How to Download Files

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By eHow Contributing Writer

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Downloading files may open up your hard disk to computer viruses. Avoid downloading from Web sites that you think might be dangerous or insecure.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Visit the Web page that has the link to the file you wish to download.
Step 2

Click on the download link (usually a link that says 'Download' or the name of the file).
Step 3

Indicate which language and operating system you use, if necessary.
Step 4

Select the download site nearest to you geographically, if given a choice. A window will pop up asking whether you wish to open the file or save it to disk.
Step 5

Select 'Save to disk' to retain the file for future use. If you want to use it only once, select Open.
Step 6

If you selected 'Save to disk,' choose where you want the file to go on your hard disk. Most browsers then open a window indicating download progress, including percentage downloaded and time remaining.

Tips & Warnings

Many browsers offer the option of downloading multiple files simultaneously. However, downloading multiple files at once takes just as long as downloading them one at a time.
You can still browse the Web while your file is downloading. Just click on the original browser window.
Many larger files are com-pressed, typically as Zip files. To open these, you'll need a file-compression/ Decompression program.

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