There will come a time where you are downloading a very large file and the download stops part of the way through. If you are using the Windows download applet there is nothing you can do about it; you will have just have to start the download again. A good download manager will allow you to resume the download, picking up where it left off.
Good download managers will also allow you to start several concurrent download sessions for the one download file. This works by splitting the file into parts with each part downloaded at the same time. At the end the file is then re-assembled. Depending on your ISP this can result in dramatic improvements in download speed.
Free Download Manager [1], is the clear winner of the products we have reviewed. It's fast, stable and integrates well into both Internet Explorer, Opera and Firefox though the later works best with the free FlashGot extension installed.
"Free Download Manager" offers simultaneous multi-part downloads, easy restarting and recovery, a powerful scheduler, downloading from mirrors and just about everything else you need in a download utility. Additionally, there is no embedded adware or nag screen.
If you are looking for another option the commercial FlashGet [2] program is now available for free. It's certainly full featured and nicely integrated but I find it overly complex to use. The product has a bit of a history of bundling in other products with the install but when I tried V1.72, it was totally clean.
[1] Free Download Manager
Website: http://www.freedownloadmanager.org
Download Link: http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/download.htm
Alternative Download Link: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Download-Managers/Free-Download-Ma...
Author: freedownloadmanager.org
Current Version: 2.5 build 745
Download File Size: 1.59 MB
License: Unrestricted Freeware
Operating Systems: Windows 95-Vista
Additional Software Required: None
Other Languages: Spanish
Other Information: None
[2] FlashGet
Website: http://www.flashget.com/index_en.htm
Download Link: http://www.flashget.com/index_en.htm
Author: fg.com
Current Version: 1.7
Download File Size: 1.43 MB
License: Unrestricted Freeware
Operating Systems: Windows 95-Vista
Additional Software Required: None
Other Languages: Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese
Other Information: None