| 1. |
The biggest favor
you can do yourself before downloading files is to create a folder on your hard drive
exclusively for downloaded files. |
| 2 |
Check the size of
the file you will be downloading. Depending on its size, as well as the speed of your
modem and how busy the internet is at the time, you could be downloading a file for
minutes or even hours. |
| 3 |
Before you click to
download the file, check to see if there are any instructions on the site for installing
the program once downloaded. |
| 4. |
When you click to
download the file, it will give you an opportunity to either open the file or save it to
disk. Choose the folder on your hard drive where you want to save the file (like the
folder mentioned in #1) and then click "OK" to proceed. |
| 5. |
The file you
downloaded will usually ended in either .exe or .zip. If the file ends in
.exe, then you will be able to open it as is, and it will run through a process that
either installs the software or exploads the file into several files (check these files
for either setup.exe or install.exe and run the file to install the
program.) If downloaded file ends in .zip, you will need to decompress the program
using a utility program like PKZIP
or WINZIP. |
| 6. |
After installing
your software, you may want to return to your downloads folder and delete the original
file you downloaded to conserve disk space. Otherwise, you may want to keep the file in
case you need to reinstall. |
