A web page may look like a seamless unit, but actually it is a compilation of several files and several types of files. The words are either .text or .html. The photos are image files such as .gif or .jpg. That animated banner like rolling waves in water may be a Java file or something similar. A video file is often an . mpeg. An audio file can be a .wav or another type of sound file. How you download a file depends on its size, format, and your reason for downloading it. Generally, you can choose where to store the file (i.e., on a floppy disc, zip drive or hard drive), what to name it, and what type to save it as. Today's browsers are intuitive and will often walk you through the process.
The first type of file most people download is a program file. Perhaps it is a software "patch" to fix a bug or glitch found after the original product was shipped, or maybe it is a program that allows you to view other types of files. Web pages that download software usually ask you to click to start the process. At this point, your browser will ask you if you want to "save to disk." Tell it where you want to store the file, and note the location so you can retrieve the file later. The computer will then automatically begin the download process.
What you will have downloaded is usually an "executable" file, such as .exe, which you can double-click on to install. For some files you may have to use the "Run" feature instead of double-clicking. When the program file is comprised of several files or is compressed (such as a .zip file), you will need another software program to open it before it can be downloaded.
Maybe you have found an information-loaded website and you want to download some of its material. While bookmarking is always a good idea, a website may disappear without notice, so it is best to grab and save material when you can. Remember, though, that this is someone else's work and there may be copyright issues to be resolved before you can use the information. For this example, let us assume the information you want to download is some form of text. The text could be embedded in the web page itself, or it could be a separate file that can be downloaded in its entirety.
If the text is part of the overall web page, you can simply save the page. Actually, when you go to your browser and choose "Save," you will only be getting a portion of the page. Remember: all those banners, dancing dogs and other eye-catching graphics are separate image files. If you "Save As" .html, you can re-open the file while offline using your browser, and usually the page will look like it did online, except sections with graphics will become little boxes. If you "Save As" .txt, you will have a plain text file which can be opened in your computer's most basic text editor, such as Windows Notepad. Depending on your computer's configuration, you can later convert this.
Now, you can revert to the old "cut and paste" method to manipulate text information as you can with any text file. If you have inadvertently copied some of the document's HTML code, then you may see some strange symbols. Sometimes the text is stored as a separate file that can be downloaded in its entirety. One of the most popular formats for this is .pdf (Portable Document Format or PDF), which uses Adobe Acrobat software. Acrobat is a popular format for several reasons:
You must have an Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files. The U.S. government has endorsed using PDF files, and its usage is widespread, especially since the Reader program is free - download it from Adobe Systems. Downloading documents such as PDF files is very similar to downloading a program. Again, you may actually be downloading from an FTP site. Usually there will be a link that you can click on that will make your browser do most of the work. Let us say you want to send something to someone via an email. First you must highlight - select - what you want to send. There are several ways to do that. If you want the entire text of the document on the screen, you can hit "Select All" under "Edit" on your browser, you will be able to highlight all the text you want to send. Or, you could press "Ctrl+A" to select all of the text.
If you want only a portion of the entire text, you can click the mouse at the beginning of a section and drag the mouse to the end of the selection or, you can also click at the beginning of a section - anywhere, actually - and hold down the "Shift" key on the keyboard, and use the arrow keys to select the text you want to copy. Once you have the text highlighted, you can choose the Copy command from the "Edit" menu. Alternatively, you can use "Ctrl+C" to copy the selected text into the Windows clipboard.
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