Downloading some of the larger files can be kind of a hassle because one tiny hiccup in your connection and your download goes poof.

Now I'm sure most people dump their files after uploading them to the archive but if they were willing to hold onto them for a few hours to get a few seeds going it could really speed things along.

You may want to use a download manager to get the files from Archive.org.
I use the DownThemAll plug-in for Firefox. It can resume interrupted downloads.

Thnx man, that helped a lot.

I use free download manager, which not only allows the use of batch downloads but also the download from torrents and it also works with several browsers, IE, firefox, opera, safari and chrome (i think). I use version 3.5 RC, which is win 7 and Firefox 4 compatiable.

What is the supposed difference between a "download manager" and a "download accelerator", the latter being forbidden to use according to the download page?

Also amusing, the page says "Do not use 'save as', it won't work", when it clearly works just fine (I used that for big downloads, so I can use wget directly on my server instead of browser on a laptop that would just need the file moved after anyway).

Torrents = fail. You need to be lucky how many people are sharing the same file, and ofcourse allowing how much bandwith they provide to let you download from. In most cases the upload is always low...

Managers manage a list of files to download and process them in place of the browser.
Accelerators use technique to make the most of your bandwidth to download the file faster.
Download accelerators are all download managers. Download managers are often accelerators, but not always.
The download page is not up to date. Since the files are not hosted on Hipoonios' personal computer anymore, download them any way you like.

Years ago I know managers sometimes opened several connections, on the assumption that the server was throttling the client to save bandwith, and you'd get the same speed on all connections.

But does anyone really do that anymore? If a server wants to limit a client, it does it based on IP, not the connection itself, so opening multiple ones will at best give you the same speed, but probably lower. We're talking more or less previous-century technology here. :)

I'm just telling you what i use to download, as i think it is a good program as you can batch download almost any files from almost any website, but also torrent downloads as well. I'm just listing it as one possible alternative to use, you can use any program or plugin as you wish. And JonL FDM is also a download accelerator.

Phlebiac, i agree, torrents are generally rubbish for download, i don't use them that often as they are slow as time it self.

I must be really lucky with generous seeders then because i usually average about 4-5 MB/s even with the 5-10 seed torrents from SDA and the like. Best I get with DTA (which I hadn't been using since I assumed it was an Accelerator) is about 2.5 MB/s.

I guess i'm really unlucky then, i find i'm lucky when i average 800kb/s, whereas my internet connection can average 1.8 to 2 Mb/s (20Mb BT broadband), hense why i don't torrent very much, i prefer downloading from sites like megaupload (not rapidshare, as it sucks)