RapidShare is a phenomenally successful file sharing site that consistently ranks in one of the top 20 most used websites on the web according to Alexa. The secret of its success is incredibly fast upload and download rates that make sending files bigger than 200MB a breeze. Well, that’s the official reason. The unofficial reason is that it’s made sharing movies and music even quicker and easier than huge P2P networks such as eMule. How does it get away with this? Basically, by operating out of Switzerland and charging a subscription fee.
Although RapidShare also offers a free service, for large files you’ll probably want to upgrade to the Premium version. The reason being is that if you want to upload files bigger than 200MB, the premium version will make them much faster and easier to download whereas the free version makes downloading each 200MB segment a bit tedious. However, here are some tips, tricks and hacks to get the most out of RapidShare whether you’re a free or premium user:
1. Use RapidFind – RapidFind calls itself “the first RapidShare forum” and is by far the best way to find files that have been uploaded by users. You’ll be astonished at the amount of material on there.
2. Install the ShareMiner searchbar – Alternatively, if for some reason you can’t find what you’re looking for with RapidFine, ShareMiner searches not only RapidShare but also other storage sites such as Megaupload for your files.
3. Install RapidCheck for a free Premium Account – Occasionally, RapidShare gives away free Premium Accounts. RapidCheck will alert you when such offers are made so that you can be one of the first in the queue.
4. Use Linkrr to download multiple links – If you haven’t upgraded to premium, Linkrr is an essential tool which downloads all of your separate links in one go – much quicker and more convenient than downloading them one by one.
5. Download files simultaneously with SwitchProxy – Using SwitchProxy, a simple plugin for Firefox, you can “trick” RapidShare into thinking that you are two separate users and thus download more than one file at a time. Just follow this excellent tutorial.
Don’t forget, though: OnSoftware never condones illegal file sharing. Keep it legal, guys & gals.
