About rapidshare and reason for use.
Rapidshare is a web-based file storage system where users can upload their files, up to 100 MB each in size, and, upon completion of upload, receive a link to that file which can be later posted on the web, such as in this forum, so that others can download. Files that are larger than 100 MB can be split into smaller pieces using various softwares and then all downloaded and joined together using the splitting software.
Rapidshare does not allow unlimited downloads freely. Rapidshare requires a monthly subscription fee for users to be able to download a large, but not unlimited, amount. I think the limit may be 5 GB per day. The service costs less per month if many months are paid for in advance. For purchasing one month's service, it costs about $15.00. Before concluding that this is a high price, consider that some of the videos posted here cost over $15.00 each to purchase and receive by mail. Also, many of these videos may be hard to get for the person who is interested in them. There are enough videos posted here to make the fee from rapidshare easily affordable. Rapidshare can accept money from paypal, credit card, debit card and maybe other methods.
I use rapidshare because it retains files quite reliably especially compared with other web-based file serving hosts. I would happily use other services that require no fee if they were effective for me. Members in this forum, including myself, were sharing files by newsgroups and various p2p such as bit-torrent and emule but the files disappear very quickly. It is not a reliable way to share these files, and it does not allow me to post rapidly. I have a lot of videos to share and I think it is better that I post them all than concern myself with offending someone who doesn't want to pay any fee to download content that is much more valuable than the subscription fee.
How to download from rapidshare with a web browser
Please note that I am using Firefox browser in all images that I've generated. The browser that you may use may display the pages differently. It should be similar for most browsers though.
This forum displays the rapidshare links two ways. The default setting generates a parsed URL. This means that the link can be clicked on and automatically goes to the the rapidshare link. Here is an example of a video post with parsed URLs.
After clicking the parsed URL, the user goes to rapidshare's site and then can download the file. I think that I do not have to explain further how to download from rapidshare and about the waiting time. If someone else wants to explain this step, please do so.
Recently, I have been disabling the parse URL default so that the link is not truncated. However, this makes it so the link is not clickable. Here is an example of a video post without parsed URLs.
To download from a non-parsed URL with a web browser, you must copy the URL and then paste it in the browser's address bar.
Highlight URL with mouse. Then, do right click and choose Copy.
Next, move mouse to address bar and do right click and chose Paste.
Finally, push ENTER on keyboard to go to rapidshare's site.
Follow rapidshare's instructions to download the file.
How to download from rapidshare with rapget
Downloading with a web browser is very tedious. I recommend and prefer using the software rapget to download. It is a free software and its english home page is here.
http://www.rapget.com/en/
After unzipping the software, the rapget.exe, since it does not install itself, may be clicked and ran.
First you may wish to make adjust some settings such as language and servers. On servers you can enter your account username and password as well as number of simultaneous downloads. I've set my downloads to 3 and blocked out my username and password for privacy purposes.
This forum's parsed URLs are truncated if they are over a certain length. Since I am a user of rapget, I consider this and choose "Do not automatically parse URLs" when posting recently. Non-truncated URLs are easier to handle with rapget which is the reason why I do not parse URLs anymore on this forum. I do this to make it easier and not more difficult for people to download.
Consider the Bodies In Motion Two video post. It is not parsed.
Next, scroll down so that all URLs fit on the screen and then highlight them all with the mouse. Do a right click and choose Copy.
Open rapget and do a right click on the large sized empty box on the left. Choose Paste from clipboard.
Now, the box should contain the links and look as follows.
To start downloading, push the triangle on the upper left command bar. The files will go to the path specified in the General Settings. The default location is c:\download.
To download non-parsed truncated URLs with rapget, you must copy the whole URL. This cannot be done with the simple copy command. You must move the mouse over the parsed url and do a right click. Then choose Copy link location.
Next, paste it into rapget the same was as described above with the non-truncated non-parsed URLs. You have to copy link locations one by one this way. It takes longer than non-truncated URLs, which is why I no longer parse URLs on this forum.
How to assemble the split part files.
First, consider the files' file-extensions, the writing on the file after the period. If you cannot see the file extension in windows, then you must adjust a setting. I hate that windows hides the extension by default.
