# Downloading using internet explorer



## Danny R (Jul 5, 2002)

I've got a bit of a problem with downloading larger files using internet explorer. Basically I have a link that I click and I tell it to save the file.

When internet explorer downloads however, it does so to a temporary location, which it then copies to the area I told it to save. 

My problem is that because the download first saves to a temporary location and then does a copy, the space requirements double and I often get errors if I don't have enough room (I'm often downloading files of 2 or so gigs in size, thus needing 4 gigs free). If I do get an error and can make room, I can find the temporary file and copy it to the right location. But if not, and I cancel the error, windows deletes the temporary file totally, thus wasting all my time downloading.

This brings me to my second problem. When the download finishes and it starts copying to the new location, it pops up a dialog box right on top of whatever I am doing. Because it has a "cancel" button present, if I was in the middle of typing, such as I'm doing now, its quite likely I'll accidentally cancel it (again deleting the download) before I realized I've done so.

And finally internet explorer doesn't offer a resume function if the download stops... again causing a lot of lost time if it cancels during a really large download.

So my quest is two fold: First, is there a "better" way of downloading files... can someone recommend a good download manager for instance. Ideally one that doesn't require it to make a temp file then a copy, and even better one that can be given multiple downloads and then do them in series, resuming if necessary.

If not, is there a way of making internet explorer download directly to the final location so that it doesn't need to do a copy once the download is finished, thus avoiding the hassles that causes?


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

> "_"...So my quest is two fold: First, is there a "better" way of downloading files..."_


Danny, you have described just one more of a pletrhora of reasons why I DO NOT LIKE IE and DO NOT USE IE unless there is no other choice.

Try ABBIE - Any Browser But Internet Explorer. I have had considerable experience downloading with NetScape and I cannot recall ever having a problem I could attribute to the browser. I have many reasons why NS is my preferred browser, but overall, the term _"user-friendlier"_ is the first and foremost that comes to mind.


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## CoriBright (May 30, 2002)

You can move the Temporary Internet Files folder to a drive that has more space.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Firefox would cure several of those problems as well as many others. It is not a 100% solution to replacing Internet Exploder, but it is enough for most.

BEWARE of download managers. Many include what is often considered spyware.

Another part of the solution is to make sure you have at least 5GB free on your C: drive at all times. Windows behaves quite badly when starved for disk space.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Some things that you can try:
- Empty the Recycle Bin especially the Norton Protected one
- Clear out all *.bak and *.tmp files
- In Control Panel -> System -> System Restore, turn off the restore function. I've found that to be useless, and just hogs up disk space.
- If you use Quicktime, go to Control Panel -> System -> Quicktime -> Advanced -> Empty Cache
- Empty the Internet Explorer cache
- Boot into Safe Mode, clean out the following folders, then reboot:
-- C:\Windows\temp
-- C:\Documents and Settings\_loginname_\Local Settings\Temp
-- Any temp directories set by an enviromental variable

*Perform these steps at your own risk!!!!* Of course, this could be a hint to find a copy of Ghost and get a bigger hard drive.

My copy of IE is set to dump the cache upon exiting, and my copy of Maxtron is set to empty the cache each time I exit the program.


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

I use Firefox most of the time, which seems to take care of a lot of the download problems. I can save directly to wherever I want the file to go on the disk. I also use CCleaner on a regular basis to get rid of all cookies, temp files, etc., as well as cleaning up the registry when I am updating, removing or adding programs. CCleaner will take care of much of what Mark and others were recommending here. If you don't already have it, CCleaner can be downloaded here.

http://www.download.com/CCleaner/3000-2144_4-10465908.html?tag=lst-0-1


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