Remember where I got the Download

[questorfla]

I can do everything I need already but only by using several steps.  Anyone who likes to try out things just for the knowledge gained may have the same needs.
The windows download window only shows what you downloaded but not where you got it.  It would be nice to have a utility that would keep track of what came from where, when I got it, along with any other useful things like size and date downloaded most importantly provide a link back to that website the download came from.  Currently, this means keeping word-pad open making notes of what I downloaded along with a copy of the Http: link in the browser address-bar. 
I am sure someone out there probably has already done this as it would be a very useful tool.  I don't want to go for a full fledged download manager as I only need to know how to get back to where the program came from. 
As long as I am wishing, I might as well wish that the file could be sorted by name of download, date downloaded, and download location.
Thanks for any ideas on this.  If the program already exists, just a point in the right direction would be appreciated

[TaoPhoenix]

Just for discussion, I often put "where from" info into my filenames when I save stuff. So "setup.exe" becomes "DC ChrisG FastUnZipSnack Setup.exe".

[AbteriX]

If I download I also do an screenshot which I let save to the same folder
as my download (I have different sub-folders anyway for each app)


So I ended up with:
X:\DL\app name\app name_vers_(yyyy.mm.dd).exe
where "_vers_(yyyy.mm.dd)" is pasted by hand what I had copied from the dl page.

and
X:\DL\app name\web page title (yyyy.mm.dd).png
(I am using FireFox with an screen shot plugin.)

and maybe
X:\DL\app name\app name_vers_(yyyy.mm.dd).TXT
with more infos like feature or faq or dl url
but mostly I do a screenshot from all interesting pages.


Since I use a good file manager that all is no work for me.

[questorfla]

Yes, both of those are things I do now, but sometimes when on a desperate search for something specific, I cast a wide net when I have time to look, and then later try each utility I found to see if it would solve the problem.  Often this leads to unexpected finds that are totally off topic but still pique my interest enough to download them too.
Maybe two days later I have time to sort through it all and go back to the sites they came from to get a better idea of what each does and even research the file when possible before installing it to test.

A "Download Log" of what came from where might come in handy even years later.  It is definitely something I would keep for as long as possible for reference.

Many of these even come from right here  So.. I know my way back.  But some are not even published widely in US and finding them again means following that same exact path to figure out where I was when I found it.

A program to capture and save the internet address you are on when you click download would give you an easy way back to where the file came from.  I appreciate your ideas.  Those are the same ways I do it now and it may be all there is.

[magician62]

I tend to do similar to those above, but rather than a screenshot, I save the webpage, which usually goes to the same folder as the download, I also tend to leave the download folder open, so I can also drag the favicon from the URL, which creates a link to the page. Maybe there is a way to automate the creation of a shortcut at save time.

[skwire]

@questorfla: This sounds like a job suited to a download manager.  Have you checked to see if any of those can rename downloads in the manner you want?

[famewolf]

Wouldn't the web browser history provide this?  You can even search within history on keywords. 

[shmuel1]

I made a simple program for you. Let me know if you need any help with it or modifications. Attached is the program and the AutoIt source code (in the ZIP file).

[rjbull]

Just for the record, you can do something like it with Internet Download Manager by Tasks > Export > To text file, and choose from a list,

Export download list
        [X] Export download queue
        [ ] Export selected files
        [ ] Export all files

It gives an output something like this:

http://www.listary.com/download/beta/ListaryBeta1296.exe
http://www.listary.com/download/beta/ListaryPortableBeta1296.zip

but export has to be done manually.  I just asked them if logging could be made automatic.  Ideally, I'd like that information automatically poked into FILE_ID.DIZ for the downloaded files.  My usual file manager Total Commander understands these, and copies them along with the file if I move it elsewhere.  Still, a plain-text list is much better than nothing.

[IainB]

As a data hoarder, the approach I would generally recommend is to always automate creating/maintaining a record of downloaded files, by automatically capturing the data and logging it at the time of the download.
For example:

• The download software GetRight (which works nicely by picking up download links with IE, Chrome and Firefox) can be set by the user to maintain a consolidated download log (.txt file) of all files downloaded. I have used GetRight since 1997 - it is a seriously good piece of software. I think it is freeware now, but I bought a licence. I start a new log every year, and usually delete the old logs after they are about 2 years old, but they are not deleted from my backup archives, so I could probably go back many years if I ever needed to.
• On those occasions where I might have to use the built-in download manager in a web browser, I use their "native" download log. Most browsers give you the download source URL if you right-click on them in the downloads page, so to keep a "log" of sorts, don't clear the contents of the downloads page!

