A dummy's guide to downloading programs from the internet

OK, so you have found great piece of software that you would like to try out on your computer. The big Download Free button is there staring at you, and you are tempted – because if it works the way it says it does, you will be able to rule the world with this fancy gadget!

But wait... IS it safe? or will an ugly monster rear its 3 heads and make life a misery...

This post will give you a few tips on safe-guarding against some of the pitfalls associated with downloading programs from the internet. Because let’s face it – with zillions of files online, you are bound to stumble across an unsavoury one at some point or other...

First, put on your detective hat and do a little background research on the file or tool you want to download: Run a search using keywords relating to the file or name of the tool - make sure to include words like review, feedback, comments, good, bad etc in your search phrase (I use Google - but you can use any search engine you like). Try to be critical when you scan the search results... “Fabulous tool, an absolute dream to work with...” may sound great – but only if it was written by an end user (i.e. not the maker/vendor of the product) – check the URL (website address) for each review, as this will help you somewhat in determining which reviews are genuine and which are not. For example, if you are looking for reviews on ‘Fantastico Photo Editor” and the best review comes from www.allproducts.com/downloads/review/fantastico - you can say AHA! and tip your detective hat before moving on.

Things to look out for BEFORE you download:

• Is it really FREE? Often software is marketed as "Free Download", which in general means that you can download the software for free (wow!), but you will have to pay in order to use it... 
• If you are looking for free software, you might want to check out SourceForge or do a search for Open Source software bearing the GNU General Public Licence.
• Do you need to register before you download? If you do, it is generally a good idea to avoid using your real name and main email address (it takes 2 minutes to setup a free webmail account with Gmail, Yahoo or any of the other clients out there), that way you can avoid unwanted spam in your main inbox.
• If the site you are thinking of downloading from looks fishy (in any way) - leave the site and go looking elsewhere! For example; content on page appears to be written by a 12 year-old or someone with little grasp on the language they have used (think cut and paste Google translator...), fake looking testimonials and success stories, dubious (or no) information about the site owner, and so on...
• If you think the software may be copy-protected, counterfeit or 'not the real deal' - be very careful, you could land yourself in more trouble than you bargained for...

If your detective work suggests that you have in fact found the next best thing to sliced bread...

Get ready to download:

• Click the Download button (or right click and select 'save as' if there isn't a button)
• Depending on your settings the file will either download automatically to your 'Downloads' folder – or you select the folder you want to save it to before download commences. Either option is fine, as long as you know where to find it once it has downloaded. If the file is a Torrent,  you will need a special program (for example uTorrent or BitTorrent) to download the file. 
• Run a virus scan on the downloaded file. Generally all you have to do is right click the file and your virus software should be in the menu with a 'Scan with xx' command. Alternatively you can open your virus program, and from within the program navigate to the place you saved the file to perform a scan.
• If you want to play things really safe you can create a System Restore Point BEFORE you install the program (the steps below are for Windows 7): 
• Click on the Start button > right click on computer > select properties > then on the left side of the page that opens click: Advanced System Settings
• Click the System Protection tab and click the Create button (see below) 
• In the next popup type a name to identify the restore point (the time and date will automatically be set to the current time). If your computer behaves strange after installing a program, you can revert to the way things were before the event by clicking System Restore, selecting the restore point you just created.

Time to install and see if the software lives up to your expectations

1. If the program is small it may simply be an executable file (.exe), which you double-click to start the installation.
2. The software may be compressed in a .zip .rar or .gz file – to unpack these types of files you need something that will extract the files inside. If you find you don't have the required application to do this (double-clicking the compressed file will generally alert you that your computer is not going to make things quite as smooth as you had hoped...) you can download 7-zip (which is free and easy to use, although you may want to run the steps above and not take my word for it). 
3. Once you have extracted the files – double-click the .exe file to start the installation. 
4. During the installation – make sure that you are aware of any automatic 'bonus inclusions' and un-check anything you do not want – generally this would be everything but the actual software you downloaded. Common so called bonus inclusions are: 30 day free Norton trial, internet search and tool bars, PC tools registry mechanic, Make xx  my home page, Make xx my default search engine... and so on. 

If all went well and you are happy with the software – fabulous. Time spent safe-guarding your computer is never wasted. However, sometimes things don't go to plan – maybe the software doesn't perform as well as you hoped, or you have to upgrade to a paid (ridiculously over-priced) version to use the exact features you wanted, or your computer starts behaving strangely and you think it is because of this new addition...

Tips for when things don't go to plan

• The paid upgrade you didn't want. I would avoid paying for an upgrade to something that was supposedly free to use. You may be able to find an open source program that can do the exact same job.
• Need to Uninstall? Go to Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features > Find the program in the list and select it. Then at the top of the list (top of the page) click the Uninstall link (and make sure to click OK to remove all the files/features associated with the program. Once the uninstall process is finished you may want to go to your Program Files folder (generally in the C drive, but could be different depending on where you install programs on your computer) and delete the folder associated with the program you just uninstalled – if it is still lurking there...
• If things are still not right after you removed the program, you may want to do a System Restore – to the point you created earlier.

Hopefully this guide gives you some insight into what to look out for when downloading programs. There are plenty of fabulous free tools and resources out there, as long as you arm yourself with a little research and knowledge about what you are downloading.