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Download managers (e.g. Internet Download Manager) can use all bandwidth when downloading a file. But this makes browsing the Internet impossible while downloading gigantic files. Is there any software that can be configured in a way to only resume a download when the system is idle?

I am aware of speed limiter features of some apps, but it is not what I am looking for. Limiting speed makes download time longer, wastes bandwidth when the system is idle and makes browsing slow when I am surfing the Web.

My main concern is Windows, but I am interested to know if there is any solution for Android and Linux as well.

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    Are you sure you mean "when the system is idle" instead of "when there's download capacity left"? There's little relation between what your processor is doing and what your download is streaming - if I have torrents downloading at full speed MS Word does not slow down ;-)
    – user416
    Commented Aug 6, 2014 at 7:17
  • What I usually do is check the download speed when I have it set to 'unlimited', then limit the DL speed to 70-80% of that. That's a compromise that works for me.
    – user416
    Commented Aug 6, 2014 at 7:20
  • @JanDoggen Yes, I'm sure.
    – Real Dreams
    Commented Aug 6, 2014 at 13:10

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Back in the modem days I used to use the download manager GetRight to schedule and resume downloads of Linux ISO images.

It would take many weeks to download them all, but I set GetRight to only run between midnight and 8am.

It's also possible to set a speed limit of zero kb/s and have GetRight ignore that speed limit when the screensaver is active. Which effectively makes the download run only when you aren't using the computer.

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