Download methods for Windows
Download features mainly rely on wget commands generated automatically by the download system; such commands cannot be used natively in Microsoft Windows. In this page are listed a few methods to allow Windows users to perform downloads of multiple or large files.
Method 1: WSL
Starting from Windows 10, Microsoft supports usage of the GNU/Linux Terminal through the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), a tool for virtualization of the Linux kernel in a Windows environment.
WSL does not require to use additional softwares, since it is a Windows 10/11 functionality that only needs download and activation. Official guides to WSL and instructions on how to install it are available on Microsoft's own websites:
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/about (what is WLS)
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install (installation guide)
After successful installation and activation of WLS on a Windows 10/11 machine, open a GNU/Linux Terminal. It will be possible to run Bash commands from it, so paste the generated wget command to download the desired files.
Method 2: wget.exe
A similar result can be obtained using an external program to execute the UNIX command wget directly from Windows's command line.
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Download the "wget.exe" program through this external link;
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Save or move the wget.exe file in the "Download" folder;
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Open the Windows command line (cmd or Command Prompt, available in the Start Menu), then move inside the "Download" folder using the command below:
cd Download -
Copy the
wgetcommand generated by the download page in the Command Prompt and run it; -
After execution, files will be located in the "Download" folder, inside the subfolder named as specified in the
wgetcommand (e.g.: "f0086d8f-948d-4753-ad85-5171f1a5dda8").
Method 3: Browser extension "DownThemAll"
The web browser extension "DownThemAll!" can be added to Firefox, Chrome or Edge to download multiple files from a web page.
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"DownThemAll!" can be obtained from the following external link: https://www.downthemall.org/;
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In the "Get it!" section, select the browser and version and install the software:
- Once the extension has been installed, when exploring a results folder it will be possible to use the "DownloadThemAll!" add-on to download all files listed in the page (the extension icon is usually located in the top-right corner of the browser's function bar):
- The pop-up window enables filtering and selection of the files before launching the download:
