How to Find and Download Files Quickly

A few steps to take to ensure you get a fast download...

OK, we've all experienced a slow download before, a file just crawls down at 0.01 k per second!
What can you do? Give up? Not yet!
There are a few things you should always try before hitting the cancel button and missing out.

Make sure you are downloading the file from the closest possible site. Look on the Web site that you are downloading from, for any mention of "Mirror Sites". These will be different computers, often in different geographical locations, which may result in a faster download.

If it's a common file, or popular program, it could quite likely be in a large "file repository", rather than just the program authors' site.

Good Sites to try are:

Can't find a mirror site? Try doing a search.

This step requires that you know the file name you are looking for.

If you are trying to download a file thorough Netscape, pause your mouse over the files' link. You'll see the actual filename at the bottom on the status bar.

Once you know the filename, go to FTPSearch
Be patient, sometimes it takes a while to access the page (it's located in Norway!)

Type in the filename (or a partial name) in the Search For box.
Then put "au" (no quotes) into the "Limit to Domain" field.
This will limit the search to Australia.

Then click Search.

If nothing comes back, then click back and try again, this time without the au.

Once you find a file, you simply click on the filename (to the right) and it will download. (Hopefully quicker than the original site!)

Clicking on the directory name will take you straight to that dir, so you can browse its' contents.

Using a seperate FTP program, like CuteFTP, will enable you to resume an FTP download, if you get cut off half way through the download.