Hello,

I have a website and i have a large zip file i want to provide to download to users. The file was uploaded via ftp to my server and i used an a href tag to provide a link to the file.

The probelm im having is when the link is clicked and the user is asked to save the file, it instantly saves as a 0kb size zip file which does not contain what it should. I have tried changing small parts of the syntax in the html for the link to no avail.

Whats the best way to provide a downloadable file to my users without forcing them to use an external program?

fyi the file is 3.8GB in size, is .zip, and is in the root directory of my server. My website is based on PhPBB3 but the file that provides the link is HTML.

Thanks

have you tried downloading using the FTP protocol rather than HTTP?

href="ftp://pathtofile.zip"

It creates the 0kb file until it actually starts to download the file. 3.8GB in ONE file is HUGE and will take quite a bit of time for most people to download.

I have to agree with Chris, FTP is a better way to go.

Wow, a file that size is a bit much to handle on port 80. If this is on a shared hosting server, you are likely to have problems getting it downloaded. The recipient may not be savy enough for FTP using something like filezilla, but their is always FTP from a browser.

If you can create an FTP account (aside from your main user) for this user and allocate a folder to it (common on linux cpanel setups), then you may be able to FTP to the server from a browser using the following syntax

ftp://user@yourdomain.com

The syntax may vary with your setup, however if you can provide them the right syntax, you can send them a link and give them login info, and (with IE atleast) they will be able to connect to the server and see a folder setup that looks like their own desktop. This is something to consider.

Going back to filezilla however, I have a kbase article that details where to download, and how to connect to the server with filezilla if you want to send that to them.

http://my.cwihosting.com/knowledgeba...d=446&nav=0,34

Second option is to split that file into many segments and create a download page linking to the smaller files. Still a lot to handle via http.

If this is going to be downloaded a lot you might want to check some of the file hosting sites. I have a hunch you are about to create some problems with your host.

You could always use WinRAR to make the files into like 100MB each? But that would make 38 of them to download lol.

Originally Posted by chrishirst

have you tried downloading using the FTP protocol rather than HTTP?

href="ftp://pathtofile.zip"

I have not tried this, ill give it a go and see.

This is the thing...i only intend on letting a couple of people dl the file. For the ease of things i was hopeing to leave the file intact as it is an image of a DVD. This way they can just dl it and then mount and copy it.

I had looked at a online storage site (free) but they limit individual files to 2GB. What would be the alternatives to hosting this file from my site?

I am using shared hosting with 1and1, i also realize it would be possible to setup an alternative ftp account and give these few access to it, but then they would need an ftp program...im trying to make this as easy on them as possible.

Thanks

i changed the syntax to use the ftp in it...i think the result is the same.

I think this may be a browser issue...

It seems both firefox and opera's download managers have no problem starting and maintaining an active download (regardless of the syntax i use in a href)...only IE7 seems to prompt for a save, then close without starting and maintaining an active download...as soon as you pick where to save it dings and "finishes" without actually downloading.

my understanding was that IE had an impossed dl limit of 4.2GB, tho i could be wrong.

So aside from asking these few guys to dl FF or Opera, what other options do i have for providing them easy access to this download?

Host it on a 3rd party site that allows massive files.

Originally Posted by Decaf

Host it on a 3rd party site that allows massive files.

Any suggestions, i have an Adrive account now but they impose a 2GB limit.