Best Free Download Manager

Fri, 01/02/2009 - 12:16 — Jojoyee

In a Hurry?

Go straight to the Quick Selection Guide

Introduction

There comes a time when you are downloading a large file and the download stops part of the way through. If you are using the Windows download applet there is nothing you can do about it; you will just have to start again. A good download manager will allow you to resume the download, picking up where it left off.

Good download managers also allow you to start several concurrent download sessions from available resources for the one file. This works by splitting the file into parts with each part downloaded at the same time from the resources. At the end the file is then re-assembled.

This can result in dramatic improvements in download speed given a transmission speed limited by internet service providers.

Below are a few free download managers short listed for review based on the basic requirements including:

Speed, or lapsed time to download a file
Interface with web browsers and supported protocols
Management of downloaded files
Other features

Discussion

Gigaget download manager is in general the fastest by far for downloading files. It utilizes cutting-edge Net Grid technology to tap the unused resources of networked PCs and servers to greatly improve your download speed.

Gigaget monitors major browsers, such as Internet Explorer, and monitors clipboard for auto downloading once a download link is copied to the clipboard. It has all the features you would need, safe and easy to use.

Among the features, it allows you to easily pause, resume or delete a download, import or export list of downloads, and it has a powerful task manager with data transfer encryption, auto data integrity validation and correction, classfication of downloaded files, etc.

On the negative side, this program in the version under this review will occasionally prompt an 'about:blank' error message when the browser home page is set to blank. If you click ok, the program clears the message and nevertheless proceeds to work well.

Alternatively Free Download Manager is a good choice for its stability and support for various browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Chrome and Safari.

It offers simultaneous multi-part downloads, easy restarting and recovery, a powerful scheduler and downloading from mirrors.

It also features downloads from RapidShare, prioritized and partial torrent downloads, adjusting traffic usage, flash video download and an upload manager. Management of downloaded files is supported.

Another popular download manager is Orbit Downloader, which is devoted to the new generation web to make downloading any social media easy and fast.

Moreover, Orbit Downloader features Grab Pro to support video download from sites which use anti-leeching technology like YouTube, Pandora, etc. It also supports most streaming media protocols and file-sharing service websites.

Support of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Maxthon together with general download management is included.

FlashGet download manager is also worth a try as it is designed for speed and management of downloaded files as well.

It increases the download speed by applying multiserver hyperthread technology and supports HTTP, FTP, BT, eMule and other various protocols.

FlashGet provides download monitoring with Internet Explorer and integrates well with FlashGot extension to Firefox too. It supports unlimited categories for managing downloaded files.

On first running of the program after installation, it comes with a 'recommended message' at the right panel, but this can be disabled easily as an option.

Other Download Managers

These are a number of other free download managers which were brought up in comments here or noted from other sources. As they are not rated in this review, I am listing them here with brief descriptions and links to their sites for ease of reference.

Download Accelerator Plus (free) is a toned down version of commercial DAP Premium but basic features are available such as multi-connections to download sites, mirror search, etc. It has an active 'information pane' at the right panel which is not allowed to disable.

Star Downloader Free accelerates your downloads by splitting files into parts and downloading them from mirror sites. It is also a toned down version without some of the needed features such as link leecher available to commercial Star Downloader Pro.

MetaProducts Download Express is a small application at a size of about 680 KB. It supports IE and Firefox browsers and allows you to download individual files from the Web and FTP sites with multiple channels technology. It features a Projects list without classification of downloaded files. Download speed is slower than the top-picked download manager.

DownThemAll is a browser entension to add advanced download capabilities to Firefox. This add-on is useful if you are using Firefox and need to download many files on a web page at one go. It allows you select all files or certain file types for download. However, for a selected file in a larger size, its download speed is much slower than a standalone download manager such as Gigaget.

