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-
-
-
- DownTester v1.20
- Copyright (c) 2009 Nir Sofer
- Web site: http://www.nirsoft.net
-
-
-
- Description
- ===========
-
- DownTester allows you to easily test your Internet download speed in
- multiple locations around the world. It automatically test the download
- speed of the URLs that you choose, one after another. It moves to the
- next download URL after the specified number of seconds has been elapsed
- or after it downloads the specified amount of KB - just according to your
- preferences.
- After the download test is finished, you can easily save the result into
- text/html/xml/csv file, or copy it to the clipboard and paste it into
- Excel and other applications.
-
-
-
- System Requirements
- ===================
-
- This utility works with Windows 98,Me,2000,XP,2003,2008,Vista, and
- Windows 7.
-
-
-
- Versions History
- ================
-
-
- * Version 1.20:
- o Added support for changing the order of the download tests. (See
- below)
-
- * Version 1.14:
- o The NSIS installation script now automatically add the
- translation file (DownTester_lng.ini), if it's exist.
-
- * Version 1.13:
- o Fixed bug in NSIS script: error occurred when the path contained
- spaces.
-
- * Version 1.12:
- o DownTester now allows you to fix the URL inside the properties
- window. (In previous versions, you had to delete it and then add a
- new URL)
-
- * Version 1.11:
- o Added option to create custom NSIS installer to install
- DownTester with your current configuration, including all your
- download URLs and other settings (see below).
-
- * Version 1.10:
- o Added support for testing the speed of network shares and even
- USB flash drives...
- o Fixed the URL order on delete.
- o Added support for automatically creating text/html report in each
- test (In 'Advanced Options')
- o Added option: Don't Add Disabled Items To Reports.
- o Added option: 'Automatically finish when the speed change is less
- than...' - You can use this option to automatically finish the speed
- test when the speed value is stable enough.
- o Added option to display text report.
- o Fixed problems in the latest Windows 7 Release Candidate.
- o Fixed bug: DownTester created the downloaded files as dwn*.tmp in
- the temporary folder of Windows.
-
- * Version 1.05:
- o Added 'Move To Next Download' option.
-
- * Version 1.00: First release.
-
-
-
- Start using downTester
- ======================
-
- DownTester is a portable application that can be used without any
- installation process. Simply extract downTester.zip into any folder you
- want, and run the executable - DownTester.exe
- If you want, you can also download DownTester with full install/uninstall
- support. In this case, you should run the downloaded
- DownTester_Setup.exe, and the installer will automatically copy the files
- and will create for you the shortcuts to DownTester utility.
-
-
-
- Choosing the download URLs list
- ===============================
-
- DownTester doesn't provide an official list of URLs for the speed test.
- If DownTester provide a URL list, all users of DownTester will use the
- same servers, and will eventually overload them.
-
- Here's some instructions about how to choose your download URLs for your
- speed tests:
- 1. First, go to the Web site of your internet service provider, and
- try to locate the download URL provided for speed test, and if you
- find it, add this download URL into the list. Many ISP companies
- provide a download URL for speed test. However, this speed test only
- shows the download speed between your computer and your ISP. It
- doesn't mean that you'll get the same speed when downloading a file
- from the other side of the world.
- 2. Go to the Web sites of large companies and locate some files to
- download. It's recommended to find files larger than 5 MB in order to
- insure that the speed result will be accurate. Some Web sites also
- provide mirrors across many countries, so you can use it to easily add
- download URLs of other countries.
-
- After collecting the URLs for the downloads test, use the "Add URLs List"
- or "Add URLs From File" options to insert your URLs into DownTester. You
- can also use "Add File" option if you want to test the speed of your
- network share or USB flash drive.
- The URLs list should be in the following format:
- http://www.mytesturl1.com/myfile.zip Speed Test 1
- http://www.mytesturl2.com/myfile.zip Speed Test 2
- ftp://ftp.mytestftp.com/ftptest.exe FTP Test
- "I:\Test Files\mytest.zip" Network Share Test 1
- "\\MyComp\\test.zip" Network Share Test 2
-
- The name following the URL is optional, and if you use it, it'll be
- displayed in the 'Name' column. If you want to add filenames that
- contains space characters, instead of URLs, you must put the filename in
- quotes.
- The URLs that you add are automatically saved into the .cfg file, so
- DownTester will remember them in the next time that you use it.
-
-
-
-
- Changing the order of the download tests
- ========================================
-
- By default, the order of the downloads during the speed test is
- determined according to the order that you added the URLs.
- If you want to change the download order, you have click the 'Download
- Order' column header first. After you do that, the list will be sorted by
- the current download order, and the 'Move Selected Items Up' and 'Move
- Selected items Down' options will be enabled. You can select one or more
- of the download items, and then move them up or down according to the
- download order that you want to set.
-
-
-
- Before you start your download speed test...
- ============================================
-
-
- * Go to Options->Advanced Options and choose the right settings for
- you. By default, DownTester automatically stops every download after 20
- seconds, which is usually enough to get an accurate speed result, but
- you can change this setting if you wish.
- * Verify that all download managers, torrent applications, and others
- are closed. Otherwise, the download speed test won't be accurate.
-
- In order to start the download test, simply press F2.
-
-
-
- Download Speed Columns
- ======================
-
- DownTester displays the download speed in 2 different units:
- * KB/Sec: (Kilobytes Per Second) - This column displays the same
- download speed that you usually see when you download a file with
- Internet Explorer, Firefox or other Web browser.
- * Mbps: (Megabits Per Second) - When you get an Internet account from
- your Internet company, the download speed is usually specified in Mbps.
- By looking in this column, you can easily find out whether you really
- get the download speed that your Internet provider promised to you.
