Tip #3602 - Stopped Downloads
Printer Friendly Version | E-Mail This Tip
Q:
When I go to download something new on my computer, every once in awhile,
it just stops in the middle of the process. Can you give me any reasons
why this type of hang up happens? Any help would be wonderful!
A:
Lucky for you, you've come to the right place! After receiving this question
and reading back over it a few times, I actually came up with several
reasons as to why this might be happening. It really is an unfortunate
problem to have and beyond that, it's so frustrating to try and figure
out why it only happens every once in awhile. If it's going to happen
at all, why not all the time, right? Well, that may be an extreme way
of thinking, but it really is odd, isn't it?!
Okay, well, before
I go any further, I just want to make sure that we're all on the same
page with what today's question is really asking. Let's say you go to
download a new version of your favorite game. You click that Download
button and everything seems fine. It's going along just like it normally
would and then all the sudden, it just stops. The download hangs up and
no matter what you do, you can't get it to start again, unless you completely
start over. By this time, you're probably yelling at your computer and
for the life of you, you just can't figure out what went wrong. Then,
in comes WorldStart to tell you a few reasons as to why this might be
happening. Here we go!
1.) The most common
cause is a lost Internet connection. If you happen to
lose your Internet connection at any time during a download, it will instantly
fail. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it; the downloading process requires
an Internet connection. So, if your download stops, be sure to check your
connection first. If you lost it, connect again and start over. That's
pretty much all there is to that.
2.) The second most
common cause is a lost server connection. If your computer
happens to lose its connection with the server you're downloading from,
the download will fail. This one doesn't really have anything to do with
you or your computer though. It basically means that there's a problem
with the other computer or the connections that lie between. Either way,
you'll just have to wait for those on the other end to fix the problem
and try the download again.
3.) The third possible
cause is a timed out connection. If what you're trying
to download takes too long, the server will probably end up timing out,
which means your download will stop in the middle of the process. A timed
out session could be caused by various things, including a server overload,
too slow of an Internet connection or if your overall Internet is just
running slow. All of those are normal conditions from time to time, so
it's nothing to really worry about too much.
Okay, so now that
you know what the three main causes are, what are some solutions? Well,
as I've already mentioned a few times, the best thing to do is just try
to run the download again. Doing this will usually allow the download
to complete. Now, you may not want to try it again right away. It's usually
best to wait a little while and just let things fix themselves. If you
go back a couple hours later, you should be able to get the full download.
This is especially true if you're trying to download a file that you know
is very popular or if it's something that was just released. Just like
you, everyone else is trying to get it, so if you just wait until a later
time, you may have a better chance of getting it on the first attempt.
Another solution is
to get the download from a different server. If the file is really popular,
it's likely that other servers will have the same one and you can get
it from there. You can usually do this by searching for it on your favorite
search engine. That's probably your best bet!
Now, if you are having
trouble with pretty much everything you download, you may want to look
into getting a download manager. A download manager will be able to monitor
your downloads and often times, they can help resume the download right
where it left off. There are several download managers available, with
a lot of free ones as well. To find one, do a search on your favorite
search engine and see what you can come up with. It may just be the answer
to all your downloading problems!
And last, but not
least is a suggestion to maybe upgrade to a broadband Internet connection.
If you're still using another Internet connection, especially dial-up,
that may be the cause of all your downloading trouble. Slower connections
can cause all sorts of problems, with download hang ups definitely being
one of them. If you're able to, just look into the broadband option and
see if it may work better for you.
These are all just
suggestions, so if you don't think they'd work out for you, don't try
them. But, in all actuality, they really will help with your download
dilemmas. I'd say if you're downloading something at least once or twice
a week (if not more), you'll want to listen up to this tip. It could really
save you some time and stress. Check it out!
~ Erin
Want To Comment On This Tip? Click Here! We'd love to hear from you :-)
Like These Tips? Get 'Em Free In Your E-mail