Here is how to change the setting to see extensions. Please note that I am using win2000. another windows may be different, but I believe that 98, 98se and xp are the same. On any folder, go to Tools and click. Then go to Folder Options and click.
Now you will see the Folder Options menu. Remove the check from the "Hide file extensions for known file types" line. Click OK.
Now that you can see the file-extensions of the downloaded files, consider them. The popular methods for splitting a file are rar and HJSplit. Rar files have extensions that appear such as rar, r00, r01, r02, etc and HJSplit files have extensions that appear such as 001, 002, 003, 004, etc. Some files that you download here may be in avi, mpg, vob, rm, ram, wmv, mpeg, mpeg2, or others. These are video files and do not need to be combined. If one of my videos is less than 100 MB, I do not split it but I post it directly.
Winrar and HJSplit do not cost any fee to use.
Winrar may be downloaded here.
http://www.rarlab.com/
HJ Split may be downloaded here.
http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/
I will explain HJ Split and not winrar in this article. Someone may explain winrar as a reply to this.
First, view the folder where the downloaded contents from rapidshare went.
Look at these files. Notice that many of them have the same name before the period but differ as to the extension. Also, notice how similar the extensions are. There are no extra characters besides the 001, 002, etc. There is no [1] or such in the name. if you get a file from rapidshare with a [1] or other such extra writing in the file name, you must remove that and get all the files to look similar as in the above image. HJSplit uses this similar naming to group the files that must be joined together.
Next, run HJSplit by clicking its exe.
Click the Join button and the File Join window appears.
Next click the start button and go to the directory where the downloaded files are located. Choose one of the 001 files and then push the start button to begin the combination.
Upon completion of HJ Split's combining, check the output directory. If you didn't change anything on HJ Split, then the output directory is the same as rapget's download directory. In this example, the file "Jane Fonda's Complete Workout file 1 of 2.avi" is seen. Notice it has a different associated icon than the other files.
Now, the split files named Jane Fonda's Complete Workout file 1 of 2.avi.001, Jane Fonda's Complete Workout file 1 of 2.avi.002, etc. may be deleted. Take care when deleting. First, do not delete the Jane Fonda's Complete Workout file 1 of 2.avi which has no number extension at the end. That is the finished joined file. Also, do not delete any of the files with the "file 2 of 2" in their file name. You haven't joined that part yet.
Next, you can right click on the file and go to properties to examine the file. I'm talking about the file "Jane Fonda's Complete Workout file 1 of 2.avi". Notice that it says 697 MB. This file may be burned to a CD and deleted from the drive. Of course, it can also be burned to a DVD, which is what I use but I still keep the files under 700 MB to allow persons with only a CD burner to store the files without purchasing any additional hardware. Also, I do not allow movies to go over 1 hour per 700 MB. I do this to keep the quality high. If the video goes over 1 hour, then I split the video into multiple avi sections. That is why for Jane Fonda's Complete workout there is file 1 of 2 and file 2 of 2. Most of my videos range between 30 minutes to 1 hour. You must join the pieces using HJ Split or Winrar and not simply rename the extension. DO NOT remove the 001 from the first file and play it. If you do this, you will only see the first few minutes of the video and not the entire content.
How to play the videos
I create avi files compressed with the divx codec. You must download the divx codec. You may download it freely here.
http://www.divx.com/divx/windows/codec/
Next, I recommend a good video player. You may use windows media player or the divx player, but I like softwares such as
Crystal Player
http://www.crystalplayer.com/
BS Player (great for making screen caps)
http://www.bsplayer.org/
VLC Media Player
http://www.videolan.org/
GOM Player (it can play flv files, the format used on youtube)
http://www.gomplayer.com/
After installing the divx codec and any of those video players (or just using windows media player) you should be able to double left click on the avi file and view it.
If you are having trouble viewing or downloading, I have some advice.
Do not use Internet Explorer. Use another browser such as
Firefox
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
Opera
http://www.opera.com/
Check your PC for and eliminate spyware/ adware/ virus
Spybots S&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/
Ad Aware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
If the files play slowly, use VLC Media Player, linked above. Your PC may be too old and slow to handle such files.
If you want to use another software to combine the 001,002, split files than HJ Split, you may use Total Commander, which happens to be able to join split files but is actually a replacement for the windows explorer with regard to file management and access.I love this software.
http://www.ghisler.com/
