Windows batch file file download from a URL

Question

I am trying to download a file from a website (ex. http://www.example.com/package.zip) using a Windows batch file. I am getting an error code when I write the function below:

xcopy /E /Y "http://www.example.com/package.zip"

The batch file doesn't seem to like the "/" after the http. Are there any ways to escape those characters so it doesn't assume they are function parameters?

Answer 1

With PowerShell 2.0 (Windows 7 preinstalled) you can use:

(New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadFile('http://www.example.com/package.zip', 'package.zip')

Starting with PowerShell 3.0 (Windows 8 preinstalled) you can use Invoke-WebRequest:

Invoke-WebRequest http://www.example.com/package.zip -OutFile package.zip

From a batch file they are called:

powershell -Command "(New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadFile('http://www.example.com/package.zip', 'package.zip')"
powershell -Command "Invoke-WebRequest http://www.example.com/package.zip -OutFile package.zip"

(PowerShell 2.0 is available for installation on XP, 3.0 for Windows 7)