i have downloaded a certain # of programs. now, my problem is that i don’t know how to get them to work.
1)
after program is downloaded a box pops up. it says “winzip etc…” at the top of the window. down in the area which shows what i have it says “SndRec64.exe” with date, size ratio, package etc. info next to it. my question is, is this installed? i don’t know whether to open it, extract it, add it (this is winzip, remember) or what. do i just click on it to install it? how do i move it to desktop once it is installed?
this type of situation came up earlier in another way.
2.) i downloaded something else and a box came up with the tagline “open file”. it gave me the option to “look in”. i don’t know where to look!!! i don’t even know the name of the program! can someone teach me all of this junk in a short reply? how can i find and utilize the great downloads if i don’t even know where to look or the name of what i just downloaded?can someone teach me all of this junk in a short reply or refer me to some site?
thanks
I hate to be one of those people that asks for more info, but most of your description is a little dense to me.
In general: When you download a program, you are downloading either a) the install executable, or b) a compressed install package in the form of a .exe or .zip. In the former case, you need only run the executable and the program will install. In the latter case, you need to extract to a temp directory (it will normally give you a choice where, but not always), and then run the install executable, which is normally (but again not always) install.exe or setup.exe.
In a lot of cases, if you have downloaded a type b) file, there will also be a file extracted called readme.txt. This file will often tell you how to install.
Finally, I note that most software sites will have a link that will take to a page describing how to install that specific software. Sometimes this info is on the download page itself.
As to Winzip:
I have no idea what SndRec64.exe is. The winzip download file is winzip81.exe (most current version). It sounds like you have a compressed install file of type b) and you will need to extract it & then run the install. I expect there is a readme with more specific instructions once you extract the install files.
Answer to #1, most are zipped (compressed) so that it doesn’t take all day to download. The most popular application to compress files is Winzip. Most app developers will zip their files into an executable winzip file, which means that it will operate without you having Winzip. Go to wherever you downloaded the file to in Windows Explorer, double click on the file and it will either unload and install the app you downloaded, or it may give you some prompts on where you want to extract the files to, then give you the option to run the install program, of which many are named install.exe, or setup.exe, or some derivation of that. (on preview I see that deathawk has provided a pretty succinct answer, so I’ll post as support)
This is what I do. When you get the winzip program up with “SndRec64.exe” listed you need to extract the file. Create a directory on your harddrive called ‘intsall’ and extract the file into that directory. Once the file is extracted open up the ‘install’ directory using windows explorer, locate the “SndRec64.exe” and double click on it. At that point one of two things will happen; either it will start the install process or, if it is a small program, the program will run. Either way you should be good to go.
In answer to #2
When you download something you need to a) write down the name of the file you are downloading and b) write down the directory you are downloading the file into. That way you can find the file if a dialog box asks you to provide more information.
If you need more information you might try looking under the ‘help’ menu in Winzip.
Unless you knowingly followed an unzipping procedure, the file probably is just sitting in your Unzipped folder (look in your C Drive). When you download files you will see a box saying something like: “You are about to download newprogram.zip from…[location of download]” Remember the name of the program, sometimes they shorten and abbreviate them. The box also gives you the choice of Save or Open From Current Location. Pick Save. Another box will give you the chance to decide where on your computer you want to save the program. If it’s a zip file, it is probably already showing the choice to save it in the Unzipped folder, so just say OK in that case. If not, Browse to your Unzipped folder and put it there. If it’s not zipped, Browse to your your Program Files folder in the C Drive and say OK. Then you can go to your Program Files folder. If you can’t see what you just downloaded, right-click an empty folder space and select Arrange Icons By Date. That will arrange icons so you can see what you just downloaded. Scan it, click it open, and go from there. If it was a zip file go to your Unzipped folder, scan it before opening, then click on it to begin the unzip and install process. When unzipping and installing a program, it asks you where you want to install it - put it in your Program Files folder.
To put something (anything) on your desktop, right-click on it and select SEND TO->Desktop.
I’ve had my Unzipped folder on the C Drive for so long, I forgot to say that I created it, it doesn’t appear there magically! So as sleestak said, first create a folder to put all your stuff into. He calls his Install, mine is Unzipped. Go to your C Drive, hit File->New->Folder, and name it whatever you like.