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Software

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

By Brien Posey February 4, 2013, 11:49 PM PST

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of 14

a1_Internet_Download_Manager_1.jpg
a1_Internet_Download_Manager_1.jpg
Simplify your downloads with these five tools

Internet Download Manager 1

Internet Download Manager 1

ntThis gallery is also available as a post in the Five Apps Blog.

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ntWhen faced with multiple downloads it is usually easier to use a download manager than to try to manually download everything using the browser. This article discusses five such tools that are readily available and can help to simplify large scale downloads.

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ntnn

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ntFive apps

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nt1. Internet Download Manager

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ntInternet Download Manager is a download utility that integrates with your Web browser to intercept any download operations that you initiate. This application has a relatively simple interface, but still offers some nice options. For example, you can opt to perform a download later on, and there is an option to throttle the amount of bandwidth used by the download process.

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ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

Internet Download Manager 2

Internet Download Manager 2

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ntInternet Download Manager costs $24.95, but a free 30-day trial is available for download.

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ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

JDownloader 1

JDownloader 1

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nt2. JDownloader

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ntJDownloader is a free Java based download manager. What makes JDownloader different from some of the other downloaders is that the interface is designed to allow you to provide a Web site’s URL. After doing so, JDownloader will parse the page’s contents and download anything that happens to be on the page. This can be especially handy for extracting videos from a Web page.

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ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

JDownloader 2

JDownloader 2

ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

JDownloader 3

JDownloader 3

ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

DownloadX ActiveX Download Control 1

DownloadX ActiveX Download Control 1

nt 

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nt3. DownloadX ActiveX Download Control

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ntDownloadX ActiveX Download Control is a free download manager that uses a very simple interface. After opening the download manager, you must simply click the plus icon and then enter the URL for the file that you are downloading along with a display name and a set of optional authentication credentials. The file is then added to a download list. You can use the interface to launch downloads in a specific order or to perform parallel downloads.

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ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

DownloadX ActiveX Download Control 2

DownloadX ActiveX Download Control 2

ntAlthough this download manager is simple and handy, setting it up can be a bit of a chore. You will need to install version 3.51 of the .NET Framework. You will also have to be careful during the installation process not to accidentally install a bundled set of utilities called TuneUp Utilities and all of the browser add-ins that come with it.

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ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

DownloadX ActiveX Download Control 3

DownloadX ActiveX Download Control 3

ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

GetGo Download Manager 1

GetGo Download Manager 1

nt 

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nt4. GetGo Download Manager

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ntGetGo Download Manager is a free download manager, but is far more feature rich than the other download managers that have been discussed so far. 

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ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

GetGo Download Manager 2

GetGo Download Manager 2

ntDownloads can be manually added to the download manager, or the download manager can automatically engage when a download is attempted through Internet Explorer. When you start a download, you have the option of categorizing and prioritizing the download. You can also add comments to help you keep track of what you are downloading. GetGo Download Manager even includes a bandwidth monitor that keeps track of your Internet bandwidth usage.

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ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

GetGo Download Manager 3

GetGo Download Manager 3

ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

Star Downloader Free 1

Star Downloader Free 1

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nt5. Star Downloader Free

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ntStar Downloader Free is a free download manager that is designed to expedite your downloads. Normally downloading a file is a serial operation. Star Downloader changes that by splitting large files into several pieces that can be downloaded simultaneously.

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ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

Star Downloader Free 2

Star Downloader Free 2

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ntStar downloader also features a number of bells and whistles such as a download scheduler and the ability to categorize downloads. There is also a handy pause and resume feature.

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ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

Simplify your downloads with these five tools

Star Downloader Free 3

Star Downloader Free 3

nt 

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ntAlso read:

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    nt

  • nttFive YouTube video downloaders worth a look
  • nt

  • nttSend files between Android and iOS with Fast File Transfer
  • nt

  • nttFive apps to help keep your photo collections under control
  • n

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ntCredit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

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By Brien Posey
* 1988 - Started teaching myself about computers \ * 1992 - Mainframe programmer for an insurance company \ * 1993 - Network Administrator for a different insurance company \ * 1996 - Author for The Cobb Group \ * 1998 - Network Administrator
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