downloading

Gary has been trying to download Windows 10 upgrade and it keeps dropping out. Can he buy it? Leo says you can, but you'd still have to buy it. The issue points more to Gary's internet connection than anything else. It's a huge download and it's not unusual for a download that large to fail. To better ensure your chances, Leo recommends wiring your computer directly into your modem and try again. There's no real need to pay for it. It's still free!

Dave wants to know how to download Leo's podcasts. Leo says that all his podcasts are designed to be downloaded, and you can do that from Twit.TV. There should be a button you can click on to download the podcast, or you can right click and select download on the link. But Leo recommends using a podcast aggregator like iTunes, Switcher, Pocket Cast (Android), Downcast (Android), Google Podcasts, Podcast Republic, Podcast Addict. Make sure you set them for automatic download, so it will download every new episode. 

Max wants to know what Leo thinks of the Xbox One S All-Digital, which has no optical drive. Leo says that these days, more people are just buying online and downloading, and even then, the Disc is usually only to unlock the game and you still have to download a multi GB update. Leo also says that if there's no disc to buy, then there's no used game market. 

Jim has been having trouble downloading audiobooks from the Library of Congress. They just stall and he can't get the download to complete. He found out that Windows upgraded Internet Explorer and it won't download anything. So he downgraded to IE8 and it works now. Leo says he isn't sure that's a secure solution. He would recommend Edge, Google Chrome, or Firefox.

Robert would like to save videos he sees on YouTube and download them. Leo says that there are dozens of online video downloader options out there for saving a video from YouTube:

• SaveFrom.Net
• Keepvid.com
• YouTube-DL for Linux users

Leo also says that if he is a YouTube Red subscriber, he'll get downloading as a perk.

Scott is having issues with his downloads being inconsistent and slow. Leo says that ISPs usually use the phrase "up to" in their claims, and that's usually with the ideal conditions. Leo says that uploading can also slow down his internet access. How does uploading slow him down? Leo says that servers require acknowledgement that his traffic is coming through, so if he's downloading while his data is being backed up, it has to wait for its turn to upload that acknowledgement. This is why Carbonite uses very little upload bandwidth and why it takes so long to back up with it.

Douglas discovered Dirpy, a website for downloading video from YouTube. Sometimes it freezes up, though. Leo says that Google may be trying to block it. There are plenty of others to choose from. The Chatroom says YouTube-DL is a good option. It's an open source program that runs from the command line of your PC. Leo also recommends KeepVid.

Dennis backs up to iCloud with his mobile phone but when he wants to get his file back from the cloud, it takes forever. Leo says he has to realize that videos are huge, and take up a lot of bandwidth. Especially in HD. He shouldn't just rely on iCloud, though. Google Photos is free and it will automatically backup his images and videos in the cloud, and it's unlimited.

Dorothy is having issues getting images off her digital camera. Leo says the first thing to do is make sure the cable she's using is OK. A bad cable or connector is always the first thing to try replacing. Next, she should get a memory card reader and take the SD card out of the camera. It could be a USB driver, but it's unlikely if her wireless mouse and keyboard are still working. One way to test is to plug in a USB thumbdrive. If that works, then she knows it isn't the USB drivers. Dorothy should make sure her camera is being seen as a hard drive (known as MTP).

Brian has a physics blog and wants to make videos available for people to download, but YouTube doesn't allow for that. Leo says that Vimeo can do it, and it gives users the options of mobile, SD and HD quality. He'll have to create a separate Vimeo account to log in, but it's free. There are third party download options. Leo says most students won't really want to download the video, they'll just save it to a playlist.