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I found this in a few different places around the 'net - hopefully it's helpful:

How to Pause or Resume Downloading

After the download process has started, you can pause or resume downloading at any time. If you close your Internet connection or restart your computer after pausing a download process, Windows automatically resumes the download process the next time you are connected to the Internet.

  • During the download process, click the icon that is displayed in the notification area, and then click Pause.
  • When you are ready for Windows to start downloading again, click the Automatic updating icon, and then click
    Resume.
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  • 6 Replies
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  • Latest Post Latest Post by stokes1900

Dani AI

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Quick sanity check: Dani’s tip applies to Windows Automatic Updates, not to every file you download in Internet Explorer. Updates use BITS, which is designed to survive disconnects and reboots and quietly pick up where it left off. That is why the tray icon can disappear yet the job still resumes later. See Microsoft’s BITS notes for XP-era clients for context (What’s New in BITS).

If you paused an update and the icon never came back, the job may still be queued. You can safely nudge it (run these from Start > Run > cmd with admin rights). If the job is stuck, use the reset steps; note this clears the partial download so Windows will fetch it again. Microsoft documents both behaviors here (Additional Windows Update resources) and the detect-now switch here (wuauclt options).

:: Try resume
net start bits
net start wuauserv
wuauclt.exe /resetauthorization /detectnow

:: If still stuck, reset components (clears partial files)
net stop bits
net stop wuauserv
del "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\qmgr*.dat"
ren %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
net start bits
net start wuauserv

For non‑Update downloads: pause/resume only works if the server supports HTTP range requests and sends the right headers (Accept‑Ranges, strong ETag). IE6/7 could sometimes resume, but it was hit‑or‑miss; IE9 improved this and explicitly disabled Pause when the site did not support resumption (Download resumption in IE). That is why tools suggested by , , and help on some sites but not others: they still depend on the server allowing partial content (HTTP range requests explained).

Recommended Answers

All 6 Replies

Member Avatar for marceta

alternativley, you can you Download Accelerator Plus, or many other download managers/accelerators! DAP is the best though

Member Avatar for Mastadex

...Or use a browser that is far more secure then IE. such as Opera or Mozilla which both have resume capable transfer engines.

Member Avatar for nanosani

try using Internet Download Accelerator or Lightening Download. I havnt found any resume qualities in the IE.

Member Avatar for nanosani

try using Internet Download Accelerator or Lightening Download. I havnt found any resume qualities in the IE.

Member Avatar for robtbos

Icon that I Paused last night failed to reappear this AM so 3.5 Hour partial dwnload need to relocate & Finish up. How ?
Tried Tool Bar No Help there any other suggestions.
locating a partial download to restart ?

My Original Q wss " How to Pause or Resume Downloading"

Thanks , robtbos

Member Avatar for stokes1900

you can use any download manager. I Like getright it is better on slow connection.

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