Easy-Key and WEBBS

Installing Programs on Windows

If you are still fairly hazy about what happens "underneath the bonnet" of your computer, you may find it helpful to read these notes before installing the Easy-KeyDownloadManager. Computers work by processing "files". These files can either be lists of instructions (called "program" or "application" files) or they can contain information in the form of pictures of words ("data" files). They are all kept in folders (or "directories") and arranged like file structurethe root system of a tree. The folder at the top is called the "root". It will contain a number of other folders and files, each of which can contain other folders and files, and so on, theoretically until you run out of space!

Many computers have just one place to store files called a "drive". In most laptops, this will be a "hard disk" - a device that can store millions of folders and files. Nowadays, there are all sorts of devices available to use as "drives". These devices may be things like "memory sticks" or "external drives" that are physically plugged into the computer, or they may be on other computers that are accessed via the internet. (This is often referred to as storage "in the cloud".)

Many older computers had more than one "drive" and often had a couple of "hard disks", a "CD-Rom" drive and perhaps even a "floppy drive". The convention was to give each drive a different letter of the alphabet to distinguish between them. Another important convention was to separate the "program" files from the "data" files. A large "hard disk" could be divided into different partitions and each partition could be treated as a separate "drive" with its own alphabetic character.

Every Windows system has an important software program (or application) that helps you to see what files and folders you have in your system. The generic term for this is a "file manager", but in Windows terminology, it is known as "Windows Explorer". Somewhat confusingly, another important software program, known generically as a "browser", was known in earlier Windows systems as "Internet Explorer" but has now been replaced by "Edge".

Every Windows system has another important location called the "desktop". This forms the backdrop to the main page that appears when you start your computer. It usually contains a lot of "icons" (small pictures) that provide short-cuts to program files. When you double-click the left-hand button of your mouse on one of these icons, it causes that program to start (or, in computer terms: "to run").

When you click on the "Easy-KeyDownloadManager" button, you will be downloading and saving a file called "Easy-KeyDownloadManagerInstall.exe" to your computer. The file itself will be placed into a special folder used by your "browser" program, but a "short-cut" to this file will appear on your "desktop" as well. This file is a self-extracting "Zip" file that contains two other files. "Zip" files compress one or more files to make them quicker to upload or download on the internet. Different "browsers" will handle the process in slightly different ways. (See the section on "Browser Programs" on the "Software" menu above for further details.)

When you download a program, your "browser" may run it automatically, or you may have to tell it to run. When the installation file for the "Easy-KeyDownloadManager" has been downloaded, you will have to "run" it to "unzip" its contents. You may see a security warning when you run the file, asking you to confirm your instruction. You can trust this program, so click on "OK" or whatever tells the computer to continue. Two files will be created: "EasyKeyDownloadManager.dat" and "Easy-KeyDownloadManager.exe". The second of these two files is the Easy-KeyDownloadManager program file and your system should create a new short-cut icon on your "desktop" so that you can run it again whenever you need to.

Ideally, you should save the keyboarding ("data") files that you create in a separate place from the program itself. Every Windows system sets up a default folder called "My Documents" (or simply "Documents"). Creating a new folder here is a good place to store your keyboarding files. It's also good to get into the habit of "backing up" these files from time to time. This means that you should copy them to another drive - such as a memory stick - that can either be removed from your computer and stored separately, or exists "in the cloud" (that is, on an external server that is accessed via the internet).

 

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