When you click on a text or image link that leads to a file instead of to a web page, the browser will first try to display it. Your browser can display plain text files and many types of images. With plug-ins, the browser can display other types of files.

If your browser cannot display the file, it will offer you choices.

• Save the file to your computer.

• Open the file with another program right now.
  A copy of the file will be in the browser's cache.

  Windows looks for a program that is 'associated' with that type of file. If it finds one, it opens the program and loads the file into it.

• Run the file, if the file starts a program.

  If you choose Run, the program that you downloaded will do its thing. Do you know what that is? This can be disastrous if you don't know. Run such files only from very trusted sources.

This kind of link is often used to allow users to download programs or updates to programs or to download documents instead of sending them by email. Such items are often zipped, or compressed, to save space. So the one file that you download may contain many compressed files.

Ü Click either the text link or image link below to download a file:
       Download, book.exe
[Your security settings may block this download. Skip to the book.zip step below.]

You may see one or more security dialogs or prompts before you can actually save the file. This varies with your security settings and which browser you are using.

Notice where your browser saved the file! Does your browser tell you?

The file size of book.exe is a lot smaller than the total of the file sizes that it contains.

The exe file is of the type called an executable. It runs some kind of program. You must trust the source!

The contents will be uncompressed, also called extracted or expanded. Choose to put the uncompressed contents in the default location that was set for this file when it was created. (Or you may choose another folder if you wish.)

Ü Choose to Run or Open the file, if that is offered. If not, open Explorer, navigate to where you saved the file, and double click on the saved file book.exe .

The file book.exe is a self-extracting zipped file.

Ü Now do the same for the plain zipped version:
       Download, book.zip

The file book.zip is is the same as book.exe except that it won't unzip itself.

Locate the file in an Explorer/File Explorer window. Double-click the file. If you have installed a zipping program, that program will unzip the file. If not, Windows will unzip the file.

The contents will be uncompressed, also called extracted or expanded. Choose to put the uncompressed contents in the default location that was set for this file when it was created. (Or you may choose another folder if you wish.)

Ü Delete the whole folder that you just created. You won't need these files again.

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