September 16, 2009 by sharky
For those who are already familiar with XDCC downloading, you probably know the hassles: First, you need to install an IRC client such as mIRC or XChat; then you need to connect to reliable IRC networks and join channels that contain XDCC Bots. Not to mention enter the correct command to request a "pack". Burdensome - and quite confusing - especially when connected to multiple servers/channels. Even most XDCC Search websites (which take out much of the hard work) still require users to have an installed (and properly configured) IRC client, in order to launch the IRC server - and even then you’ll still need to paste the proper command. Not so with xWeasel - everything is self-contained, so downloading XDCC packs has never been easier!
xWeasel Features:
One Click Downloading - Downloading with xWeasel is as simple as it gets. The xWeasel Download Client supports xdcc:// links to allow one-click downloading. Downloads are automatically loaded into the client when clicking a download link in your web browser.
Download Resuming - xWeasel supports resuming of incomplete files, and continues downloading the next time the file gets requested.
Bot Joining Detection - In case you request a pack from an offline bot, there is no need to manually request it over and over again. xWeasel automatically detects joining bots and request the appropriate packs.
Instant Media Preview - You can easily preview media files by implementing VLC Player or any other media player that supports playback of incomplete files.
Network/channel/bot lists - Has an in-depth feature on the website for browsing IRC networks and their related channels which contain XDCC Bots. Even these Bots can be browsed to show which packs they are currently offering. At last check, xWeasel currently indexes 106 different public IRC networks, 10K+ bots and nearly 200K packs.
How it works
1. Download xWeasel from their DL page here. Extract the ZIP file to a temp directory of your choosing, and run xWeasel.exe. When run for the first time, you’ll need to enter in some IRC details before connecting (these fields are arbitrary, so just make something up).
2. Back on the xWeasel website, enter in a search term on the right side. Depending on your OS, downloading instructions may vary (we tested xWeasel on both WinXP and Vista Ultimate edition).
Getting Started - WinXP:
After making a search, simply click on a desired download link, as represented by the blue down arrow. For XP users, this should launch a External Protocol Request window, where xWeasel will be listed as the appropriate program. Put a tick in ‘Remember my choice…’ and click Launch application.
xWeasel.exe will then launch (if not already running), and the chosen file (pack) will commence downloading.
Getting Started - Vista:
We had some issues with launching the xdcc:// links in Vista, as users are not prompted with an XP options window. Instead, you may (or probably will) receive a message similar to this one, as the example shown in Firefox:
Since protocols and file extensions can’t be added manually to Vista (as they can in XP), and unless you’re a Vista registry-editing guru - we could only figure out one alternative method to circumvent this:
1. Make sure that xWeasel.exe is running. If you’re running Firefox - after making a search at the xWeasel website, right-click on a blue arrow, and select "Copy Link Location".
2. Go back into xWeasel.exe, and select File > Add Download. This will automatically ‘paste’ the link you saved from above. Click Add to finalize.
Vista TIP:
UPDATE: The owner of xWeasel has provided us with a quick solution, in the event you can’t launch xdcc:// links through Vista.
1. After downloading the xWeasel .ZIP file, extract it (or just move the xWeasel directory) to this path: C:/Program Files/xWeasel/ - (with xWeasel.exe being located inside the path).
2. Download this ZIP file, and extract it. Run xWeasel_Vista_Protocol.reg to import the settings. (You can always edit xWeasel_Vista_Protocol.reg and direct it to the proper path of xWeasel.exe, if you so wish).
TIP: Even if the path is incorrect after importing the xWeasel (.reg) registry details, you should still be prompted with an option to provide the proper path to the xWeasel.exe app (when downloading xdcc links from xWeasel). The Firefox example shown below will allow you to "choose" a program, whereby you’ll be able to browse to the proper location of xWeasel.exe (wherever you extracted it to).
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