PR Forum

After being out for a while I reactivated my account. Now JDownloader no longer works. I got a message saying I have the wrong Java but even after updating I get the same message. Any advice on other downloaders?

I have Firefox. I have tried the FlashGot add on but so far no results. What Firefox method are you referring too?

I use my Mozilla browser and installed the Mega add-on MEGAsync. Works very nicely. No interruptions.

OK, thanks for the tip. I installed Mega add-on MEGAsyn for Firefox. It said it was installed. But I have no clue where it is or how to use it.

Phantom Engineer wrote:OK, thanks for the tip. I installed Mega add-on MEGAsyn for Firefox. It said it was installed. But I have no clue where it is or how to use it.

Once you install the MEGAsync add-on make sure you activate it. I use Windows XP (Yes, its old!) and I clicked on it to activate it. Now the icon (a red circle with an M in the middle) shows up on my status bar (on the bottom of my screen.)

All the MEGA links on this site give you the option to Download with MEGAsync. Just click on that option of the MEGA DL screen. I don't use J-downloader. I DL each file one at a time. Slow process but it works very nicely for me.

Thanks for you reply JBH69Flyer. You say I need to click on it to activate but I don't know what to click on. I see no sign of Mega anywhere even though I got a prompt telling me it was successfully installed. So what do I click on?

Phantom Engineer wrote:Thanks for you reply JBH69Flyer. You say I need to click on it to activate but I don't know what to click on. I see no sign of Mega anywhere even though I got a prompt telling me it was successfully installed. So what do I click on?

Can you find the directory on your hard drive where the MEGAsync has been installed? Try to find that directory and then look for an icon with a with a red M. You should be able to click on that icon to activate the program.

Or you could try to re-install the program and select the run option instead on the install option. Not sure what kind of system you are using. Hope this helps.

Well I went with the new JDownloader. I was reluctant to because of posts here warning about it but I found a beta version that's supposed to be free of adware. http://jdownloader.org/jdownloader2 So far so good.
I found the whole Mega thing to be complicated. There are a lot of different programs using the Mega prefix.
Thanks to everyone who offered advice.

I use Google Chrome. Double click the link, right click, and hit paste and go. It'll open a new browser tab with the link. Then hit download through browser. I'll do 5 at a time so as to not overload my browser or computer. I used Jdownloader years back and it worked fine. Got a new computer and grabbed it again and the sucker was filled with adware. So the way I do it now doesn't involve any software. Just Google Chrome through the browser

JDownloader certainly messed it up (at least) at one time in the past... searching the net reveals quite a shitstorm of horror stories and even on their own forum you'll find a lot of confusion (and verbal abuse).

However, it seems to be slightly different than the first impression. They do add bundleware (just like Vuze and a zillion of other free tools) and (just like Vuze) the installer should ask for each of it to be installed or not - which sometimes is pretty misleading and you need to read very carefully. This is how it should be done and (at least) at one time JDownloader failed to ask and silently installed the crap. Reading the forums, the developers confirmed that - as a horrible glitch - apologised a thousand times and offered help removing the crap. As a result of this disaster they also seem to consider a "paid" version in future in order to gain income independent of advert deals.

I have no background information if it really only happened this one time or if the "silent crapware" mode was on multiple times. Some of the stories on the net are pretty weird and some seem to have multiple triggers. For example, some people are running JDownloader through a VPN, and since the developers have international deals (different adware for Russia, Asia, USA, etc) there were some further complications with suddenly some russian pop-ups on US computers, etc. pp.

One way or another - I'm using JDownloader2 for ages and somehow I'm dependent on it, because it perfectly supports simply *all* hosting platforms in existance, and you can let it run automatically with tons of links. I was recently forced to make a new install on a new machine, and with bad feelings I installed the "ad free" version from here, as recommended on their forum: http://jdownloader.org/jdownloader2

All that I can say is that it definitely did not install anything without my consent and that the tool runs perfectly. This does not mean that it will do the same on other machines, but since the company wants to stay in business, it actually makes sense not to fool their "customers" again and again and again and again...

PS: And having said all this - if anyone is using Transmission (on OS-X), they never had "adware" but someone hacked them and version 2.90 included ransomware. If anyone installed it, you need to act immediately or your harddisk will get encrypted: https://www.transmissionbt.com/

This tool was always recommended because a) they had code-signing from Apple and b) "no adware"... so the end of the story is: If you install ANY software you need to be careful in times like these, and a simple "adware = evil, no adware = safe" is no longer reasonable. Sadly.