Best Free Web Site Ripper

 
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Introduction
Ever wanted to save a website so you could read it later? Perhaps you want to save a offline backup of your website. Well, using a web site ripper you can. These useful tools save entire websites - text, pictures, formatting - so that you can view these sites again in their entirety. 
Discussion

HTTrack is one of two impressive products that do what you want from a website ripper, download any website to your computer and then browse at your connivance. The entire website is there, the sub-directories, pictures, and internal links. Links to external websites are only active if you have an internet connection. HTTrack is compatible with all windows versions, and is GPL licensed freeware. WinHTTrack is the Windows release of HTTrack, and WebHTTrack is the Linux release. HTTrack can also update an existing mirrored site, and resume interrupted downloads. HTTrack is fully configurable, and has an integrated help system.
   After a quick install you may start the program and select your language preference. You are then presented with a box to tell the program if you use a proxy for ftp transfers. If you do not use a proxy, just cancel and click "next" where you can give your project(s) a name and category. The default download folder is "C:\My Web Sites" so just click "next." Now you may paste in a URL for the website you wish to download. You may click on "Options" that will give a number of choices. These can also be accessed on the top menu through "Preferences." Click on "next" to get to the last screen to make any last choices before one last "next." Now you can watch HTTrack download the website.
   This was the slower of the two programs and took a little over twice as long to download the entire site, however it is a "little" easier to use for beginners.

 

Alternatively, there is the free edition of PageNest, which allows you to download and categorize websites, as well as browse them within the programs own viewer. PageNest can also show what new or updated content has added to an archived website. The Pro version of PageNest, among other things, adds the ability to schedule auto-updates to archived sites.

 

The fourth program in this category, Local Website Archive (Lite Edition), only allows you to download web pages and other documents on the web. However, it as good integration with Opera, Firefox and Internet Explorer, allowing you to capture a web pages URL directly from the browser. Unlike HTTrack or PageNest, this program has a built in search facility, which identifies the pages that a word or phrase appears in, and highlights the words in the document. It also has the useful ability to zip up a stored page, so it can be emailed.

Another contender in this category is GetLeft, an open-source freeware product that allows you to download entire web sites or  single webpages. It can change all the links to ensure that the downloaded site is still functinoal, can resume downloads if the connections is poor or lost, and can also follow links to external sites, meaning it can download pages from external sites also. However, it only processes the HTML, so it won't process files embedded with JavaScript

Quick Selection Guide

HTTrack    Rating 7 of 10

Pros   Available for multiple operating systems, highly configurable
Cons   Not as easy to use as some other products
Developer Home Page   http://www.httrack.com/
Download link   http://www.httrack.com/page/2/en/index.html
File Size   3.5 MB   Version 3.43-2   License Type Unrestricted Freeware   Installation Requirements 
Portable version available   Portable version available

PageNest    Rating 7 of 10

Pros   Simple and easy to use interface
Cons    The Home tabs did not have icons, just the red X placeholders
Developer Home Page   http://www.pagenest.com/
Download link   http://www.pagenest.com/download.html
File Size   1.8 MB   Version 3.03   License Type Restricted Freeware (full commercial version available)   Installation Requirements 

Local Website Archive    Rating 5 of 10

Pros   Simple and easy to use interface
Cons   Only able to save single web pages
Developer Home Page   http://www.aignes.com/lwa.htm
Download link   http://www.aignes.com/lwa.htm#download
File Size   1.7 MB   Version 2.1.2   License Type Restricted Freeware (full commercial version available)   Installation Requirements 

GetLeft    Rating 5 of 10

Pros   Available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X
Cons   Only able to save single web pages
Developer Home Page   http://personal1.iddeo.es/andresgarci/getleft/english/
Download link   http://personal1.iddeo.es/andresgarci/getleft/english/download.html
File Size   2.5 MB   Version 2.1.2   License Type Unrestricted Freeware   Installation Requirements Windows version requires Tcl/Tk (included)
Portable version available   Portable version available
Software Pending Review

    The below list is of software that is being considered for review. This does not guarantee that this software will end up in this review, as it is a list of recommended software, with pros and cons of each.

  • WebRipper
  • WinWSD WebSite Downloader
  • QuadSucker/Web
  • WebFetch
  • wget + wget GUI
  • CyberArticle

This software category is maintained by volunteer editor pohle

 

1.333335
Average: 1.3 (3 votes)
Your rating: None

I've got Getleft and I cannot find where in hell it does put the files it grabs! Never saw a software so misterious of what it actually did. No hint on the help files. I think I'm geting crazy.

