managers for most people, though, is that they can perform segmented downloading - that is, they can split files into sections which can be downloaded in parallel.

This can make downloading up to 600% faster than the normal download speeds offered by web browsers or FTP programs.

There are many free download managers available but some are infested with adware and/or spyware (see our sidebar). However the best adware and spyware-free ones - in our view, anyway - are those listed below:

Free Download Manager

Free Download Manager is a powerful, easy-to-use and absolutely free download accelerator and manager that is open-source software distributed under GPL license. Free Download Manager runs on all 32-bit versions of Windows from Windows 95 to Vista and it allows you to adjust traffic usage; organize and schedule downloads; download video from popular video sites; download whole web sites with HTML Spider; operate the program remotely and many more things besides. It's also available in 30 languages. Get Free Download Manager

Download Express

Metaproducts' Download Express is free for personal use. It runs on all versions of Windows from Windows 95 to Windows XP and allows you to download individual files from the Web and FTP sites at the maximum possible speed. It's also a small application (about 700K) and it supports both the Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers. The software also automatically checks downloaded files for viruses and it can resume broken downloads as well as operate in the background. Get Download Express

Fresh Download

FreshDevices' Fresh Download is an easy-to-use and very fast download manager that's 100% free and contains no adware or spyware. It can pause and resume broken downloads; provides download scheduling; integrates with both Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Opera; has a built-in zip file extractor; and can also integrate with anti-virus software to automatically scan downloaded files for viruses. The software runs on any Windows platform from Windows 95 to Windows XP. Get Fresh Download

Leechget

LeechGet is a download manager that uses a Microsoft Outlook-like user interface and seamlessly integrates into Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera. Its many features include automatic downloading; ability to resume broken downloads; a download timer; automatic hang-up and shutdown and more. A built-in web parser also lets you download complete websites with all images and scripts. LeechGet also provides a history of your downloaded files sorted by day, week and month. The software runs on all Windows platforms from Windows 95 to Windows XP; is available in 20 languages; and is completely free for private use.
Get Leechget

iGetter

Presenta Software Company's iGetter is a fully featured download manager that works on both Mac OSX and Windows (from Windows 95 to Windows Vista). It also integrates with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Safari (as well as many other browsers) and offers a jaw-dropping spread of features that have won it a truckload of awards over the last few years. iGetter is shareware but if you decide to keep it a full registration is only US$25.
Get iGetter

TrueDownloader

TrueDownloader is an open source download manager/accelerator that integrates seamlessly into both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. It runs on all Windows platforms from Windows 95 to Windows XP and it offers a full spread of features (such as pausing and resuming broken downloads, simultaneous downloads and segmented downloads) as well as multiple language support. TrueDownloader is distributed under the GPL Licence scheme. Get TrueDownloader

DownThemAll

DownThemAll is a powerful but easy-to-use Mozilla Firefox extension that runs on all Windows, Mac and Linux platforms that support Firefox. DownThemAll offers a full spread of download manager features and it's distributed as donationware (ie if you use it and like it, then you're invited to make a donation to the developers - but otherwise it's completely fee). Millions of people have already downloaded this software and it's very highly regarded.
Get DownThemAll