# I downloaded it, I extracted it, I opened it. Now what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2000, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-downloaded-it-i-extracted-it-i-opened-it-now-what/46941 "2000-12-23T01:16:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2000, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-downloaded-it-i-extracted-it-i-opened-it-now-what/46941/1 "2000-12-23T01:16:26Z")
OK, I downloaded Doom from SGI Freeware. ZIP file, of course. I extracted it, using my Power Archiver (another fine bit of freeware.) Now, I want to play it. Trouble is, I can’t find any instructions on how to install and run the program. You’d think it would come with an installer or something. Can’t find it. So, I’ve got this completely useless game on my hard drive. Anybody out there have any hints about how I can get this thing up and playable? BTW, I’ve had this problem with games I’ve downloaded in the past. I download and extract them, and they just sit there and laugh at me. ---
**Author:** ![Gaspode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2000, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-downloaded-it-i-extracted-it-i-opened-it-now-what/46941/2 "2000-12-23T01:23:47Z")
There should be an install.exe file there somewhere if it’s like the original version. Are there any .exe files that you can find? If so can you list them? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2000, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-downloaded-it-i-extracted-it-i-opened-it-now-what/46941/3 "2000-12-23T01:29:13Z")
nope, no .exe files. It wasn’t sent as an .exe, I had to extract it myself when it got here. No “install”, no nothing. I can’t find anything in my “help” screen that tells me what to do, either. I can open it, I can view it, but I can’t install it. ---
**Author:** ![Gaspode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2000, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-downloaded-it-i-extracted-it-i-opened-it-now-what/46941/4 "2000-12-23T01:31:05Z")
OK, what files have you actually got? ---
**Author:** ![douglips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@douglips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/douglips)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-downloaded-it-i-extracted-it-i-opened-it-now-what/46941/5 "2000-12-23T02:19:16Z")
Maybe once you unzip it (hopefully in a nice, new, empty directory) you **have** installed it. Go into that directory, either in a command prompt or in Windows Explorer, and look for something obvious like “doom.exe” (just try running it) or “readme.txt” (read the directions.) You may have to adjust your settings so you can see the ‘.exe’ part of file names, I hate looking at fifteen “setup” files and not knowing which one is the right one from the name. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-downloaded-it-i-extracted-it-i-opened-it-now-what/46941/6 "2000-12-23T02:19:56Z")
Here’s a FAQ: [http://www.cmpharm.ucsf.edu/~troyer/sgidoomfaq.html#1](http://www.cmpharm.ucsf.edu/~troyer/sgidoomfaq.html#1) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2000, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-downloaded-it-i-extracted-it-i-opened-it-now-what/46941/7 "2000-12-23T03:41:44Z")
OK, I figured it out. I can’t play it because it’s an SGI version of the game, and I have, well, a PC. Thanks, Revtim. I’m going to see if I can find a version that will run on Windows. ---
**Author:** ![Adventurious82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e495f1/32.png) [@Adventurious82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adventurious82)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2000, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-downloaded-it-i-extracted-it-i-opened-it-now-what/46941/8 "2000-12-23T07:49:53Z")
I downloaded a demo version of Alone In The Dark to play and see if I liked it, and discovered that not only were there no instructions on how to move anything, but clicking on the main program got me only a display screen, while clicking on a seemingly unrelated icon got me into the game. I figured out how to do a few things, but not enough, gave up and dumped the game. I’ve come across a few game programs like that on the net and I don’t know why they never download with everything included.