Speed Up and Download Faster from Microsoft MSDN Downloads

Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers who pay for subscription fees on annual basis, have access and licenses to deploy and use almost all Microsoft software that has released to the public and retail. MSDN subscribed developers will generally receive new Microsoft software which are identical with retail or volume-license product on CD or DVD on specially marked MSN discs every few weeks or months, together valid and genuine unique activation product key which can be used to activate as many copies of software or Windows operating system as needed for their own development purposes. Beside waiting for media to arrive, MSDN subscribers can also download Microsoft software such as the latest Windows Vista 32-bit or 64-bit ISO images over the Internet.

When download a large collection of software from MSDN Downloads, the speed of download is very important in order for faster completion of download. If you’re located in US or North America, the download speed achievable from Microsoft’s MSDN Subscriber Downloads can be very low at just tenth of KB/s. The cause and reason for the slow download speed from MSDN is probably due to the fact that you’re actually downloading from a non-US mirror site.

In order to speed up the MSDN application downloads, the developers or subscribers need to make sure that the web browser will always connect and access to US-located servers. Following the following steps to achieve this:

1. Edit the HOSTS file located at %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts by using Notepad or any other text editor (make sure that you have Administrator Rights when using Vista with UAC turned on).
2. Add an entry to the HOST file for the global US Microsoft server:

   207.46.252.185 global.ds.microsoft.com

3. In Internet Explorer, add https://global.ds.microsoft.com to the list of Trusted Sites (located in Tools > Internet Options > Security > Trusted Sites).
4. In Internet Explorer, always allow cookies of https://global.ds.microsoft.com regardless of privacy policy by going to Tools > Internet Options > Privacy, and click on Sites button. Enter the URL (https://global.ds.microsoft.com) to Address of Website and click on Allow button.
5. If the download has already begun and half way through, suspend the MSDN download and select or activate “Place application shortcut on the desktop” in the Microsoft File Transfer Manager Options in order to resume later.
6. Open command prompt and run the command “ipconfig /flushdns” or simply reboot the computer.
7. Start Microsoft File Transfer Manager from the Desktop to resume download from MSDN.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 20th, 2006 at 9:02 pm and is filed under Tips & Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.