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We’ve publishedlots of articles about download managershere at MakeUseOf.
FlashGet, Free Download Manager, and Download Accelerator plus are some of the favorites among Windows users.
DownThemAll is usually the pick when we’re going for a mass downloader compatible with our favorite web app.
One that we’ve yet to feature isJDownloader.
Some would say that it’s for the more advanced user, but it’s quickly becoming my favorite.
In this example, I’ll be using an open directory that I found over at/r/opendirectorieson Reddit.
That’s a great little spot to find downloadable content in ridiculous amounts.
From there, I’ve managed to find an open directory full of sound effects.
We’re hoarders and we want it all.
The next step is to go to Webmaster Toolkit’s Link Extractor.
This unique little tool will extract the links and images of any website you push through.
Let’s copy and paste the open directory’s URL here.
Since they’re links, we are extracting HREFs, not IMGs.
IMGs would be used for extracting images.
Those results should show up as displayed below.
Copy all of the results, excluding the last one.
The last one is the parent directory link, which is basically one folder up in the directory.
For anyone downloading from many open directories, you’ll always want to exclude the last result.
verify the results are copied to your clipboard.
Your next step is todownload JDownloaderand get it running.
Now let’s select where you’ll be saving the files to.
punch theSettingstab and you should see the following.
After you’ve selected your directory, click theLinkgrabbertab.
The Linkgrabber is basically JDownloader’s built-in system for checking the validity of links.
That way, you won’t be attempting to download 404 pages or files that do not exist.
It’s a good middleman between you and getting the files you want.
Near the bottom left of this window, clickAdd URL(s).You should then see the following.
Links should not include spaces, anyway.
Let’s bring up Notepad now.
Paste your list of URLs.
From theEditmenu, clickReplace….In theFind what:field, you want to put in a space.
In theReplace withfield, you want to enter “%20” (without quotes).
%20 is the hexidecimal value for a space.
Now we want to copy that list of URLs.
Delete the single line in the JDownloader list and paste our new list.
JDownloader then proceeds to check every file in the list and gives you a total download size.
Now, pick the play button at the top to start your downloads.
You’ll be automatically switched to theDownloadstab and you’ll be able to monitor your download progress.
Your files are now downloading!
Remember, using the link extractor you’ve got the option to extract HREFs or IMGs.