I've tried also Web Ripper but it does not grab the html, only embedded files.
Next I've used WinWSD WebSite Downloader and it worked OK, grabbing all the html I wanted.

These products don't seem to work on blogs - has anyone else tried ripping blogs?

Most of these freebies are JUNKS :(

All are spams! Waste time to read this post.

need to help Download PHP files from other site!!! can download???

This kind of request can only be dealt with effectively in the forum. Please register and re-post there.

Please tell me what you want to do and maybe I can help.
pohle

WebRipper is the best free site ripper program I've found. It's powerful, reliable and easy to use. http://calluna-software.com/

Am I missing something - or does it not actually download the html page, and only rip things like pics?

I think that is true yes, though I have never wanted to download content in HTML personally.

I think a distinction needs to be made here between Content Rippers and Offline Browsers/Page Archivers

The first category is probably of more interest to the casual surfer, looking to automatically download specific predefined content.

The second category is probably only useful for users with a more "proactive" agenda, perhaps IT Pros/enthusiasts whom run their own websites/domains etc, or maybe regular users who have irregular internet access.

I've never been able to get HTTRack to do what I want (namely, to download a complete copy of a blog but not download any of the many sites that the blog links to).

check out backstreet browser... It's one of my favorite sit backup tools.

HTTrack .... omg I try to download a site and it downloads every site on the internet accept for the one I want

I'm trying to find a ripper that allows markups. I don't mind shareware. Any suggestions?

Hi All,

Can anyone recommend a tool that will rip wikispaces?

I'm trying to get a copy of http://btt1o1.wikispaces.com/ and HTTrack can't finding a starting point.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Tom

I love a program called WebRipper. I have used it without problems for a lot of time. They are currently working on a much improved version 2, but the stable version is 1.32

Check it out
http://www.calluna-software.com/Downloads.aspx

Does any of these support support saving web pages into single file, like .chm ?

for firefox users you have scapbook or clipmarks. i use scrapbook, it's excelent.

I have used a program called Cyberarticle Express for a couple of years now. Free for personal use. No nagware. Not crippled in any way. It is for storing web pages in books .. You can have as many (or few books) as you want and then store the pages in folders and subfolders. Each book can be as large as you like. It can save several layers of web pages (but I've never tried that mode).

It also has options to save the books as eBooks (.exe format) or .chm format. Also has many import/export options. Also has many conversion options for web pages. Handles foreign charactersets. Has templates. Has autobackup feature.

I initially tried HTTrack and webfetch and found them not nearly as good or reliable (or simple) .. but that was a couple of years ago. I have been using version 4.3.6.3 (still available at the site) I've not had any reason to update to version 5 that is now available.

Highly recommended .... this thing is very robust ... I started using it on WinME and thru the different updates of XP ... Have not tried it on Vista.

Link: http://www.wizissoft.com/

This is SPAM. Program is, or is going to be crippled as hell.
Just see this page:
http://www.wizissoft.com/ca/Viewdoc.aspx?pathid=ca_en_help_faq&docid=faq...

Yes, it's not free it's TRIAL !!! Don't download, SPAM.

CyberArticle 4.364 English is still available at their web site. It is free and not crippled in anyway. I have used it for several years now and it saves everything just as it is displayed. It has the ability to make executable books viewable on any machine without the program being installed.

Cyberarticle 5 is payware. I have no knowledge of its benefits as version 4 works just fine for me. (I still use XP)

Sadly, the Vista version is coming "real soon now". Can't wait to try it.

wegt with wgetGui interface!

Peter, would you talk about the ability of any and all of these programs to handle subscription sites which require logging in and password submission? — /s/ Joey Borda

Another very good one, fast, simple and easy to use is WebFetch. While it is listed as 1.0 beta and is dated June 199, it does it's job very well. It is a tiny 81Kb executable that shows a simple interface with just 3 buttons (Proxy, Go, Exit), 3 checkboxes (Images, External links, Recreate directories) and 3 input fields (URL, Save to location and Level - i.e. how deep to go or limit). The Limit checkbox is the one that allows you to download just a single level of a page, or parse the HTML code in each page and suck down every other file or link referenced.
http://www.wimsprograms.com/programs.html#webfetch

I tried HTTrack a few months ago and quickly threw it away in favor of WebFetch. I don't remember all the details, but I think HTTrack was just quirky and not always reliable for me, as well as leaving traces all over the registry while one of my preferences is for portable apps that don't need a formal install procedure (at least for all the little add on utilities I use), and don't dump junk all over.

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