This approach does not work too well for video (e.g., YouTube) downloads though, as the filename is often just a generic string (e.g., filename "videoplayback", with no file extension). What I have started doing with those is copying the video title in .rtf from the download website, and saving that in MS OneNote, which also automatically copies the metadata (e.g., URL link and date/time of copying/pasting).
For copy/paste, I always use CHS (Clipboard Help & Spell)    - and I would like to use CHS to maintain a de facto download log for downloads such as this. You could (say) concatenate all the CHS clips of this type to make a consolidated log for a period, if you wanted. In any event, it would make it a one-step clip-and-save process, rather than the above constipated two-step process of getting it into OneNote.
I have made a request for a feature to capture and retain that kind of data/metadata in CHS, but until that is available, then I shall probably continue using OneNote, as above.

There could be a way to get this kind of data into GetRight as a comment with (say) AHK, but I haven't sat down to think about how to automate that yet.
The useful thing about OneNote is that anything saved into OneNote is indexed, and searchable/findable - so you won't lose it.
I have been contemplating saving my GetRight download logs into OneNote as well - you can use it rather like a SharePoint database.

[superboyac]

As a data hoarder, the approach I would generally recommend is to always automate creating/maintaining a record of downloaded files, by automatically capturing the data and logging it at the time of the download.
For example:

• The download software GetRight (which works nicely by picking up download links with IE, Chrome and Firefox) can be set by the user to maintain a consolidated download log (.txt file) of all files downloaded. I have used GetRight since 1997 - it is a seriously good piece of software. I think it is freeware now, but I bought a licence. I start a new log every year, and usually delete the old logs after they are about 2 years old, but they are not deleted from my backup archives, so I could probably go back many years if I ever needed to.
• On those occasions where I might have to use the built-in download manager in a web browser, I use their "native" download log. Most browsers give you the download source URL if you right-click on them in the downloads page, so to keep a "log" of sorts, don't clear the contents of the downloads page!

This approach does not work too well for video (e.g., YouTube) downloads though, as the filename is often just a generic string (e.g., filename "videoplayback", with no file extension). What I have started doing with those is copying the video title in .rtf from the download website, and saving that in MS OneNote, which also automatically copies the metadata (e.g., URL link and date/time of copying/pasting).
For copy/paste, I always use CHS (Clipboard Help & Spell)    - and I would like to use CHS to maintain a de facto download log for downloads such as this. You could (say) concatenate all the CHS clips of this type to make a consolidated log for a period, if you wanted. In any event, it would make it a one-step clip-and-save process, rather than the above constipated two-step process of getting it into OneNote.
I have made a request for a feature to capture and retain that kind of data/metadata in CHS, but until that is available, then I shall probably continue using OneNote, as above.

There could be a way to get this kind of data into GetRight as a comment with (say) AHK, but I haven't sat down to think about how to automate that yet.
The useful thing about OneNote is that anything saved into OneNote is indexed, and searchable/findable - so you won't lose it.
I have been contemplating saving my GetRight download logs into OneNote as well - you can use it rather like a SharePoint database.

dang.

[superboyac]

This approach does not work too well for video (e.g., YouTube) downloads though, as the filename is often just a generic string (e.g., filename "videoplayback", with no file extension). What I have started doing with those is copying the video title in .rtf from the download website, and saving that in MS OneNote, which also automatically copies the metadata (e.g., URL link and date/time of copying/pasting).
For copy/paste, I always use CHS (Clipboard Help & Spell)    - and I would like to use CHS to maintain a de facto download log for downloads such as this. You could (say) concatenate all the CHS clips of this type to make a consolidated log for a period, if you wanted. In any event, it would make it a one-step clip-and-save process, rather than the above constipated two-step process of getting it into OneNote.
I have made a request for a feature to capture and retain that kind of data/metadata in CHS, but until that is available, then I shall probably continue using OneNote, as above.

I use Clipmate to keep track of things i copy/paste.  I find it useful if I forget an idea or something I was working on, or even as a alternative to using the "browser history" features of browsers.
I use CHS for the popup menu, and for text cleaner features.  I also had notefrog and aceclip for a while, but they didn't take.

[questorfla]

I finally found my way back here   !!        I go to so many "coding" sites trying to learn, and it seems to more I put in to remember, the less I manage to use <<
Thanks to everyone who left a comment.  I must have somehow turned off the option to receive a notice when replies are posted. 
To IainB:  When I saw your post re: "GetRight" , for some reason I immediately associated it with Steve Gibson's SpinRight   .  I found the app and will definitely check it out.
and to shmuel1 :  I downloaded both your files just now and while doing so I noticed that they each have been downloaded several times.  I guess I am not the only one who likes to "wander" the Net and have a map to get back to where they went.
I don't know how to say thanks to everyone but That is what I would like to do. 
I have been tossed out of other forums for asking simple questions like this one. 
Coders Forum is one I am glad I became a supporting member of.

[IainB]

...asking simple questions like this one. ...

