Downloading may be the first thing anyone will do with an internet connection. As long as an internet connection exists, there may not be a day without a download, especially with a 24 hour connection without any download limits.
There are lots of methods to download a file, but the effectiveness and speed do vary according to the type of software used for downloading. So its upto you to choose which way to go according to your needs. It will be hard to know where you will find the files of your choice and which of these choices can get it to you faster!
*1) Regular Download*
If you have the link right in front you, you need not go for anything other than simply clicking on the link provided. Your browser will automatically download the file. If you are using Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, it may ask you whether to download or to run the file. In the case of Opera, it will simply download it. From what I have noticed so far, the built-in downloader of Opera downloads the files at a faster rate than the others.
Opera also got the option to resume broken downloads as well as stopped ones as long as you haven’t closed the browser. The chances of error are low too. If you are downloading pictures, Firefox can do better, because Opera sometimes may stop at the middle of loading an image. With Linux OS, I find it better to use Konquerer Browser.
*2) Accelerated Download*
You have the option of using some kind of accelerated download managers like DAP and GoZilla. Download Accelerator Plus(DAP) is the most commonly used downloading software - its major property may not be the speed, but the resume option which means that restarting the program or the computer won’t affect the download as you can continue it at any time.
Either you can copy the link of the download into DAP or you can change the options in such a way that it automatically downloads with DAP instead of the regular download. But this option is not available for Firefox and Opera’s latest version, 8 beta. But if you can get it to download with DAP, it is a safe option for you.
*3) P2P*
P2P may be the most commonly used method of file transfer between different persons. Different clients like Kazaa, Limewire, Morpheus etc supports P2P so that you can search in a collection for almost any kind of file you want as long as the one who uploads the file stays online, but not without a certain element of risk involved in it.
The only problem is that some of these P2P softwares support spyware and adware - it can slow down your PC in a few hours, Kazaa and Morpheus being the main culprits. So it is a must that you choose the right software for downloading P2P files and it will be great to have an antivirus along with a firewall. As long as you remain safe, P2P is a great option even with the varied speeds. If you can manage to use this in a Linux OS, it may be a better option, but Linux P2P clients are somewhat rare these days.
*4) Torrents*
After downloading one of the torrent clients(Bittornado, Bittorrent, Azeurus etc), you can download a torrent link with an extension*.torrent and when the download is complete in a few seconds, you can click on that file to start downloading. The files are send in parts which makes it more protected from viruses. The uploading of the file is automatically done and in some cases uploading will be compulsary. But uploading is not going to do you any bad, because it can progress along with downloading at the exact same time.
It is free from viruses, worms and trojans as well as any kind of spyware unlike the P2P. It may be a bit slow, but it is really a safe and reliable way of downloading essential files - you may be able to find those files that you won’t find while searching in google or anywhere else with these torrent links. Go to https://bittornado.com to start with the torrents.
*5) FTP*
And finally, we are into FTP - the word which I always see in my computer texts. This is the one method that has given me a certain amount of head ache. You need to connect to different ports for downloading a file and the great thing about this is that my connection gets rejected usually or gets disconnected in the middle. This is going to be really hard for new comers due to the low user-friendliness.
Getting a link from a site and using the softwares like AceFTP, SmartFTP, CuteFTP etc may be last option you will like to use because of its unpredictability, especially if you are having an internet connection which breaks down at regular intervals, just like mine. The worst thing is that the interface may become too confusing at times and as long as my experience is concerned(especially with PC games), atleast one of those files always fails!
*THANKS FOR READING THE REVIEW. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR THOUGHTS BEHIND AS YOU LEAVE*