GUIDE TO UNZIPPING AND INSTALLING YOUR DOWNLOADED FILE

This guide can help, if you have managed to download a file from the Internet and is not sure what to do next.

Handling EXE Files

Programs are normally compressed into a self-extracting EXE file (the file with the extension ".EXE" e.g. ar302.exe).

Go to Windows Explorer or File Manager if you are using Windows 3.1 and find the file you have downloaded - Example in C:\Downloads. Double click on the file (usually setup.exe or install.exe). This will automatically run the installation program.

Simply follow the steps to install the program. Most of the time the installation program will create an icon which you can click to run the program. You can find the icon on the Start Menu or the Program Manager (Window 3.1) and often your Desktop.

The EXE file you downloaded may not contain an installation program. In this case you should double-click on the file. This will automatically uncompress the file into the same directory - Example: In C:\Downloads. To run the program, go to C:\Downloads and click on the EXE program file and NOT the file that you downloaded.

Handling ZIP Files

You will find that most of the files downloaded from the Internet are in ZIP format - with file extension ".ZIP" e.g. reader.zip. These are the many files which have been compressed. ZIP files greatly reduce your download time as they are smaller, thus they are popular.

If the downloaded file is in ZIP format, you'll need to uncompress it. They are numerous program which can unzip files.

The most popular program for unzipping files is WinZip.

• To download WinZip for Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP - click here

Install the WinZip program after you have downloaded it. You are now ready to unzip the file.

Go to Windows Explorer or File Manager if you are using Windows 3.1 and find the file you have downloaded - Example : C:\Downloads. Double-click on the ZIP file. This will automatically open WinZip. The files displayed in WinZip are all the files that are contained in the ZIP file.

Click on "Help" on the main menu of WinZip then select "Brief Tutorial" to learn how to use the program. You can also get started right away by clicking the "Wizard" button and follow the instruction to unzip all files in the ZIP file.

Generally, program's installation will create an icon which you can click to run the program. You can find the icon on the Start Menu or Program Manager for Windows 3.1 and also Desktop.

Proceed to Next Step

Utilities for Scheduling Downloads and Improving Transfer Speeds

or

Uninstalling the software