How to keep track of downloaded softwares?

Discussion in 'other security issues & news' started by chew, Oct 5, 2004.

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  1. chew

    chew Registered Member

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    Hi Folks

    Could you advice me if there is any Freeware that can help me keep track of what have been downloaded recently? You know a software that can tell me what have been downloaded and where ...?

    The reason I ask because when I boot up / start up my pc just now I saw files being downloaded. I didn't even have the time even to check it out what it was when it finished. It downloaded so quickly that I think it was like 1 second or something ...

    As far as I know I only clicked a link yesterday provided by someone (can't remember the author of the thread now) on the Ccleaner update version. It didn't work as it kept coming out with error on the download site.

    So apart from that I don't know what have been downloaded.

    So could you advice me please or at least let me know how to search for recent download activities.

    cheers

    Chew :)

    P/s: Oh ya, I think Nick ADSL replied to that particular thread on Ccleaner new version saying the link was broken or something ...
     
    Last edited: Oct 5, 2004
  2. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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    Not me chew. That update was posted in update alerts and is no longer listed.
    The file is not available yet. At least, not to me.

    Firefox has a built in download manager.

    another download manager
     
  3. chew

    chew Registered Member

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    Thank you Ronjor for the info.

    Will check it out now.

    :D

    P/s: Just checked it out ... actually I am trying to find a software that will monitor what have been downloaded ... my Firefox Download manager is emptied now and then and now it's empty.
     
  4. steve1955

    steve1955 Registered Member

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    Most download managers wont "catch" all downloads,this is deliberate so sites like windows update work correctly,so I wouldn't have thought you could track"all" downloads using one
     
  5. Tassie_Devils

    Tassie_Devils Global Moderator

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    I know this does not address the issue itself, but that's precisely why I have 'everything' set to manual download. I personally want to see what is coming in, regardless of what program. Updates, AV/AT defs, etc.

    I tried last night Chew, when I first saw your post to find anything, but a quick search led me nowhere, but I did not go thru all the links.

    I googled tracking+downloads to get THESE LINKS here.

    Cheers, TAS
     
  6. Devinco

    Devinco Registered Member

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    What helps me keep track of downloads is a logical folder structure that clearly names what is contained inside.
    For example, for WinZip 9.0, I would make a folder like \My Downloads\Utility\WinZip 9\. I can find downloads at once.
     
  7. luv2bsecure

    luv2bsecure Infrequent Poster

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    Exactly. I do the same. I also add, under a very similar tree to Devinco's, the version and date it was downloaded. Example:

    Downloads\security\prevx\1.0 10-05-04

    And I might have three or four of the latest versions of Prevx that are dated as shown. This is handy for the many times I want to roll-back to an earlier version that turned out more stable - ZoneAlarm being a recent example.
     
  8. Paranoid2000

    Paranoid2000 Registered Member

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    I'd agree with John and Devinco here - having a folder structure for dowloads not only helps keep track of them, but also makes other tasks (copying software to another PC, backing up downloads, virus/trojan checks) much easier. Many download managers (like GetRight) keep a history of downloads so this can be useful if you also want to keep track of the URLs used.

    One other suggestion - have a single text file storing all the registration codes of programs you purchase. This can really save some time.
     
  9. Infinity

    Infinity Registered Member

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    I wouldn't recommend Getright as download manager:
    quote:
    GetRight, 4.3, , www.getright.com, Conducent, , Confirmed
    GetRight, 4.0 to 4.2c, , www.getright.com, Radiate, , Confirmed
    GetRight Mail Control, 1.0, , www.getright.com, Radiate, , Suspect

    there are other spyware free available.

    just my two cents,
     
  10. sard

    sard Registered Member

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    I have a main download folder that all my programs are set to download into. Every week or so I go through it and delete all the things I won't need again and move the useful stuff to another folder which has subfolders for software, game demos, patches, etc.

    Another good tip for downloading is to have the download folder on a separate partition or HD to the OS. This way you can keep a major source of fragmentation (which the constant creation and deleting of files is) away from the OS and installed software.
     
  11. chew

    chew Registered Member

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    Thanks for the info guys.

    Yes, I do keep specifics folders for download only and I do keep track of where they are as much as possible.

    I am just trying to figure out what happened when I boot up on that particular day. Not that I can do anything now but I am still monitoring my PC to see if something weird has come up. So far so good.

    I did an immediate scans using Ad-aware SE and McAffee on that particular day and yesterday. Both came up clean.

    Cheers

    Chew :D
     
  12. Paranoid2000

    Paranoid2000 Registered Member

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    Please check GetRight's No Adware, Spyware or Bundled Extras statement for the current situation - the versions you mention are over 2 years old and GetRight was the first download manager to ditch the advertising. If you know anyone still running such an old version, they can upgrade to the current 5.1 free of charge.

    There are other download managers available now that are spyware free also, but GetRight's feature set gives it an edge over most others in my view.
     
  13. sard

    sard Registered Member

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    The 2 things I love about Getright are the integration of the excellent Filemirrors.com mirror share service, and the ability to replace the IE (sadly no Firefox support yet) save dialog so you can use the download manager with sites that normally won't let you.
     
  14. Infinity

    Infinity Registered Member

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    My excuses then.
     
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