-
-
-
- Analyzing the results of your speed test
- ========================================
-
- The most important data in the test result table is the Mbps speed
- column. If both of your Internet provider and the remote download server
- works properly, the Mbps speed value that you get in this column should
- be very close to the download speed of your Internet account.
- If the Mbps speed of your test is much lower than Mbps speed of your
- Internet account (For example: You have Internet account with download
- speed of 3 Mbps, but you get only 2 Mbps in the download test), It's
- possible that you have a problem with your Internet account. However, the
- problem might also be in the remote download server, so it's recommended
- to always make a test with multiple URLs.
-
- If you are not sure whether the problem is in your ISP or in the remote
- servers, you can ask your friends or other people on a forum to make a
- test with the same URLs list, and compare their results with yours.
-
-
-
- FTP: Passive Mode vs Active Mode
- ================================
-
- DownTester also allows you to test the speed of FTP downloads (Addresses
- begin with ftp://). FTP downloads can work in 2 modes, which in some
- cases might give completely different results:
- * Active Mode: When downloading a file in Active Mode, the FTP server
- connects from port 20 into your computer in a random port number.
- Sometimes firewalls are configured to disallow any incoming connection.
- If your firewall is configured in this way, you won't be able to make a
- download test in Active Mode.
- * Passive Mode: When downloading a file in Passive Mode, your computer
- connects the FTP server in a random port number.
- Some Internet providers gives high priority for regular Web sites (port
- 80) and other popular Internet applications, while giving very low
- priority for connection in random port number. This technique is known
- as "Traffic shaping". If your Internet provider uses this technique,
- you may get much lower speed results with Passive Mode FTP, because the
- FTP clicnt connects in random port number which may get much lower
- priority than the regular http downloads.
- In order to change the FTP mode in DownTester, go to Options->Advanced
- Option.
-
-
-
- Testing the speed of network shares and other drives
- ====================================================
-
- Starting from version 1.10, DownTester also allows you to test the speed
- of network shares on your LAN. (For example: \\MyComp\f$\temp\myfile.zip)
- However, be aware that this test calculates the speed by using the number
- of bytes read from the file, instead of counting the number of bytes
- transferred over the network.
- Moreover, you can use this feature to test the speed of any drive in your
- system, including your local drive, your CD/DVD, your USB flash drive,
- and so on...
- In order to use this feature, simply use the 'Add File' option (Ctrl+F9)
- and choose the desired file to test.
-
-
-
- Creating NSIS installer
- =======================
-
- DownTester allows you to easily create an installer that will install
- DownTester with your current configuration, including all your download
- URLs and the advanced options that you choose.
-
- In the help menu, you can find 2 option for creating your custom
- installer:
- * Create NSIS Installation: Create regular installation that by
- default, installs DownTester in C:\Program files\NirSoft\DownTester
- * Create Non-Admin NSIS Installation: Create installer that doesn't
- require administrator privilege. The files of DownTester will be
- installed in the user profile folder.
-
- In order to use the above options successfully:
- * Download and install the latest version of NSIS installer
- * Verify that all files of DownTester - DownTester.exe, DownTester.chm,
- readme.txt, and DownTester.cfg are in the same folder.
- * If you create the installation in Windows Vista, you should run
- DownTester.exe as admin.
- When you use these option, downtester_setup.exe should be created in the
- same folder of DownTester.exe
-
-
-
- Command-Line Options
- ====================
-
-
-
- /config <.cfg filename>
- Run DownTester with the specified .cfg file.
-
- /hidden
- Use in conjunction with other save parameters (/stext, /stab, and so on).
- When /hidden is specified, the main window of DownTester will be hidden.
-
- /stext <Filename>
- Execute a speed test, and then save the result into a regular text file.
-
- /stab <Filename>
- Execute a speed test, and then save the result into a tab-delimited text
- file.
-
- /scomma <Filename>
- Execute a speed test, and then save the result into a comma-delimited
- text file.
-
- /stabular <Filename>
- Execute a speed test, and then save the result into a tabular text file.
-
- /shtml <Filename>
- Execute a speed test, and then save the result into HTML file
- (Horizontal).
-
- /sverhtml <Filename>
- Execute a speed test, and then save the result into HTML file (Vertical).
-
- /sxml <Filename>
- Execute a speed test, and then save the result into XML file.
-
-
-
- Translating DownTester to other languages
- =========================================
-
- In order to translate DownTester to other language, follow the
- instructions below:
- 1. Run DownTester with /savelangfile parameter:
- DownTester.exe /savelangfile
- A file named DownTester_lng.ini will be created in the folder of
- DownTester utility.
- 2. Open the created language file in Notepad or in any other text
- editor.
- 3. Translate all string entries to the desired language. Optionally,
- you can also add your name and/or a link to your Web site.
- (TranslatorName and TranslatorURL values) If you add this information,
- it'll be used in the 'About' window.
- 4. After you finish the translation, Run DownTester, and all
- translated strings will be loaded from the language file.
- If you want to run DownTester without the translation, simply rename
- the language file, or move it to another folder.
-
-
-
- License
- =======
-
- This utility is released as freeware. You are allowed to freely
- distribute this utility via floppy disk, CD-ROM, Internet, or in any
- other way, as long as you don't charge anything for this. If you
- distribute this utility, you must include all files in the distribution
- package, without any modification !
-
-
-
- Disclaimer
- ==========
-
- The software is provided "AS IS" without any warranty, either expressed
- or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of
- merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The author will not
- be liable for any special, incidental, consequential or indirect damages
- due to loss of data or any other reason.
-
-
-
- Feedback
- ========
-
- If you have any problem, suggestion, comment, or you found a bug in my
- utility, you can send a message to nirsofer@yahoo.com
-