Snatcher and Son FAQ 

Snatcher

Snatcher's Son


Snatcher FAQ

1. Q: Snatcher doesn't seem to work with password sites where the password info is submitted on a form. What's wrong?
A: Snatcher does indeed support website authentication, but NOT if it is through a web page form (edit boxes, buttons that appear on a web page). Try Snatcher's Son if you need this support.

2. Q: Can I apply a password to a website by using the FTP password option?
A: No, this is strictly for FTP. If a website requires a username/password combination, and the authentication is NOT through a form, Snatcher will present you a dialog where you can submit this information.

3. Q: I can't log on to an FTP site. What's wrong?
A: Be sure that the username and password options are correct in the FTP options tab.  More often than not, these should be blank. Also, most of the time, the port will be 21. If you still can't connect, see if there are special username, password, and port requirements for the FTP site.

4. Q: How do I tell what's wrong when an "X" appears next to a web item?
A: Select the item in the tree and right-click. Choose "Error Status" to read the error occurred. Most of the time, the error is "Not found" meaning that the link is dead. You can also view the Snatcher log file.

5. Q: Can I save my progress and resume later?
A: No, not in this version. Look for this feature in 4.0. You can temporarily suspend a download by right-clicking and choosing "Pause", but you can't restart Snatcher and pick up where you left off.

6. Q: Why can't I uncheck the "Download within domain" checkbox when I choose to download an entire website?
A: Because if you did, the website you're downloading could potentially link to several sites which in turn link to several other sites and maybe giant sites that link to thousands of sites...Snatcher could potentially download forever.

7. Q: Why is downloading a certain number of levels NOT recommended?
A: Because unless you know for certain the structure of a website, you will probably miss some files. Downloading a complete site beginning with the root or perhaps a file deeper down in the structure will give you a more complete download.

8. Q: When should I download by using the checkboxes?
A: Downloading by "checking" items is most useful when you are browsing websites with Snatcher and want to download very select items. Assume you want to download only .jpg files. Is it more effective to expand a website and then choose "Select all .jpg files" in the right click menu? No. It's more effective to right click on the root web document and choose "Download <file>..." and set up a filter to download ALL .jpg files in the website. This will save you lots of time.  Still, Snatcher is flexible enough for you to work the way you want.  The "check and download" model of downloading is more suited for Snatchers's Son, where you can also see the files on the web page.

9. Q: Snatcher seems to be permanently minimized. How do I get it back to a regular window?
A: This should be fixed in build 2.4.0.502. If you have an older version of 2.4, download latest version and install. Also, you can always right-click on Snatcher in the task icon and choose "Maximize" to at least see it maximized. If you're proficient in RegEdit.exe then you can go to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Bedside\Snatcher" and delete the X, XPos, Y, and YPos registry values then open Snatcher. This will fix the problem, but ONLY ATTEMPT IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE ALTERING THE REGISTRY!

10. Q: Some websites are very slow to render in the tree!  What's going on?
A: WebSnatcher's HTML Parser slows down significantly with very large HTML files.  In 99.99% of cases, this is not an issue; the parser is extremely fast with average web pages.  But for html files that are over a meg in size (that typically list directories of information), parsing can be exponentially slower.  One site that listed thousands of files was about 1.6 megs and took about 15 minutes to parse on a typically fast (800 MHz) Pentium III.  The cause is known.  You can work around it by going into the "Options" dialog and selecting the "Other" tab.  Choose the "Show all links..." radio button.


Snatcher's Son FAQ

1. Q: There's no exe file created after installation. How do I start the program? 
A: Start the program by running MS Internet Explorer. Snatcher's Son is a .dll file that integrates into Internet Explorer. Start Snatcher's Son by clicking on the icon in the Internet Explorer toolbar or by choosing the "View"->"Explorer Bar"->"Snatcher's Son" menu item. 

2. Q: I just installed the program and see the icon on the IE toolbar but clicking it doesn't do anything? What's wrong? 
A: This happens every so often for no apparent reason. A file is probably locked by the installation program somewhere. To get Snatcher's Son to work, just reboot your computer. 

3. Q: After I start a download I don't see any progress. How do I know if the application is downloading or hung on a file? 
A: Sometimes the server will not reveal a file's size which makes progress inaccurate. You should at least see the files that you've selected have the downloading icon (red arrow) appear over the web item's icon. The status bar should also say something like "Downloading files...". However, a download is probably in progress even if you don't see the progress indicator (bouncing spheres in the web item grid cell). Use your best judgment for file download times. For example, if you're downloading a regular jpg file, you shouldn't expect to wait more than a few seconds (depending on your connection of course) for it to download. If the server is busy though, the download can take a long time to timeout. You can also open your download folder in windows explorer (use the quick-access toolbar button) and see if the file exists on your hard drive. If it does, it may just be taking a long time to download.  That's part of the fun of the internet!

4. Q: I click the stop button but the download doesn't seem to stop. How can I stop the download? 
A: Normally, one click will stop the download. However, if the server is busy or just slow, it may take a long time to service your request. To forcibly terminate a download, click the stop button repeatedly until the download stops. It should only take about 3 clicks. For better performance, try your downloads at a later time. 

5. Q: What does the red "X" icon mean? 
A: It means a download has failed. You can right click on the item that failed and select "Error Status..." in the right click menu to see a reason for the failure. The most common cause of failure is "Object not found" which means that the link is dead, ie, the resource that the link points to doesn't exist. 

6. Q: I see another icon with an "i". What does this mean? 
A: The "i" means that the file was "ignored". A file will be ignored if you have the "Ignore duplicate files" option set in the Options dialog. If a file of the same name already exists in your download folder, the file will be ignored with this option set.