I have been using Free Download Manager for years. When I saw the first prototype of the "modern" (5+) version of the program I understood that the project was doomed and immediately started searching for alternatives since I do not tolerate dumbed down programs with ugly interfaces. Back then I didn't find a good, reliable, free and portable download manager so as a result I had to buy 2 commercial portable download managers- one of which was abandoned long ago while I still use the other as a supplementary download manager- the old (3+) version of Free Download Manager I still use is having more and more problems with downloads. Later I came across AWGG (forum thread) which is portable, free and open source but its development is slow so I kept on looking for free portable alternatives. This month I came upon a download manager (HTTP Downloader), which I liked from the first glance- tiny, light, simple, clean GUI, free and open source, no dependencies, written in C++- no Java, no .NET, no Electron (God forbid). During my initial tests HTTP Downloader did not behave as a portable program so I opened an issue requesting portable mode. It turned out that portable mode was supported (via command-line argument) but that the feature was not documented. I suggested an easier and handier method for triggering portable mode and the developer, Eric Kutcher, accepted my idea and implemented it within days. I discovered HTTP Downloader by chance and since I believe that such well-written, free and open source projects need more publicity I bring HTTP Downloader to the attention of The Portable Freeware community.
Synopsis
FeaturesHTTP Downloader is a download manager for the HTTP(S) protocol. Maximize your download throughput by utilizing high performance input/output completion ports (IOCP). HTTP Downloader can open thousands of connections at a time and consumes very little system resources.
HTTP Downloader is a high-performance, multi-part download manager. You can Start, Pause, Stop, and Queue up to 100 downloads at a time. Each download can be split into 100 parts. That's 10,000 connections!
- Drag & drop;
- Pause & resume;
- Tray support (minimize to tray, close to tray, add URL(s) from tray);
- Always on top;
- Status bar;
- Download history;
- Default download directory:
- Quick file allocation;
- Thread pool count;
- Get time and date from server;
- SSL/TLS support;
- Proxy support;
- Context menu;
- Portable mode;
Direct download links for HTTP Downloader version 1.0.0.7 (released on 2018-09-27):
Images
HTTP Downloader version 1.0.0.7 - program window (static image):
HTTP Downloader version 1.0.0.7 - menu bar (animated image):
HTTP Downloader version 1.0.0.7 - options window (animated image):
HTTP Downloader version 1.0.0.7 - add url(s) (static image):
HTTP Downloader version 1.0.0.7 - add url(s) - advanced (static image):
HTTP Downloader version 1.0.0.7 - program in action (animated image):
HTTP Downloader version 1.0.0.7 - tray control (static image):
HTTP Downloader version 1.0.0.7 - about (static image):
Portability
HTTP Downloader supports 3 different methods of triggering portable mode:
- Command-line argument- run the program with the following parameter:
Code: Select all
HTTP_Downloader.exe -p
- Batch file- create a batch file with the following contents:
Code: Select all
START "" %~dp0HTTP_Downloader.exe -p
- Portable flag- in program folder create the following empty file (without extension)
Code: Select all
portable
Code: Select all
C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\HTTP Downloader
- Download the archive (HTTP_Downloader.zip);
- Extract the archive to a folder of your choice;
- Create an empty portable file (without extension) inside program folder;
- Run the executable (HTTP_Downloader.exe);
- Program settings (http_downloader_settings) and download history (download_history) will be saved inside program folder;
I suppose that HTTP Downloader should run on Windows XP or higher but I am not sure about that (I have tested the program under Windows 8 x64).
License
HTTP Downloader is free and open source but the license type is not specified (as far as I know).
Note
HTTP Downloader is tiny- 137 KB archive, 264 KB program unpacked, 159 KB executable (as of version 1.0.0.7).
HTTP Downloader is light- (under Windows 8 x64) it uses about 2.8 MB of RAM (as of version 1.0.0.7).
The developer, Eric Kutcher, is very helpful and open to feedback- so far he has implemented all the suggestions I have made.
I suppose that HTTP Downloader supports integration with Chromium-based and Firefox-based browsers via extensions. I tried to integrate HTTP Downloader with Cent Browser and Vivaldi (in both cases I was not using the latest versions) but I failed (perhaps I was not doing it right).
In terms of general look and feel and overall simplicity HTTP Downloader reminds me of long ago abandoned WackGet download manager.
Alternatives
A couple of programs with similar functionality:
- AWGG
- Web Downloader
File details for HTTP Downloader version 1.0.0.7 (released on 2018-09-27):
==
Name: HTTP_Downloader.zip
File Size: 139753 Byte(s) (136.48 KB)
Modified Date: 2018-09-27 03:23
MD5: c861a98c8a12ce70f060002d66278cf9
SHA1: 3806005eff84828789fb7110afae26937b75c40b
SHA256: 906133e6c7e46a91488be7afd5c615e9875a85fe3786221c77d8b07439f4623e
SHA384: dfdc5cd86dfa00a6217fcafa2eeff23b13580807f8d7acefb5ced60f1f1155ec0d8e54e25aea4ad93e7854c5b21c4721
SHA512: 499217ec817f4f615aa40368c3016c46c8e6b084701ed6958c7950e7ee9cdd9352ed9e24cb8126801a6d288f4ddc07ce0aa9f44e672f07bd4bfc288b5931d96c
RIPEMD160: 37912d32a07035b1de319390aef0992f1ab9a7a4
==