How to change microsoft...
 

downloader to download more than 2(which is the default number) to download more than 2 downloads? Where do I change this? Thank you

At Play in the Fields of the Lord
 

First, you should be using Firefox browser, not explorer. Firefox is more secure, generally, and will allow you to do many downloads simultaneously.

To change Explorer's default, regedit your way to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

then add a value, which will be:

MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server
=Dword:0000000a

and

MaxConnectionsPerServer
=Dword:0000000a

But if you don't know what these things mean, you should not be at play in the fields of the lord. You can turn your computer into jelly, like when the Nazis opened the Ark.

Seriously,

DJ

Thanks. I've made changes to the registry before, so I'm aware of it. As long as those are the right figures you've posted then I'll manager it. The reason I still use Explorer is because not all website work well under firefox or as that changed now?

You're probably referring to those sites that require ActiveX to function; since Firefox uses the Gecko rendering engine and not the Internet Explorer engine ActiveX applets are not supported. However, you could use Netscape 8 (a complete redesign from previous versions, for those of you who have tried previous Netscape browsers). Netscape 8 is based on Firefox, but it allows one to switch to the Internet Explorer engine for those Web sites that require it to function correctly. It has a number of other useful features not included in Firefox or Internet Explorer. These include per-site security/privacy options, automatic adjusting of security settings based on constantly updated whitelists/blacklists, and a much better form fill/password manager than Firefox (er, rather, Firefox doesn't have a form fill/password manager at all. It can remember things you fill in, but it doesn't have the convenient form/password manager that Netscape has). Netscape also has many more options for controlling tabs' behavior than Firefox does.

I recommend giving Netscape a try. You can download it for free at http://browser.netscape.com/ns8/.

Thanks. I'm downloading it as I write. How many downloads does it accept?

firefox is buggy... the plugin structure in particular is a disaster... at least wait until the next release to run it.

i have not run into any concurrent download limitations with explorer, but some websites will limit that, so it's not always the browser.

Do you mean connections per site during regular browsing, or when downloading files?

You can change the max connections per site by typing about:config into Netscape's address bar. Then edit the settings as shown below (copied from a post made by Rob Yannetta here at DV Info earlier this year).

1.Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries [edit: you can also copy and paste them into the "Filter:" field at the top of the page and Netscape will find them for you]:

network.http.pipelining
network.http.proxy.pipelining
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests

Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading.

2. Alter the entries as follows:

Set "network.http.pipelining" to "true"
Set "network.http.proxy.pipelining" to "true"
Set "network.http.pipelining.maxrequests" to some number like 30. This means it will make 30 requests at once.

3. Lastly right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set its value to "0". This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives.
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As for downloads in general, Netscape includes a download manager that can download as many files at the same time as you wish.

Why wait, when you can use a better browser now? Firefox has its problems, but so does Internet Explorer. If you don't like the plugins (extensions) structure, then try Netscape 8. It comes with everything I have needed thus far, without having to install extensions.

Christopher, I meant only when doanloading files or whatever. The inbuilt downloading program only allows two per download.

Ah, I see. Netscape includes a download manager that allows one to download as many files simultaneously as one wants. I don’t know how many connections per download are made; perhaps the tweaks I outlined above would affect that.

The other option is to use a download manager such as the freeware version of Star Downloader (www.stardownloader.com), or the aptly named Free Download Manager (www.freedownloadmanager.org). These come with many more useful features for controlling and managing downloads than either Internet Explorer or Firefox (and Netscape) do.