Downloading almost everything - JDownloader

How many times did you spend the whole day long trying to download something but, for some reason, the download cannot finish?

Downloading is actually a permanent process we always do. By just connecting to the Internet, we start downloading information about updates, mail, weather or just this or another web page.

However, as this is mostly an unconscious process, many times we want to consciously download something, e.g. a picture, a video or even documents.

Moreover, downloading can be a headache if the file is really big or we don't know how to reach the file in order to download it. Some services don't allow users, registered or not, to download the content but there is a tool for that.

One of the multiple downloader programs that already exist is the JDownloader 2 (JD2) downloads' manager. This powerful, open-source (free) tool allows the user to download almost everything as long as there exists a way to do it and it has been implemented by their team. Though it can't be say that JD2 does not violate terms of service, what can be say is that it usually does its job almost perfectly.

Downloading with JDownloader 2

JD2 needs java to work, thus an installation of JRE (Java Runtime Environment) is needed on your computer but everything you need to work with the program is already in the package so you don't need anything else.

After having the program installed, the process of download something is pretty intuitive, you must copy the link where you think the resource (document, video, picture, etc) is and click on Add New Links.




A dialog is opened and there is the place where you paste the link:


Also, check out that you might change the place you will save the file. By default, your "Downloads" folder will be shown but you can change it by clicking on "Browse".
Once you pasted the link, you should click on continue and the following message should appear:


As the time goes on, some items are listed on the back:


You might see that in the "Availability" column the description says: "online". This means that the program has successfully identified the file and it can be downloaded. Also, you might note that even the size and the Hoster are listed there.

Now just a "Play Button" is all we need but...hang on! Sometimes you need an specific file type and that's why there is a "File Type" panel where you can select the type:




When our files are successfully downloaded, we can see where they are by right-clicking on the item and selecting: "Open download directory". That's it, we downloaded something.



Note.- There are a lot of features of JD2 (premium accounts, automatic decompression, online synchronization with My.JDownloader, etc), this article is just an introduction to the program.

Have something to add? Just say it on the comments.

In case you want to know more:
JDownloader 2 - http://www.jdownloader.org