25 July, 2018

by Updated on 25 July, 2018 57 comments

Downloading Large Files? You Must Use This Trick To Never Fail

If you can't resume the failed download, that is irritating. Large files like videos, movies, high-resolution images or other files that are big take time to download and may fail at any time before the downloading is completed.

The reason for the error in completion of download may be the network error, server timeout or sometimes unknown error. The incomplete downloaded file is of no use and its waste of precious bandwidth and your time.

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Even if you are using an Internet download manager, they also fail many times.
I wasted about 10 GB bandwidth trying to download Windows 10 Technical preview which failed at about 2 GB and for more than 5 times. Every time the FDM shown error 'file in service has changed'.
Here is the best way to download large files.

We will first save it to cloud service like Dropbox, without downloading the file locally. 

This process is fast and there is no way to fail or getting errors as this will happen from server to server irrespective of your ISP or your network speed.

Now you can use the Google Drive or Dropbox desktop client as your free download manager.

Concept

We will download or save the large web file direct to cloud storage services like Dropbox or Google Drive. Then the Dropbox desktop client will sync the file and download it to your hard drive.

By using this trick, you will never fail the downloading of large file due to network error, power down or server hosting the file do not have resume support.
It will not need any resume support and the file will download byte by byte so no waste of bandwidth at all. Dropbox will take care of not corrupting the file.

 It may take little extra time than the dedicated Internet download manager software but its worth as you have a sure way and you will never lose the download in between.

Prerequisites

Steps

  • Get the URL of the file. 
  • Get the real URL of the final downloadable file. Not the forwarding URL. 
  • Eg. In case of downloading Windows 10 ISO, if you directly copy the URL from Microsoft website to download the ISO, it's something like this http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=522144 but the real ISO is located at http://iso.esd.microsoft.com/W10IP/4B33E0680A465FBA52C09A34454D5EB6/Windows10_InsiderPreview_x32_EN-US_10162.iso
Do your download fail in between, due to network error or any unkown error?  By using this trick, you will never fail the downloading of large file due to network error, power down or server hosting the file do not have resume support.
  • To get the real URL, just try to download the file with Google Chrome. Once the download is started, cancel it and go to the download tab and then copy the real URL of the file.
  • Now you have grabbed the downloading URL of the file you want to download without fail.
  • Go to Thoaimedia and paste the URL in the 'file URL' box.
  • Give name as you want.
Do your download fail in between, due to network error or any unkown error?  By using this trick, you will never fail the downloading of large file due to network error, power down or server hosting the file do not have resume support.
  • Select the cloud service you wish to save the file to. I used Dropbox.  You have to allow Thoaimedia and give access permissions.
  • Select folder where you want to save the file.
  • After a minute or two, the file will be saved to your cloud account. You can check if the process is completed from the web account.
Note that sometimes, you may get 'Time Out' error from Thoaimedia website. But wait for 5 minutes and check on your cloud service from website. Not from the desktop client. You may have the file saved there.
  • The desktop client will start to sync and download the file.

Why use Dropbox instead of Google Drive or OneDrive?

  • Sync is faster and robust. Works fine even with slow Internet connections. Google Drive shows 'unable to connect' error on slow connection. (Personal Experience)
    Dropbox-sync-time-speed-info

    Do your download fail in between, due to network error or any unkown error?  By using this trick, you will never fail the downloading of large file due to network error, power down or server hosting the file do not have resume support.
  • Dropbox gives you the correct information about how much file is downloaded and how much time is remaining to complete the sync process. 
  • There is no way to know such information in Google Drive and OneDrive.

Extra

If you get some problem with Dropbox to save file from Thoaimedia, you can first download the file to Google Drive and then transfer it to Dropbox by using Mover.io .

I tried it and now using it for downloading any file larger than 500 MB to be sure, that I will never lose the downloaded file halfway.

Do you have any other sure-shot way to download larger files? Please share.

About The Author
Passionate Technology Blogger. Not a profession. Find only real life useful and simplified Tech articles, How-To's on TopTrix.

57 comments:

  1. thank you sir , it helped me a lot :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi jsut use a download manager for links, use: as example on folders:
      https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lotsofchars/FOLDERNAME/FOLDERS%20ECOND?dl=0 and change dl=0 to dl=1, these links of folders you find by watch View page source and find (ctr+f) by folder name you see in dropbox browser page.

      Delete
    2. Thank you so much. You are a life saver.

      Delete
    3. Thank you sir so much. You are a life saver.
      This worked magically for me.
      The updated Thoaimedia link is: https://save.thoaimedia.com/

      Delete
    4. Thank you for the update. The link is updated in the post.

      Delete
  2. what a load of shit = drop box downloads are abysmally slow

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. if you don't like dropbox, you can use any other cloud service. Function is the same.

      Delete
  3. can something compresses it also

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is no way to do that as the file is saved directly from file host to your cloud storage account.

      Delete
  4. I tried downloading a 3.2gb file with Dropbox but after four hours and downloading almost half the file, it stopped syncing and I had to resume the download afresh. Let us see if it succeeds now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. instead of fresh download, you should restart the Dropbox app.

      Delete
  5. i dont know why but the 2gb file isnt showing 2gb but 600+kb in my file dropbox.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it will take time to download the large sized file. See in the dropbox web.
      IF still not working, try again by deleting the old file.

