CNET Editors' review
Although plain in design, this handy tool lets you easily store and view your favorite Web sites offline. Instead of supplying a built-in browser, your stored pages can be quickly viewed in your designated browser.
This freeware program's bland interface is all business. A simple Wizard that leads you through the process of copying Web sites is a welcome touch. Users need only enter a project name, insert the URLs to be copied, and adjust settings as desired, including choosing how many layers of a page the program will pick up. HTTrack Website Copier goes to work very quickly from there, saving the information to a folder. While there is a file tree along the left side of the screen, these folders are more easily accessed through the program's File menu. Saved files open directly in your browser and you can navigate them just like you would the live site.
Less experienced users might not be comfortable with all of the user settings, but will still be able to save offline pages without adjusting anything they don't understand. If you need to refer to certain sites time and time again, this little freeware can make the job easier if you find yourself without Web access.
Publisher's Description
From HTTrack:
HTTrack is a free offline browser utility. You can download the contents of entire Web sites from the Internet to a local directory for offline viewing. Simply open a page of the mirrored Web site in your browser and browse the site link by link as if you were viewing it online. HTTrack also can update existing mirrored sites and resume interrupted site downloads. The program is fully configurable and includes an integrated help system. It crawls M3U and AAM files and can cache to a ZIP file.
What's new in this version: Version 3.45-4 fixed issues with random crash when interrupting the mirror htscoremain.c.
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All versions:
4.0 starsout of 117 votes
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Current version:
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"Simple, plain, easy to use program."
Version: HTTrack Website Copier 3.44-5
Pros
It's free.
It can be configured to scan as shallow (or deeply) as you like.
It produces standard HTML files you can read with any browser, and does NOT produce files that require having the 'host program' to read them as some do. Files are produced in a logical tree structure just like the site.Cons
The amount of controls may seem daunting to some when you first start it up. However, using the defaults on them is usually sufficient.
Summary
This has been one of my favorite programs for many years. I'm a school teacher, and until recently we had no Internet service at all in our school - and even now, it's quite slow. Being able to capture sites and show them to the kids as local files is very valuable to me. I make a point to be considerate of the sites we visit though, and limit mirroring connections to 3 or less at a time. If its my own site I'm mirroring, then full speed ahead... :)
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"Great! Worked the first time!"
Version: HTTrack Website Copier 3.44-3
Pros
Worked first time "right out of the box", and every time since. All I had to do was tell it what the URL was and what folder I wanted the pages saved in. I didn't change any of the defaults.
Cons
I really don't understand some of the default parameters, but I didn't need to. The defaults worked. On the other hand, it wasn't really clear how it was going to save things. I simply created a folder called my web pages, and save everything there. It created sub folders for each site. It also wasn't clear that I could create categories that will help manage the saved pages. Guess I should read the instructions!
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""I love it
"I Love It""Version: HTTrack Website Copier 3.44-1
Pros
Easy as pie and needed to be in order for me to grasp it. No bells and whistles which I dearly appreciate. I like basic programs that do what they say and this one fits the bill.
I have only downloaded two sites so far and it did show that there were errors but I don't know what the were. As far as I can tell the pertinent information was captured. As far as I'm concerned, that's good enough. After all, it's free!Cons
None that I know of.
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"It works as promised!"
Version: HTTrack Website Copier 3.44-1
Pros
It downloaded my entire website without any problem.
Cons
Some external content in the website may not be displayed.
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"Sorry, it didn't work for me. Don't know what's wrong!!"
Version: HTTrack Website Copier 3.44-1
Pros
Interface looks okay, and software installs easily.
Cons
Never downloaded anything! Tried 3 times, but froze my computer and I had to hard-reset it all 3 times. Freezing starts as soon as I chose the URL to be downloaded and where to have it download on my computer. I have XP, and I'm not trying again.
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"Both major strengths and weaknesses"
Version: HTTrack Website Copier 3.44-1
Pros
HTTrack is very good at finding and following links from the URL that you supply. It is therefore great for downloading an entire website.
Cons
The documentation of HTTrack is sparse, and perhaps that is the reason that reason I could not make the filters work, but upon investigation I believe that the filters do not work through the GUI.
Summary
HTTrack is great for downloading entire websites or large contiguous portions of them.
The documentation of HTTrack is sparse, and perhaps that is the reason that reason I could not make the filters work, but I fiddled with it for quite a while, and I am not a novice. I believe that the filters do not work through the GUI and I did not try the command line interface. HTTrack is the wrong choice for carefully controlling what is downloaded; thus, it is poor for excising a portion of a large website. -
"Does the job with no fuss"
Version: HTTrack Website Copier 3.44-1
Pros
Easy to use
Does the jobCons
old looking interface
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"Loaded with spyware"
Version: HTTrack Website Copier 3.44-1
Pros
Worked but spyware
Cons
Worked but spyware
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"Worked where all the others failed!"
Version: HTTrack Website Copier 3.44-1
Pros
It worked!
Cons
Interface is a bit uninspiring, but does that matter?
Summary
I had previously tried pretty well every other website downloader to download a site created in Google Sites. They all threw up errors and din't work for one reason or another. I think this was caused by the site being prefixed https://. This program just installed and downloaded the site, no bother at all.
When it had finished, I found I had to Browse Mirrored Site, then click on the links to external videos, photos, documents, links to other sites, etc, before they would function in offline mode. Which is what seems to be so clever about this software. Once you've played through the video once, it is then available for offline viewing. -
"did not capture everything"
Version: HTTrack Website Copier 3.44-1
Pros
There are many options to choose from and the wizard was helpful for basic configurations.
FreeCons
I tried this on a Website that was fairly basic in its setup; just text, pictures, and hyperlinks. On average, it seemed that on the average every page had one graphic missing, and there were some of the pages that were not even downloaded.
Summary
Based on my experience, I would not recommend this product. I found a trial-ware program from CNet that captured the Website with no errors.
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