Quick Selection Guide

Gigaget
		The fastest by far to download files, monitor major browsers and clipboard, resume/pause download, import/export list, data transfer encryption, classification of downloaded files.
		Occasional 'about:blank' errors when browser's home page is set to blank.
		http://www.gigaget.com
		http://www.gigaget.com/download.htm
		2.0 MB 1.0.0.23 Unrestricted freeware Windows 95-Vista

Free Download Manager
		Stable, support for IE, Firefox, Opera, Chrome and Safari, simultaneous multi-part downloads, flash video download, restart and recover, powerful scheduler, management of downloaded files, etc.
		Slower than Gigaget to download files in general.
		http://www.freedownloadmanager.org
		http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/download.htm
		6.4 MB 3.0 Unrestricted freeware Windows 95-Vista

Orbit Downloader
		Make downloading social media easy and fast, support video download from anti-leeching sites, support IE, Firefox, Opera and Maxthon, management of downloaded files, etc.
		Slower than Gigaget to download files in general.
		http://www.orbitdownloader.com
		http://www.orbitdownloader.com/download.htm
		2.06 MB 2.7.8 Unrestricted freeware Windows NT-Vista

FlashGet
		Increase speed with hyperthread technology, support various protocols, monitor IE, integrate with FlashGot extension to Firefox, managing downloaded files.
		A recommended message at the right panel needs to disable upon first use. Slower than Gigaget.
		http://www.flashget.com/index_en.htm
		http://www.flashget.com/en/download.htm
		4.44 MB 1.9.6 Unrestricted freeware Windows 95-Vista

This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Jojoyee. Registered site visitors can contact him by clicking here.

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#1Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 19:20.

Try MetaProducts Download Express 1.9. Its not been updated but works well.

#2Submitted by Jojoyee on Sat, 01/03/2009 - 03:39.

Thanks for the info. Grouped under Other Download Managers for reference.

#3Submitted by Anupam on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 10:16.

New version 3.0.843 of Free Download Manager has been released.

Anupam Shriwatri, India

#4Submitted by Jojoyee on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 12:18.

Thanks for the update.

#5Submitted by Anupam on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 15:08.

You are welcome :)

Anupam Shriwatri, India

#6Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 21:34.

I would like to configure one to use the SD/USB storage device as the destination and scratch disk in settings. Is there one like that? I have a 4gb HD and can not upgrade with ease. If you can think of something post it here. Thanks for these.

#7Submitted by Jojoyee on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 03:34.

If you are looking for a setting in a download program to download files to a folder in external storage, this can be done easily. Such as in Gigaget, go to Config and change the 'Save To' default folder to your preferred folder in an external storage device while it is plugged in. Click Apply Button to enable the change.

Hope this is helpful.

#8Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 18:43.

I was impressed with Gigaget performance in my old pc running Windows XP. And when i tried to use it in my new Dell Notebook running Windows Vista Home Premium, Internet Explorer crashs and restarts. I've tried so many time reporting to them, but couldn't find a solution yet. I disagree to use any other DM because Gigaget had made a solid impression in my mind. And the same problem occured to my friend running with same OS. Has anyone undergone the same problem.

Would be glad if any friend can give me a working solution.

#9Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 12/12/2008 - 09:24.

Gigaget works well for me on Vista. For browsers, I use Firefox and Chrome, much faster and safer.

IMO, one way to prevent IE from crashes is to disable all add-ons or reset IE settings (Tools/Internet Options/Advanced/Reset). A rather slow and outdated browser residing in my system but hardly used.

#10Submitted by Keyur on Fri, 12/05/2008 - 17:39.

If you are using Firefox, downThemAll is a good add on.. and you probably wont need separate download manager.. here is the link

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/201

Thanks

#11Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 12/23/2008 - 02:33.

It is only useful if you download all the links, images contained in a webpage. I tried it to download a larger file and it's slow.

#12Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 12/04/2008 - 05:39.

So, I take it that Gigaget isn't compatable with Opera?

#13Submitted by Jojoyee on Fri, 12/05/2008 - 13:58.

It is stated in the Gigaget homepage that it is compatible with major browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Maxthon.

If you are using Opera, Chrome, or any other newer version of browsers which are not monitored by Gigaget, you will need to copy the download link to the clipboard, Gigaget will then auto download the file as it monitors the clipboard as well. I rely more on this feature.

#14Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 11/09/2008 - 14:05.

FDM will not run on my VISTA 64 bit at all .... this disqualifies it being a "best download manager"

#15Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 11/19/2008 - 03:14.

And who even uses Vista 64 bit as their only OS? That is far from a major enough reason to strip down it's title here. There are many other far more important features in it. Also if you even look at the system requirements properly, it states that it works in 32-bit versions only. Although it didn't work for me as well (not because I use 64-bit, some things just don't work on my dated pc), I've gotta disagree with your selfishly needless comment there. Just move on to some of the alternatives (this is why they exist after all), or whatever.

#16Submitted by ekadim on Fri, 11/07/2008 - 07:30.

