Downloading files from the internet has become one of the main activities when surfing the net. The existence of portals offering several kinds of contents ready to be downloaded, making it easier for users to access and store in any content they cant think of in their PCs.
Let´s see how to download files on each of the most popular web browsers and then to look and open the file/s we downloaded.

We´ll start with Internet Explorer, the built-in web browser for Microsoft Windows operative systems. Once we started downloading a file, a small yellow color bar will be displayed on the upper side of the screen.

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This bar indicates that the download process has been blocked for security reasons. To continue, right-click on the abovementioned bar and select the option Download file from the dropdown context menu.

Next, a new window will pop up where you can choose to download the file. Now, select the Save option and choose the destination folder where you want to save the file.

Thus the download will start and Internet Explorer will display a download progress bar, showing transfer speed and estimated time remaining.

Once the file finished downloading, you can either open it directly from the window or else open the destination folder where the file was saved.

Mozilla Firefox

On Firefox the procedure is a bit different. By default, the browser stores all downloads on the desktop, but we can change its destination folder whenever we want. Go to Tools > Options, and in the Main tab, you can change the download folder by clicking on “browse”.

Once we set the download folder, we are ready to download files. When downloading one, a window will allow us to choose whether we want to save the file or simply open it once the download has finished.

The download box will display the transfer and estimated time remaining so that we know how long it will take to download the file.

Once the file has finished downloading, a small message box located on the bottom right of the screen will let us know when the file has finished downloading.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome on the other hand, saves a “download” folder inside My Documents. Same as in Firefox, you can change the download folder. To do so, go to “options” and inside go to “advanced”.

Now, go to the download module and browse a new folder for your downloads.

Once we set the download folder we can start downloading files. We must take into account that –for security reason- Google Chrome will display a warning when trying to download executables files. Otherwise the download will start automatically.

When selecting a file to download, instead of displaying the download process in a download window, Google Chrome shows your active downloads on a blue light bar found on the bottom of the screen displaying the transfer speed and other download information.

When the download finishes, we can run the file by going to the download folder previously specified, or else by clicking on the light blue bar previously mentioned.

Opera

Opera features two download options: you can between a default folder or else choose the download folder where you want file to be saved. By default, Opera saves all the save in “My Documents”. In case we want to change that folder, go to Tools -> Preferences and click on the Advanced tab. Once there, we´ll find the download module where we can browse a new folder.

The default option aside, when downloading a file and after clicking save, a window will be displayed to confirm the download, allowing is to the destination folder.

Once we clicked Save, Opera will open a new tab that will display the download transfer speed of all the downloading files.

Once the file has finished downloading, a small message box located on the bottom right of the screen will let us know when the file has finished downloading.

Opening downloaded files

Once a file has finished downloading we can find it either in the default download folder or the destination folder we saved it to.
In case it´s an executable file (.exe), it´s only needed to double-click it in order to run it. Your antivirus software may check executables –as well as compressed- files for viruses, spywares or Trojans.

If we are dealing with compressed archives, right-click on it and select Extract Here. After a few seconds a folder with the same archive name will appear.

Apart from executables files and compressed archives, we have also self-extract archives, which are compressed executable archives. Open it and it´ll ask you to specify a destination folder.

These are two of the many ways files can be presented to us when downloading files. If it´s an executable file, double-click on it, and if it´s otherwise compressed, run it to specify a destination folder for the files.

Installing the software

As we have seen before, depending on the file type we are dealing with, we´ll have a folder with a setup file or a step-by-step installation wizard.
In the first case we´ll see on screen the files that were inside the compressed archive we have downloaded. What we need to do then is look for the archive icon that runs the application and that it´s usually has the software logo.

Double-clicking on the file will open the software and we can start using it.

If we are otherwise dealing with a setup file, we have to take into account that the installation process –detailed later- counts with a series of steps which and we´ll deal with most standard installations, but bear in mind that some steps might be different. The procedure is quite simple. Click Accept or Next and advanced through different set up stages. You can abort the installation by clicking Cancel.

The first thing we´ll see it´s a Welcome screen. Click Next or Accept to continue.

Now, a License Agreement may be displayed, click “Next”, “Accept” or “I Agree” to continue.

In the third step, you´ll have to specify a destination folder, which is where the application will be installed. The default directory is “C:\Program Files\<application name Programs). As well as the installation folder, the name of this folder can also be changed.

The fourth step usually indicates the folder name that will be created in the startup menu (Start -> Programs). As well as the installation folder, the name of this folder can also be changed.

The fifth step is just to confirm the installation, where you can see the overall installation steps you chose so you can check that everything is correct. If all the information is correct, click Install or Next to continue.

Thus the installation process will begin. The file copy process will depend on the hardware of your PC.

Sometimes we are given the option to run the program once the installation process has finished. If you do not want to run it, uncheck the option.

As we can see the software is ran and ready to use. If the application displays any license-related message warning, just skip it.