If you want to download
and work with a specific file, treat it just as you
would if you were copying it from a floppy disk.
You'll need the space to save it, and the correct
software to view whatever kind of file it is. You
can save that file to your hard disk or a floppy
disk, depending on your need.
The big secret about downloading is that you do
it all the time. Every time you view anything from
the Net on your computer, whether it be part of the Web,
newsgroups,
or chat, you've downloaded that information. Your browser
is really just a convenient front end for
downloading files and presenting them in a pretty
package. Downloading a file from the Net is the same
as copying a file from a floppy onto your hard drive
(except it takes longer).
Most of the time, if a file has been specifically
made available for download, when you click the
appropriate link, the download happens
automatically. Your browser will prompt you to
choose a place to save the file (don't forget where
you put it!) and that's it. As far as what file
format it is, it could be anything from a .txt file
(the file type for basic text documents) to a .tar
file (an obscure UNIX
compression file type).
If you're just looking to grab the text from a
Web page, it's sometimes easier to just highlight
the text you want with your mouse, and use the
"copy" command in the Edit menu. Then go
to your favorite word processor, create a new
document, and use the "paste" command
(also under the Edit menu) to paste it onto the
blank page. Now just save the file and you've got
yourself your very own version.
If you want to save a graphic you see on a page,
just right-click it (click and hold if you're using
a Mac) and choose "Save Image As..." from
the pop-up menu. Then you can choose where on your
computer you want to save it, hit OK, and you're
done.
Associate
Access