I have been using Giganet, FreeDownload Manager and Star Downloader Free for a long time. All of them have their own cons and pros. Though StarDownloader seems to be not updated for a long time and not integrated with Flashgot, it is a remarkable download manager.

One thing I like with Star Downloader is when I navigate to the target directory for saving, I can see all the files and subfolders in that directory so that I can check whether I have downloaded it before or not. And when the filename is the same it prompts for your confirmation for overwriting. It is worth to give a try:

http://www.stardownloader.com/downloads.php (you may click one of the links on the right bottom corner of the page)

#17Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 20:53.

Gigaget is my personal favorite. Its very fast, I like that I can integrate a virus scanner, and has a bunch of useful features. and the banner in it blends in well and is a link to gigagets site.

#18Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 10/04/2008 - 18:59.

I just started using Gigaget--the increase in download speed is amazing. It's integrated with the Flashgot plugin for my Firefox browser--I wish I had found this a long time ago.

Thanks Gizmo and crew!

#19Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 06:19.

I try to scan giganet using virustotal.com ...esafe software detected a virus..i dont know if it is a false positive.

#20Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/23/2008 - 22:34.

I have a question that I would like answered. Do you need any special rules for optimizing download managers to their full potential when you have a firewall? I'm currently using Gigaget and Commodo.

#21Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 09/08/2008 - 00:31.

I am longtime user of FDM. Have been using only the Lite version ever since two versions have been offered. Not sure why others are having problems with SourceForge, I just right-click and choose "save target as" and I always get the file, not the PHP script... ? Don't know how to help with this...

My only issue with FDM, is it crashes if several dozen IE7 tabs or browser instances are open. When it crashes it takes all the IE7 instances with it. After yet another crash today, I came here to see what else is available.

I used FlashGet years ago when it was freeware, when it became shareware I abandoned it in favor of FDM. I see that it's freeware again, so I tried it (the new version). Like the experience posted above, FlashGet immediately made several outbound connections and transferred quite a bit of data before I could choke it down with a firewall. I don't know what it stole from me. I uninstalled it immediately.

I am trying Orbit right now, it appears to be simple and efficient. I really love FDM, but if Orbit can handle the high number of IE7 tabs and/or instances that I like to use, then I will stay with Orbit.

#22Submitted by Mosaddeq on Sun, 08/24/2008 - 19:13.

Flashget is the best download manager. But not the current version but rather the classic version 1.73. Flasget provides better control over downloads. Be it passing custom referrer or specifying number of concurrent connections etc. All in all its the best imho.

#23Submitted by abhishek on Sat, 08/16/2008 - 14:58.

I have been using Orbit for about 3 years now, It has never let me down. It worked well on my ancient dial-up and works just as well on my broadband.....

-Abhishek
India

#24Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 08/11/2008 - 20:03.

I am using DownThemAll a plugin for Firefox and is incredible how faster downloads are compared to standard Firefox downloads. It also supports resuming interrupted downloads. Regards, Joe

#25Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 10:42.

Tried FlashGet and just after opening it the first time it tried to make 12 connections to different sites, and that's without me adding a download! Disabling updates and most options that could cause unwanted connections, it still tried a few connections at startup. Might be legitimate, but anything that acts like spyware gets uninstalled immediately.

#26Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 07/12/2008 - 23:11.

Silent monitoring doesn't work in Free Download Manager ver. 2.5 build 758.

#27Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/11/2008 - 05:18.

Do not let Free Download Manager download the link from sourceforge.net from the first time. Try it on the second time.

#28Submitted by Anupam on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 17:52.

Well... sourceforge.net dont require to turn off the download managers... coz i use getright to download programs from the site and it works well... but not free download manager. It cannot convert the php link to the program link.

#29Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 18:58.

I have been using Free Download Manager from quite some time now and i love it. But, just a downside i noticed is... when i try to download from sourceforge.net , it saves the php page instead of the program. I think i tried Flashget and had the same problem. Any solution for this?

Anupam Shriwatri
India

#30Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 07:37.

For a download manager to work correctly on all sites, it must look *exactly* like your web browser. That means it must be able to get things like user agent, referer and cookies from your web browser, and set the acceleration (i.e. splits or segments) to a permissable number (usually 1 segment or split for sites like you mention). The reason that you're getting the php page instead of the program is that FDM is not using these things in your downloads. Personally, the only download manager that I have found that really mimics you web browser and gives you this control is downloadstudio (www.downloadstudio.com). Its not free though. Hope it helps, Derek.

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