Using download managers with virtual drives

Can I use Getright to download files from Idrive?

Note that subsequent to writing this entry Idrive have gone bust.

Yes, but it doesn't support resuming. First of all you will have to make a few alterations to your Getright configuration. To do this, first locate the 'Tools' menu, followed by the 'Getright Configuration', 'Advanced' and 'More' options. Now change the 'User Agent' to 'Mozilla/4.0 (Compatible; MSIE 5.0; Windows 98)', make sure the 'Send referrer in HTTP requests' and the 'Generated from the download URL' options are ticked and finally drag and drop whatever it is you wish to download into your Getright window.

If the above solution doesn't seem to be working out for you, have a look at the URL of the file you are trying to download. If the prefix of the address reads https:// instead of http:// you can try the following procedure: right-click on the file and select 'copy shortcut'. Now open Getright and select 'enter new URL' from the 'file' menu and paste the URL into the dialog box. The final step is to remove the 's' from the prefix, click on the OK button and proceed to download in the usual manner.

If none of that works, use this as a contingency plan: surf over to PCWorld.com and download the Naviscope web accelerator. Install the program and run it - the program should tack itself onto the top of your web browser. Login into your Idrive account and click on the file you wish to download whilst holding down the shift key (this prevents your download manager from attempting to download the file).

As soon as your browser begins downloading the file, its location should appear in the Naviscope window above your browser. Highlight the URL of the file, right-click and select 'copy to clipboard'. Now close the file transfer window, open your download manager, select the 'new URL' option and paste the link into the box which appears. Before clicking on the OK button, tack the http:// prefix onto the beginning of the URL. Once this task is complete, your download manager will take care of the transfer for you.

Just one quick point to note before you dash off to give this a whirl: some download managers get confused if you enter an URL which contains a port number after the .com portion of the URL. Under these circumstances simply omit the port number and carry on as usual.

Is it possible to use Getright with Freediskspace?

Yes, I've already covered this in detail in the 'tools of the trade' tutorial, but if you want the official word on the matter have a look here.

Can I use Getright to download from JustOn accounts?

Note that all JustOn file storage services were discontinued on 31st January 2001. The JustOn technology used to power its file sharing services have now been acquired by Novell, who are currently developing new ways to implement it into future applications.

Yes, with a bit of assistance from a program called 'JustGrx' this is straightforward enough. This works in conjunction with Getright by generating a download list of any number of files stored on JustOn accounts which are linked to from a given web page. Once this list has been imported into Getright you can download whatever you choose in the usual manner.

So what's the URL? Well that, you see, is the problem. JustGrx seems to have vaporised into the ether. You may still be able to find a copy of it, however, using Google.

Another method which works for some people is simpler still and merely involves making a few amendments to your Getright settings. First of all go to the advanced configuration tab and click on the 'more' button. Subsequently make sure the 'send referrer in http requests' and 'calculated from open web browser page' options are checked. Now the tricky part has been taken of, just hold down your shift key whenever you click on a JustOn link, wait for a new window to pop up and release it. If everything goes according to plan, Getright should take care of the rest, but keep in mind that this approach produces somewhat hit and miss results.

Is it possible to use Getright in conjunction with Freedrive accounts?

More changes are afoot: Freedrive has now been acquired by Xdrive.

Yes, where there's a will, there's a way. Log into your Freedrive account, click on the 'administration' tab and select the 'edit my profile' option. Now de-select the 'auto-download' check box in your profile and re-login to your account. Whenever you wish to download a file in future, click on the 'download now' link whilst holding down the control and alt keys. At this juncture Getright will take charge of the reins making the whole process much simpler.

Method two involves getting hold of a copy of DL Tools, which includes the 'Freedrive Leech Tool'. This will log into your Freedrive account and then generate a file list consisting of the real URLs of your files, which can then be opened in your download manager. It supports Flashget, Getright, Reget and Download Accelerator - see the program's help file for more specific instructions.

How do I bypass the download limit using Yahoo Briefcase?

Imagine you're trying to download a file from the following location:

http://i11.yimg.com/14/2d655c/f/45761/family-photos.zip

...but every time you click on the link, you receive the message, "maximum access limit has been reached for this file, please come back later." Obviously the people at Yahoo are talking nonsense, so ignore them for a start and change the '14' after the .com in the URL to a '15' and try again. If it still refuses to download, try one number higher and so on and so forth until the file agrees to cooperate.
Sometimes, to confuse matters further, Yahoo use letters in their URLs instead of numbers. So on the rare occasions that you run out of numbers to try, you can replace the number with a letter instead. A good one to start with is 'a', followed by 'b', followed by... I think you can probably guess where this is leading. Most of the time, however, one or two number changes will suffice.

How do I use my download manager to transfer files from Homestead accounts?

If you haven't already got a copy of DL Tools, go to the homepage now and download it. Run the program and click on the 'Easy Homestead' tab, put a tick in the 'capture links from clipboard' box and visit the HTML page where the file you wish to download is located. Right-click on the file and select 'copy shortcut' - this URL will then automatically be inserted into DL Tools. Now click on the 'get the real links' button followed by the 'create a html file with the real links' button and choose a location to copy this file to. Finally, open this web page and click on the links - your download manager will automatically take charge of the files and begin downloading.