I reckon that the question you were asking in the OP poses a non-trivial and a perennial problem for most PC users, and the responses you received indicate that no-one seems to have a perfect solution to the problem. For example, as well as the approach I wrote about, I have also for years been doing as per the tips that @TaoPhoenix and @AbteriX mentioned.

[MilesAhead]

I used to copy the description of the utility from the download site and paste it into the Comment using one of my comment utilities.  Unfortunately, as I have opined many times, I feel that this comment mechanism needs to be integrated into the file system rather than hacked on from the outside.  Since there's no intuitive way to keep the comment associated with the file, the desired integration not being available, I have only used my own utilities on occasion.  Albeit some of the ennui is produced by testing and debugging.

It would be cool if the source was registered automatically somewhere, if nothing else.  But it seems Windows wants to change enough of itself around on each release that one gives up. It almost feels like the intention is to deliberately frustrate the user by the lack of consistency.

[cyberdiva]

I tend to avoid the problem by asking that all downloads go to my Downloads folder.  Of course, not all do, but between the Download StatusBar extension in Firefox/Pale Moon and the wonderful Everything search engine, I can always find where the download has gone.

[TaoPhoenix]

As a data hoarder, the approach I would generally recommend is to always automate creating/maintaining a record of downloaded files, by automatically capturing the data and logging it at the time of the download.
...

Hi Iain,

I might be a bit on the Apples and Mangoes department, but I can't think of how I'd automate my file name mnemonic style because about four keywords in filenames have to do any four of fifteen things depending on what group they are part of! And at a holistic level, surely stuff that's relevant for research PDFs makes zero sense for music files, but even within category, for example I have a hobby that I take a song and make about four more custom versions where I drop the speed, pitch, tempo, add echo, amplify, and maybe slice out some dumb four seconds of something.

And on and on!

[tomos]

^Dont know about automation, but I remembered this thread from Armando How do you tag (or even organize) your files? and thought it might be relevant.
(FWIW I only ever skimmed it - found the idea interesting but never followed up on it).

[rjbull]

Gizmo's latest TechSupportAlert newsletter references his article This Download Manager could be the Next Big thing!, on EagleGet Universal Download Manager.  One of the subsequent comments says this about Free Download Manager:

by chishold on 17. September 2013 - 3:53  (110767)

My favourite FDM feature is the ability to create a description file for the download. I find this especially useful for software downloads.

The description file will contain the download URL, the date of the download and the description entered; if no description is given, the description file will not be created. The name of the description file is of the form: [filename].[ext].dsc.txt and therefore would be found adjacent to the actual download in an alphabetical folder listing.

A fictional description example:

    Acme Widget 2.34
    Small, fast widget manager. Monitor system for new widgets, manage or remove existing widgets.
    Windows 2000 and above.
    Requires Widget Platform 1.01

The program name and version helps when the file name doesn't change between versions, which is the usual case.

A short blurb can usually be copied from the first paragraph on the "About" web page for the program. It should contain enough keywords to successfully search for later. When I was trying duplicate file finders, I downloaded a dozen installers, many with names like SetupDD.exe and dd.zip, whiich give little indication of their purpose or product name.
[...]

I haven't tried this myself, but it looks a good idea, though I'd rather FDM used a "standard" format like DESCRIPT.ION or FILES.BBS.

[tomos]

Doesn't xyplorer have some kind of comment/tag system for files? I have a memory of there being a bit of a fuss cause they didnt use DESCRIPT.ION files.

Found it:
http://www.xyplorer.com/tour/?page=tags

[MilesAhead]

I did an AHK hack called CommentExplorer that shows the comment associated with a file, if there is one, on the Explorer caption bar.  Here's a screen shot

Mouser has made web space available for the downloads from my former FavesSoft site.  When we upload all the zip files I'll post the url.  CommentExplorer will be available for download from that page soon. It's a hack. But I do like the fact I don't have to open a Property Page to see the comment or hover the mouse.  Responding to the Up and Down Arrows is much quicker.

[questorfla]

These are ALL good ideas and I agree that MS dos not make things easier in ANY way.
My latest method uses WAY too much space PLUS it allows for the "possible" saving of both things WANTED (hyperlinks to get back) but also thngs NOT wanted (hyperlinks to all the ads and junk).

I started using the "File/Saveas"  option to save the entire webpage as an MHT file.  The trying to put enough info into the  name to know why I saved it referring back to whatever file I found there.

Not the best option but Better Too Much, than Too Little when I try to figure out what the heck I downloaded an "Easter egg" coloring app for. 

[MilesAhead]

In the same vein I wrote a TreePadGen program with the idea of making a node for every file in a download folder.  In the right pane you can enter description. It works well with the free TreePadLite.

See included Readme.txt for details.
y download page:
http://milesaheadsoftware.tk