      Delete
  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you sir, It helped me a lot. I have one software on dropbox of 1.2 GB.I could not do direct download, It downloads halfway then faild.

    But as I syncd dropbox,it worked fantastically for me. Thank you very much for your wondrful article.Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy that the trick helped you. Thanks for the complements.

      Delete
  8. Replies
    1. Even though, it shows timed out error. Check your cloud storage after some time. The file goes there without any problem. I had the same experience.

      Delete
  9. Thank you sir! Does videos work? I followed the instructions you provided above, but I couldn't play them after I downloaded from Dropbox to my hard drive. Am I doing something wrong? Thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think, the method to download any file do not edit anything with the file properties. If you can play the file online, it should play after download also.

      Delete
  10. want to download a 18.2GB file with daily 1GB data limit of internet connection... any solution?

    ReplyDelete
  11. sir,what i do when i downloading the files in windows app .i mean how to find its url ? and how to fix downloaded file in that app?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Kunal, I do not understand your question. What is mean by Windows APP? Do you mean that, Dropbox Windows client? If you want to download the file stored in your Dropbox account, you can go to the web Dropbox and get the shared or public URL of particular file.

      Delete
  12. Sir downloading when I stop downloading and it started another day then this trick work ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As long as you are using Dropbox, it saves the parts you have downloaded and continue downloading the remaining part even if you restarts your PC. So its safe.

      Delete
  13. Is ti 1 gb file but dropbox only download 3mb file. I try it a few times

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think, you are entering wrong URL. Look for the real url and if the file size of entered url is correct.

      Delete
  14. I have uploaded my file on Dropbox. Now, how to sync my file on the Dropbox into my computer? Do I need to download the Dropbox app?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely, you need to download and install Dropbox desktop client so that it can sync your file to local storage. That is the trick. Hope that helped you.

      Delete
  15. thank you so much. Your article saved me! i couldnt download large files for a while now

    ReplyDelete
  16. is uploading of link to dropbox take our data

    ReplyDelete
  17. Is there any way to get the real URL with Firefox? I can't seem to get files to download on Chrome from Library Genesis (libgen).
    I tried using Firefox and I get the URL, but I don't think it's the "real URL," and the URL I do get doesn't work with this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Please wait until the download starts and then copy the url.

      Delete
    2. Yes I did that. It doesn't work for me.

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    3. What error you are getting? Where is the problem? Please explain.

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    4. You can use a third party file download manager to get the file exact URL.

      Delete
  18. Very happy I found this. Not sure why it works better than just downloading to through the browser, but I'm glad it does!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Giving access permissions to some unknown service does not seems as a good practice

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have everything saved to Google drive. Dropbox is exclusively used for such purpose. Like saving this party apps days, sync files of new apps, and downloading of large files. You can use new account if you want.

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    2. Yes are eight, but this should be mentioned in the article for less advanced users.
      Good tip however :) thx

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    3. Thank you for the tip. I am updating the article. Anyway, the free Dropbox account is limited to 2GB and so it is only used for such purpose and you can take risk with that.
      Thank you dear.

      Delete
  20. I used FF to DL a copy of Win 10 today and it was chugging along at 550kps. Was going to take 1 hour and 25 mins it said so I went and took a nap (I'm 75 I can do that). Woke up 50 mins later and it had stopped/failed at 40% on the bar meter. So i started back up and low and behold it started back at 1.1MBps and finished in 7 minutes. I was happy... perfect that it started up again and continued at the point it had stopped. Using Win 10, and latest FF version on 2 month old $199 Dell Laptop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is great if the Firfox worked for you. Your connection is fairly fast and you woke up before the link expired.
      I am happy for you.

      Delete
    2. Tried opening thoaimedia in chrome...got this msg:
      Your connection is not private
      Attackers might be trying to steal your information from thoaimedia.com (for example, passwords, messages or credit cards). Learn more
      NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID

      Automatically send some system information and page content to Google to help detect dangerous apps and sites. Privacy Policy

      Delete
  21. tried to open thoaimedia in chrome , its marked as insecure file..
    https://thoaimedia.com/save/ (https is struckthrough!!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Please add it to exception and process. It will work then.

      Delete
  22. Greeting sir,
    I have this huge file that I want to download from google drive, as I click on th e folder to download first it makes it a zip file and then chrome browser takes over the download, but I want to download this file with IDM, as internet connection is slow and if connection goes I have to restart the download.

    Please help!!!

    here is the link I want to download as one complete folder.

    https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bxm0akrW86U9QkZKc0g0WG5uMjQ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nishant,
      I think you should download the file individually so that Google Drive should not zip them. Also, if the Google Drive is culprit in the process, you can transfer the files to Dropbox or any other service.
      Please feel free to contact if there is any problem. Also please share the screenshot if possible. Cheers!!

      Delete
  23. Sir how could i enlarge my dropbox from 2GB to 25GB or more

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, You need to buy the extra storage. There is no other way.

      Delete
  24. You.re a lifesaver. Not only does it fix interruptions but by using Dropbox as an intermediator for my downloads, it bypasses any download speed problems. I was trying to download a file and was only getting 400kb/s. I used Dropbox to download it and it was going at 8mb/s !!

    ReplyDelete