NOTICE: These directions have been replaced by Section 4 of TUIG v4.5, which recommend FreeRapid Downloader as a better alternative to JDownloader 2. However, JDownloader does offer some additional features, so these older instructions are retained for reference, but will not be regularly updated. Use at your own risk.

Authored by HanDuet

Latest revision: 2017-09-27

Multi-part RAR Method (Automated)

This guide will recommend and describe the optimal use of the download manager program JDownloader 2.

Step 1

Download a “clean” web installer of JDownloader 2 from their officially provided links in this forum post:

https://board.jdownloader.org/showthread.php?t=54725

NOTE: Unfortunately, the hosting site they use is… less than reputable. When download the installer, I highly recommend the use of an ad-blocker. Additionally, use the VirusTotal website to upload the file and view a report of potential hazards. Obviously, run a virus scan on your local computer, as well.

The main installers of JDownloader are not recommended.

Step 2

Run the downloaded web installer and allow JDownloader Setup files to download. When complete, the JDownloader Setup Wizard will open automatically. Click Next to continue through the installer, selecting any preferences you have (I left all defaults with no issue).

Once the installation finishes, a donation window will appear. Donate to the JDownloader developers if desired; otherwise, select Skip. Finally, click Finish to complete installation and run JDownloader.

JDownloader is updated frequently to remain compatible with various host sites, so be sure to accept any prompts to run and install updates whenever you open the program.

Step 3

Spend a couple minutes to open and view the available options under the Settings tab and configure options as you want. For example, you may want to change the folder where your files will be downloaded.

The one change I made is to DISABLE the Clipboard Observer (icon circled red in the screenshot above). This is a personal preference of mine, as I prefer to manually paste links I want JDownloader to analyze. Otherwise, anytime you copy a URL with JDownloader open in the background, the program will immediately begin analyzing the URL for potential downloads.

Step 4 (Optional)

This step is optional, but I strongly recommend it so that you can allow your downloads to continue whenever you’re away from your computer.

Since you normally need to solve a captcha when starting the download for each file of the multi-part RAR, your download will pause each time JDownloader tries to start downloading the next file without you at your computer to enter the captcha. The solution to this problem is a captcha service that lets you solve captchas for other people’s downloads when you have time, and then they solve the captchas for your downloads whenever you’re away from your computer. I’ll be recommending and showing how to use the captcha service 9kw.eu, but you’re free to look up and use other alternatives.

First, go to https://www.9kw.eu/. Near the top of the page, click the Register tab. You can register with your email address if you want, but I recommend scrolling to the bottom of the page and signing up with the “register with verification as a human” feature, allowing you to solve a simple test (that’s difficult for bots/computers to do), check the “accept” box for the Terms of Service “TOS”, and click “Register” to create your account. You’ll be given a Username and Password; save this information and use it to login at the box on the right of the page.

Once logged in to your 9kw.eu account, click the “Userconfig” link under the “Data” box on the right of the page, scroll down to the Password field, and click the “change” link. Enter the password assigned to you as the “Old Password”, then create a strong new password (related: I highly recommend the password manager LastPass).

Now that your account is setup and secured, it’s time to link it with JDownloader 2. As shown in the picture below, click the “API Key” link under the “Data” box, then click the “JDownloader 2” link under the “Specific” One-Click API Key options. Copy the API Key that’s provided for you (mine is blacked out in the image).

Open JDownloader 2 on your computer and go to the Settings tab. As shown in the image below, select Captchas in the left pane. Make sure the checkbox is selected for the solver service 9kw.eu, then click the edit button under the settings column at the far right.

Under the General tab in the new window that pops up, paste your API Key in the field that says “Enter Api Key” under “My Account”. Click the Check button to the right of the API key field once you’ve entered your key. A pop-up should appear saying “Account OK” and showing your current Credit balance with 9kw.eu. Click Save & Close at the bottom right of the window.

Now that your 9kw.eu account is linked with JDownloader 2, you’ll need to earn some credits by solving captchas. You earn between 5-10 credits for every captcha solved, and you lose 10 credits each time a captcha is solved for you. Return to https://www.9kw.eu/, login with your account, and go to the Captcha tab. As long as the “Autostart” box is checked on this page, new captchas will load, giving you 30 seconds to solve each one. As shown in the image below, type in the solution to the captcha in the blank field, then click OK (or use the Enter key on your keyboard) to submit the solution and load a new captcha. Your submitted captchas will show under the History section, and the credits you earn will be added to your account’s total Credits, shown under the Data box. You’ll earn extra points if your submissions are confirmed as correct, but you may lose some points if your solutions are wrong.

Spend as much time as you’d like solving captchas to earn credits; remember that you need 10 credits for every file you will download! Click the Stop button under the 30-second countdown timer when you’re finished.

Step 5

Reference the current TUIG and download links supplement guide to find and copy the current download URLs for the release you want to download.

Step 6

Open JDownloader 2, then follow these numbered steps as shown in the image below:

1. Select the Linkgrabber tab.
2. Click Add New Links.
3. Paste all the copied links in the window (the links may be pasted automatically),
4. Enter the password (usually “harmy”) provided in TUIG into the Archive Password field and ensure the “Auto Extract” box is selected.
5. Change any other settings you’d like (such as changing the download location), then click Continue to start the analysis of the links.

JDownloader will analyze the links for availability and file size. Some links may be temporarily offline; restart JDownloader 2 and/or recheck those links later.

Step 7

Initiate the download by click the Start all Downloads in the bottom right corner. Alternatively, you can start the download of only selected links if desired.

Go to the Downloads tab of JDownloader 2 to monitor the download progress. You may be prompted to accept a website’s TOS or enter captchas. If you completed Step 4, captchas will be filled out for you using credits from your captcha service account.

Step 8

Once all links finish downloading, JDownloader should automatically extract and combine the multi-part RAR files into the complete, original files! If not, see TUIG for additional help.