Transferring Information

Many people seem to have trouble downloading files from the internet. For inexperienced computer users, this is quite understandable. They simply need to know how it's done.

Downloading

The first problem many people have is that they only click on the link instead of telling their computer to save. This results in a copy of the file in their temporary internet files, but they can never seem to find the file again. To solve this problem, right-click the link instead of the usual left click on a PC or hold down your mouse over the link on the Mac.

A small window will pop up and give you a list of options. What you want is "Save Target As," "Save Link As," or your browser's equivalent. This will bring up a "Save As" window. It is this step that is most important. You must know where you are saving your file to.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the "Save As" window so that you can easily move from directory to directory in your hard drive. Experiment with the buttons and text areas of the window.

When you have the hang of things and you know where you're saving to, go ahead and download the file. Now remember where you saved that file? Open your Windows Explorer (under "Start," "Programs" or File Manager for Win3.X users) or go to your Macintosh Desktop to find the file. Now if you look under the directory you saved the file in, you'll find that it's right there where it's supposed to be.