I've just set up a new linux based machine which will host a few partitions for me. Among them, will soon be this server, 'www.thenorth.com' -- which will run on the new parition "IDHL/thenorth". As I start moving stuff over to it, I need to check for broken links. For years and years and years, I've copied the data directory from my primary site server from machine to machine. It full of stuff that should have been archived off years ago. For this move, I want to move the current stuff and archive off the rest. That's all well and good, but the hundreds - maybe thousands - of pages available here are not going to be manually checked for broken links. To make matters more difficult, the new partition is on linux, which can be case sensitive in places where the Domino server for Windows would not be.

This is where "Xenu" comes in. This product, downloaded in about 4 seconds while watching my 9 year old practice basketball at the local high school gym on a Saturday morning (you have to love all the wide open wireless around most towns) is simple. Installed in under a minute, ran in under 2. Obviously that's in test -- I didn't have it search the whole site. Its very quick though, checking thousands of links in a few minutes.

Its multi-threaded, can be paused or stopped mid stream, has some reports and has rechecking broken link capability. Its lightening fast, and you can set the number of concurrent threads depending on your network connection. Useful configuration options include the ability to shut off checking external links if you want. SSL is supported, as is the option to prompt you for passwords as needed.

Oh, and its free. Its not even begware. The author invites you to support his favorite charities if you must part with funds.

http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html