Internet setup

To modify the downloader's Internet settings, click the

button in the Downloads view's toolbar. This causes the downloader's Internet setup dialog to open (if the downloader is not already running, it will be launched first):

This dialog only affects the downloader's online data retrieval. It has no effect on Browser objects, which inherit all their Internet settings from Internet Explorer.

A proxy server is an intermediary sitting between your PC and the Internet. When you request a file from the net, the proxy first looks for the file in its own cache. If the file has recently been fetched, it's still in the cache and need not be retrieved from the net again. If the file is not in the cache, the proxy retrieves it from the net, sends you a copy and stores another copy in the cache for future requests. This technique is used by local networks and by some ISPs to reduce redundant traffic and hence the overall load on their Internet connection.

If you do not connect to the Internet through a proxy server, make sure that the Server field is empty.

If you do use a proxy, enter its address (e.g. "proxy.some-isp.net") in the Server field; enter the port through which it accepts connections in the Port field (this is usually, but not always, the standard web server port, i.e. port 80). These settings should reflect your web browser's proxy settings.

If there are servers which you want to connect to directly rather than through the proxy (e.g. other computers in your local network or in your ISP's network), enter their addresses in the Bypass box (one address per line, subdomain wildcards allowed, e.g. "*.my-lan.net").

The Slow connections fields tell the downloader what to do when a server is not responding.

Timeout is the number of seconds that the downloader will wait for a response from the server before aborting a connection attempt (don't set this value too low or connection attempts may always "fail").

Attempts is the number of times the downloader will try to connect to a server before giving up and reporting an error (errors are reported as download item remarks).

The downloader depends on the Windows WinInet APIs to implement timeouts and repeated connection attempts correctly. Early WinInet versions are known to be buggy, and may cause the downloader to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to connect to a non-responsive server before giving up.

When the Proxy Server and Port fields are set to reasonable-looking values, the Test button is enabled. Click it (or press Alt-T) to let the downloader make a test connection to the Internet using the values in the dialog. If all goes well, you will be presented with the following message:

Close this message window, then click OK in the Internet setup dialog to commit to the new settings; click

to discard the new settings and close the Internet setup dialog.