Talk:Free Download Manager

Possible Spyware
i would like to note, to others considering/downloading this program, use it with caution. it does not come with an uninstaller and cannot be removed from add/remove programs. also, i belive the no spyware claim to be false. immediately after downloading it, i saw dramatic reductions in system speed. i would think that because it has such easy acess to the internet, it is an excellent source to implement malware. i would suggest removing the no spyware claim. 198.166.226.14 01:44, 7 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Softpedia states Free Download Manager is spyware-free. http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Download-Managers/Free-Download-Manager.shtml Novwik 22:11, 7 May 2006 (UTC)


 * have you actually tried downloading it yet? as you know, kazaa also has the no spyware claim 198.166.226.14 04:11, 13 May 2006 (UTC)


 * FDM is open source (http://sourceforge.net/projects/freedownload/) and there's nothing suspicious about the code as far as I can see. Go compile your own binaries if it bothers you 78.86.203.199 (talk) 13:47, 28 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Hmm, I see "Free Download Manager 2.0" in Add/Remove Programs. I also see no ads in the program except for a small one advertising their custom work. I'd hardly call that a true advertisement though as that's just them plugging their own stuff. Windows Defender also reports no problems with it and according to Zone Alarm, it's only accessing the Internet when it's actually downloading a file. My 2 cents. Viper007Bond 06:27, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

removed "As it is free, FDM contains no ads or spyware.". it radiates POV, especially that it DOES contain ad (except it advertises itself: "Promote your site for free", but I'm sure it will change in the future). and I don't know why a free but CLOSED SOURCE program cannot contain ads or spyware? Frigo 04:32, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm more confused than ever. This website has accusations of spyware, and some people saying that it's not true, that it's just that one ad.  So... does it have spyware or not?  Different programs seem to give different answers. Esn 23:53, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
 * The confusion occurs because it's open-source (see the link above) so some third-parties come along and "customise" it, which is why some people are downloading versions with adverts attached and some people aren't. It's not a problem unique to FDM, the same happens on a much larger scale with the Gimp image editor, where there's any number of dodgy versions with malware attached. The moral of this story is to always download the original from an official source 78.86.203.199 (talk) 15:07, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

McAfee's SiteAdvisor analyzed the site (http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/freedownloadmanager.org), and the analysis concludes:
 * In our tests, we found downloads on this site that some people consider adware, spyware or other potentially unwanted programs.

Reviewer SephStorm comments on this:
 * I want to make this clear, FDM, appears to be a safe program n itself, however, distributing a product that allows users to download many programs that contain malware is not a sound buisness practice.

However this is simply the findings of one user of the SiteAdvisor site. Oayk 14:55, 10 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Srsly? Are they objecting to a download manager because it lets you download files? 78.86.203.199 (talk) 15:07, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

"Free Download Manager" tries to install a "Software Informer" program which is very likely spyware. --84.189.85.124 (talk) 21:36, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

The installer includes "Software Informer", which is probably what mcafee recognized as "potentially unwanted programs". This SHOULD be noted in the article somewhere. Note the installer includes it, hence, the program's source should be clean. HuGo_87 (talk) 18:51, 27 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree it should be noted. The Comparison of download managers page lists "Software Informer (optional install)" as a malware warning, but details should be found here. Would someone better informed please add a Concerns section with further information?Egmonster (talk) 23:18, 16 April 2012 (UTC)

Just installed FDM, found it had changed my homepage without my explicit consent and so uninstalled it immediately. Unknown what other changes it made without my consent. Malware in my opinion. 110.77.136.168 (talk) 15:06, 10 March 2013 (UTC)
 * It is said to be the xVidly Adware AFAIK. It installs browser add-ins and stuff... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 37.201.229.178 (talk) 10:46, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Freedownloadmanager.jpg
Image:Freedownloadmanager.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 08:50, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Edits required
this article needs a new image to reflect the changes in the gui in the 2.5 vesion and a list of the new features. --88.154.136.53 03:01, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Stream issues
It should be noted that FDM up to now (that is 3.0 build 848) can not handle MMS streaming audio files. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.77.15.214 (talk) 07:23, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

CLI
Command line? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.138.116.188 (talk) 14:18, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

False licensing claims
While the authors do claim that it is released under the GNU GPL (version 3), the truth is that it contains a lot of source and object code from Microsoft which is incompatible with the GNU General Public Licence. Rather, it looks like a clear case of false copyright claims and even possible copyright infringement. --Antikapitalista (talk) 17:53, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Free Download Manager. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20141225134957/http://daily-productreviews.blogspot.com/2014/12/free-download-manager.html to http://daily-productreviews.blogspot.com/2014/12/free-download-manager.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 09:49, 14 January 2016 (UTC)

Maybe it's no longer an Open Source project
Since the release of version 5.x, no code for this release and newer has been avaliable and now apparently all references to be a software under GNU GPL licence have been removed from the official website. I've made a minor modification to the article to reflect this, and I hope I can improve it when I have more time and information 179.236.53.10 (talk) 16:54, 23 February 2017 (UTC)


 * https://sourceforge.net/p/freedownload/code/HEAD/tree/trunc/
 * https://www.freedownloadmanager.org/features.htm
 * at the bottom it says it's gpl v3 2600:8807:88A7:6C00:C0C5:8D2F:ED2B:20C0 (talk) 04:35, 6 September 2022 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Free Download Manager. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150103091313/http://www.technostriker.com/2013/05/free-download-manager-download-manager.html to http://www.technostriker.com/2013/05/free-download-manager-download-manager.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 13:35, 7 October 2017 (UTC)

picture and article are of different versions?
As of this date, the picture is of version 5.1.38 and has no tabs, but the article speaks of and describes tabs which I presume are only present on earlier versions. UnderEducatedGeezer (talk) 08:47, 24 March 2020 (UTC)