Whenever I download a program, I am asked if I want to "open" it or "save it to my computer." I never know what to choose. Can someone explain the difference to me?

Catty (who still has SOOOOOO much to learn)

Open will open it if it can with out actually saving it your HD! Otherwise it will where ever U specify!

ivnj

your browser stops and asks, "Would you like to open the file or save it to your computer?" What should you do?

Generally you want to save your downloads to disk
This means that it will be saved to your hard drive for use at a later time. You can rename the file and assign a download location. Once you finish downloading the file, you can find and open it at your leisure.
You can also save to another drive ie FLOPPY If the download Is small enough or a ZIP / CD for larger programs..

By saving to Other discs you can also run them through a virus scanner, before putting them on your system


When you choose Open
the file still downloads. It gets saved to a temp file with a temp name in the Internet Temporary History Files folder. When it has finished downloading, the file opens right away. .The disadvantage is that you don't know the name of the file because you didn't get the option to name it. This makes the file hard to find if you want to access it later




The term "Open" can have different meanings, depending on the file. For example, you may want to listen to a RealAudio file as it downloads. Choose Open. In this case you should also uncheck the box that says, "Always ask this for this type of file." That way, when you click on RealAudio in the future, it won't give you that option; it'll just open and play.


Here's another example you may run into. Microsoft Outlook wants you to open or "install from Web." The setup program will get installed from the Web and then the rest of the setup continues.


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Thank you so much, invj and koicarp for that information. That makes things a lot easier.

Catty (who has learned something today- hah!)