Download Files from the Internet

Oscar Sodani is a founder of Help2Go and owner of Help2Go Networks, an IT consulting firm in the Washington D.C. area. Oscar holds the CISSP certification as well as industry certifications from Microsoft, Cisco and Novell.

Have you ever been surfing the web, and you want to download something for later use? A video clip that is just hilarious? A sound file of your favorite band? A web page that explains (finally!) the secret of life?! A picture that "proves" the existence of UFOs? We'll show you how!

In this article, you'll find out

• What kind of files you can download from the web
• How you can save those files and retrieve them later

Valuable Information or Just Junk?

Basically, you can download ANYTHING you see on a web page. Is it a picture? A sound file? Do you just want to save the text on a web page? You can! And it is simpler than you think.

The reason you can download these files is that they are each separately stored on the web server you are accessing. For instance, this web page is a simple text file that is stored on Help2Go's web server. It is publicly available, so anyone can make a copy. The same is true for the images on this page, like our menu icons.

You should be careful in your use of downloaded information. For instance, you cannot download this web page and pass it off as your own or e-mail it to others. That is a violation of copyright law. You also cannot download the images on web pages and use them on your own page -- most of the images on the web are also covered by copyright law, unless the site specifically says that you can use their images for free.

You should also be careful in how much you download. Now matter, how tempting it is, don't try to save a copy of everything on the Internet on your hard drive! Believe me, I tried it in college (to make my "own library"), and you will run out of hard drive space VERY quickly, just like I did. The great thing about the Internet is that the information is available to you all the time, and that OTHER people's hard drives are storing all this great stuff. Don't waste your hard drive space on information you could always get off the 'net.

A Place for Everything, and Everything in its Place

Did your mom use that phrase? Mine didn't -- but I can see how it would be VERY annoying. However, the phrase truly applies when downloading from the web. Everyone should have one place where they store their downloaded files. I created a folder on my Windows desktop (Windows users: right-click on your desktop and choose New Folder) that stores all my downloaded files. That way, I know where they all are. I call my folder "Downloads".

Web Pages:

To save a web page, you first have to get to it. Since you're looking at this web page right now, let's try saving it on your hard drive! Click on the File menu and choose Save As... (if the web page is part of a "frame", you will need to choose Save Frame As... instead).

At this point, the standard Save dialog box will pop up. This box looks different depending on whether you are using a Macintosh, Windows 3.1, or Windows 95/98/NT. But in any case, the concept is the same: you should change to the folder you designated as your "downloads" folder. Mine is on my Windows desktop, so I would click on the drop down folder menu and choose "Desktop", and then double-click on the "Downloads" folder. Remember -- you must create this folder yourself! Then, simply click on the Save button. That's it! You've saved the web page on your hard drive. To retrieve it, simply switch to your desktop, double-click on the "Downloads" folder, and then double-click on the file. Voila!

Pictures/Images:

Saving an image is only slightly different. I've included an image below that you can practice on:

Isn't it pretty? :) To save it in your downloads folder, right-click on it. A menu will pop up (this is called a "context-sensitive" menu). You will now be able to choose Save Image As... if you are using Netscape, and Save Picture As... if you are using Internet Explorer. Once you do, the very same Save dialog box will up as when you saved the web page (see above). Follow the same procedure for switching to your download folder and saving, and you're done. Once again, to retrieve the image, just go to your desktop, open the Downloads folder, and double-click on the image!

Programs and Other Files:

With most other types of files and programs, the web site will provide a link to it. A box will then pop up, asking you whether you want to open the file, or save it to disk. We don't recommend that you EVER open the file -- always save it to disk first. Of course, we've provided a sound file below that you can experiment with. It's safe to open directly, or save to a file. When you click on save, the standard dialog box will pop up again and you can save it as you did with the other files above.

Kaboom! sound file

There you have it! You are now equipped to download all kinds of files off of the Internet. Amaze your friends, befuddle your enemies, but make sure you have gobs of fun!

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