Handy tools for painless downloading

"Download, UnZip, Install"

Three little words that strike fear into the hearts of many newcomers to the internet. But, while new programs may interfere with old ones - programs sometimes compete for limited resources, generating conflicts - a few tools can make the process painless.

Downloading

If you're online, you're already downloading files. To appear in your browser, a web page has to be first transferred to your computer. Getting programs to download is just a slightly more intense step in this process.

The Download time calculator suggests that under optimal conditions, it would take a 56Kbps modem four hours and 22 minutes to download the StarOffice package in its biggest version - 105MB. Unfortunately, conditions are never optimal for more than a few seconds.

Realistically, the StarOffice package is likely to take 8 to 9 hours to download. At the other end of the scale, the Flash player download will only take 32 seconds under optimal conditions over a 56Kbps modem - but is likely to take a minute or more.

The most important tool you will need here is a download manager to recover from download errors or resume downloads after a disconnect. Some download managers also let you schedule downloads for convenience, or to get optimal transfer times - when the internet isn't busy.

GoZilla is the freeware tool of choice here, and the instructions are simple. It's a 2.8MB download.

UnZipping

Many large files are compressed ("zipped") to expedite transfer. You may need a software tool to unzip them once they download. The evaluation version of WinZip 8 is free and does not expire. It's at 1.7MB download at WinZip.

Installing

Most software programs will ask for permission to install themselves. Close all open programs first, and use a backup utility before you install anything new. New versions of Windows come with a built-in backup utility (See Screenshot: Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Backup).

* Note: a kilobyte (KB) is roughly 1000 bytes, a megabyte (MB) is roughly 1000 kilobytes.

Download time calculator

Gozilla

WinZip