Why do large zip files become corrupted so often after downloading

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It seems that when I use a web browser to download a large zip file (2-4gb), I go to unzip it and viola, corrupted. This happens so often. Are browsers not reliable means to download a file (http) ? Is there a better way? I need to download such a file and I do not seem to be able to get it successfully using chrome.

Best Answer

There are a few points you could consider:

  • Choice of Browser. Some time ago, Internet Explorer often caused this kind of problem.

  • FTP. If possible, you can try to get download from an FTP server via FTP (File Transfer Protocol) rather than HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). From the name you can see that FTP is dedicated to transferring files.

  • Command-line download utilities. Dedicated software is often better than a browser for such tasks.

    Windows: BITSAdmin is the first one I found, but surely there is more.

    Linux: wget, etc.

  • Internet connection. First of all, see if your internet is not breaking off every 10 minutes – while it does not affect web surfing, it can become a problem for downloading via some browsers (then command-line utilities could be a temporary solution). Also check if your cable is not damaged.

  • Antivirus. If your antivirus is checking the files you're downloading bit by bit, it could delay the process and cause problems. Not saying you should turn your antivirus off when downloading unknown files, but you can do some tests of this kind if everything else fails.

In general, without further info about the problem you experience, it is hard to advise something.

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