This article is part of the introduction to our series on XDCC / IRC downloading. If you already know the basics, feel free to click through to one of the other parts:
Introduction: XDCC Downloading For Beginners
How to get started with XDCC
Part 1: How To Configure mIRC For XDCC Downloading
Part 2: How To Download With mIRC
Part 3: Troubleshooting
How to get started
Dozens of programs and scripts came and went that tried to faciliate certain actions and features, but we prefer the classic way: Using the mIRC client, along with a search engine. OK, the search engine part is kinda newish, but it still is how your grandfather did it, and his grandfather, and so on, up to infinity.
Part 1: How To Configure mIRC For XDCC Downloading
Part 2: How To Download With mIRC
Part 3: Troubleshooting
The allegedly more modern way: XDCC Catcher (or XDCC Klipper)
A few years ago there was a big craze going on, with software being released left and right to use XDCC more comfortably. The software that started this hype is XDCC Catcher, and it is still being developed up to this day, although very slowly. But there also was a big controversy about harmful consequences for the network.
We put the software to the test and were not really impressed. Apart from having a rather complicated interface, loads of IRC servers ban XDCC Catcher, and it takes pretty long to connect to the networks available. So, this is definitely not something we can recommend. There are other pieces of software, called XDCC Browser, XDCC Finder, or XDCCMule, but nobody really needs it either. Nothing beats the old-fashioned way.
The best IRC Download Search engines: Where to find your downloads
Alas, the IRC network is a freakin’ maze, and we don’t want you to become a maze runner, because honestly, who wants to be stung by a Griever (if you don’t get it, go see the movie Maze Runner, absolutely worth it!) ? So a bunch of nice guys came up with search engines to keep track of all the oh so many bots, channels and servers. They all have their problems, be it outdated results, unhandy result pages or not finding what you need, so it’s best to bookmark and combine all of them. Here are our favourites:
They neither have the fanciest layout nor the best usability, but we got the best results here. You need to do two clicks instead of one, one to connect to server and channel and a second one to copy & paste the XDCC command, but that should be manageable. Recommended!
Really classy design, but unfortunately not as many results as we’d like. Still a good XDCC search engine.
Looks cool, but really weird sorting of the results pages. But why not use it as a backup?
Another very interesting place to go. Awesome search results, be sure to bookmark.
Introduction: XDCC Downloading For Beginners
How to get started with XDCC
Part 1: How To Configure mIRC For XDCC Downloading
Part 2: How To Download With mIRC
Part 3: Troubleshooting
