01-2002

DOWNLOADING

One of the great things about the Internet is the number of interesting things to try. But to get some of them, you have to download them, or transfer a copy from the Internet to our PC. And once you accomplish that, you have to open them. It sounds complicated. Downloading and opening programs are really easy, once you learn the steps.

Before that, let's get one small detail out of the way. You need a specific folder on your hard drive to save your downloads. This makes finding the files easier.

You may have a My Download Files folder. If not, create one. Just open Windows
Explorer. Find the place on the drive where you'd like to save your downloads. Once there, from the menu select File>>New>>Folder. Name it and you're done.

America Online users have something called a Download Manager that keeps track of files downloaded. It's accessible off the File menu. If you can't find files you downloaded using AOL, check the download folder in the AOL program folder.

There are countless downloadable programs on the Internet, called shareware or freeware. Freeware programs are free, of course. You're expected to pay for shareware programs, but you can try them out first.

Most shareware and freeware programs found online are in a compressed format. This means they have been run through a program that sharply reduces their size. This is done to make the download faster. The files look like this:” holycow.zip or holycow.exe.”

When you click on a download link, you get a dialog box that says "Save" or "Open". Pick Save and direct the download to your My Download Files folder.

When the download completes, go to Windows Explorer. Open the My Download Files folder. The file will be there. If the file has an exe extension, double click it. When it opens, follow the instructions to install the program.

If it has a zip extension, you need a special program to open it. There are many programs available to open zip files

An important warning: Virus-check any file that you download. Check your antivirus software's options. Most programs will scan a downloaded file automatically for viruses and other malicious threats.

                                   OUTLOOK EXPRESS 5
      Backup e-mail files

From the Tools menu, select Options, and then click the Maintenance tab, and select Store Folder. Highlight the folder location and press Ctrl and C to copy. Click cancel twice to close the dialog box, and then go to Start>>Run, and in the Open box press Ctrl and V to paste the folder location. Click OK, and on the Edit menu, click Select All, and then Copy, and close the window.

Next, right-click on an empty space on your desktop, choose New, and select Folder.
Enter "Mail Backup" (no quotes) for the folder name (or a name of your choosing), and hit Enter. Now double-click the new folder to open it up, and from the Edit menu select Paste, creating a backup of all your mail files.

      Backup Address Book

From the File menu, select Export, and then choose Address Book. Click Text File
(comma separated values) and select Export. Next, select Browse and navigate to the Mail Backup folder you created above.

In the File Name box, type in Address Book backup, select Save and then click Next.
Now, select the check boxes for the fields you want to export, and click Finish and select OK, then Close.

      Import OE5 files

From the File menu, select Import and choose Messages. In the "Select an e-mail program to import from" box, select Microsoft Outlook Express 5 and click Next. Now, select "Import mail from an OE5 store directory" and click OK. Select Browse, and navigate to the Mail Backup folder on your Desktop (or where ever you've saved it). Click OK, and select Next. Click All folders, select Next, and then click the Finish button.

      Import OE5 Address Book

From the File menu, choose Import, and then click Other Address Book. Select Text File (comma separated values), choose Import, and then click Browse. Navigate to the Mail Backup folder, select the backup.csv file, and click Open Now, click Next, select the Finish button, click OK and then click Close.

                                        OUTLOOK 2000

     Backup e-mail files or Contacts

From the File menu, choose Import and Export. In the Choose an action to perform
window, select Export to a file, and click Next. In Create a file of type, choose Personal Folder File (.pst), and click Next.

Now, in the Select the folder to export from, select Personal Folders (scroll to the
Contacts folder to back that up, or a specific folder if that's all you want to backup) and check the Include Subfolders box. Click Next, enter "mailbackup" (no quotes) in the Save exported file as field, and click the Browse button. Navigate to a location where you want to save the file, and click OK.

      Import e-mail files or Contacts

From the File menu, choose Import and Export. In the Choose an action to perform
window, select Import from another program or file, and click Next. In Select file type to import from, scroll down to Personal Folder File (.pst), and click Next. Now, click the Browse button and navigate to the location of your previously saved backup. Click Next, and then click Finish.

                                            EUDORA 5

      Backup e-mail files

Create a new folder called Backup (or a name of your choosing). Using Explorer, navigate to your Eudora folder (usually C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Eudora Mail). Select and copy the corresponding mail folders you want to backup (named "in.mbx," "out.mbx," "myfiles.mbx," etc.) and paste the files into your Backup folder.

      Backup Address Book

From the Eudora folder, find the files named nndbase.txt and nndbase.toc, and copy to
your Backup folder.

These items of information come from the Kim Komando Show