Lavaca County Home Page. New User Info.: Downloading from the Internet

The first thing to do is organize a download area so your files aren't lost on your hard drive and take up space if the files or programs are unwanted. I would suggest you make a folder named DOWNLOAD and store all my downloaded files there.

Now surf the web and find a file to download. When you click on the file to download you browser pops up a window which asks if you wish to open or save that file, as shown in the example below...

Choose Save this program to disk and press the OK button.
This screen may differ slightly.

A - The location (or folder) that the downloaded file will be saved in.
Pressing the down arrow lets you navigate to a different location.
B - Goes back one level (or folder)
C - Creates a new folder inside the 'Save in:' (labeled A) area
D - This is the name of the file you are downloading

Get familiar with some navigational buttons and arrows by moving your mouse cursor over them.

First choose the Download folder to save the file in by clicking the arrow down in the "Save in:" section. Choose C: and double click the Download folder that you have created. I would suggest creating individual folders for each program within the Download folder (by using the button labeled C above). To do this click on the button labeled C - this is a "create new folder" button. Name the new folder something that corresponds with the software you are downloading. Once this folder is created you will have to double-click on the newly created folder and click the SAVE button at the bottom right of your download window..... You are now downloading the file and you know exactly where it will be saved. However, you are not out of the woods yet. You now have to install the software you have just downloaded.

If you are a Windows 95 user I would suggest downloading a shareware program called Winzip. Most all of the software to be downloaded from the Internet is "compressed". Most of the files are self extracting but sometimes you will download something that isn't. This is where Winzip32 comes in to decompress the software.

So, you have succeeded in creating and organizing a download area. You have downloaded a file(s) from the Internet but what do you do next? I normally go into my Explorer from here (which is accessible by Start, Programs and is normally at the end of the program files screen.) When Explorer comes up it will show you all the drives. Choose drive C: and the folder that you created when you downloaded your file.

If downloading was successful, you should see the file within that folder. Normally all you have to do is simply double-click that file and whatever software starts to install.

As far a using the software you have downloaded you will need to contact the company that has created it. You might want to bookmark the site for future reference.