Windows

Native Windows shareware applications are probably the easiest to install of all. There are two types of Windows files that you are likely to come across: ZIP and EXE files. Windows should be able to let you know what kind of files you have in your drives. 

By default, Windows recognises EXE files as applications, so this is the name that will appear alongside them in Windows Explorer. (Windows Explorer is a utility for managing the files on your computer, and shouldn’t be confused with Internet Explorer, which is a Web browser.) If an application is distributed as an EXE file you need to run this file to install the application. It simultaneously extracts and manages the installation of the application. A ZIP file is a package of installation files (including the main installer application) compressed into a single file or archive. The compressed files must be unpacked into their own folder before you can start installing them. 

Windows will only be able to identify your ZIP files if your system has an application that can read and decompress them. The most popular is of these is WinZip. Invariably WinZip is distributed as a self-installing EXE file. To install it you’ll first need to follow the instructions for installing applications distributed in the EXE format. Then you can start decompressing ZIP archives and installing the software contained within them. 

Installing an application that is packaged in a single EXE file contained on the CD is a simple process. Depending on your preference ,you can install in one or two stages. The first process involves running the EXE file directly from the CD; the second involves saving the file to a folder on your hard drive first, and then running the file.

EXE files

1. Click on the link to the software on the cover CD. Your browser will ask you whether want you want to run the file from its current location or save it disk. Subsequent dialog boxes will probably use the term ‘download’, which could be confusing for some newer users. Your browser reads the CD as it would Web content. It assumes that files are being downloaded when in reality they are being copied from the CD to a folder you specify on your hard drive. 

2. When you’re presented with the prompt, you will need to read the dialog box to make sure that it is an executable file (the file will be called something like SETUP.EXE or INSTALL.EXE). Once you’ve established that it is an executable file it makes no difference whether you choose to run the file directly from the CD or save it to your hard drive before running it.

3. If you choose the latter option you have to locate the folder where the file has been saved and then run it from there. Running the file is simply a matter of double-clicking it.

Note: If you run the installation file from your CD-ROM drive and find that the drive is having difficulty reading the CD during installation, try saving the file to your hard drive first and running it from there. 

ZIP files

Follow the instructions above to install WinZip. If you have installed WinZip Windows should make it the default application for managing ZIP files, which means WinZip will automatically open when double-clicked or run by another means.

1. Click on the icon for the ZIP file. Your browser will ask you whether you want to run the file form its current location or save it to disk. If you click run, WinZip will open and show you the contents of the file automatically. 

2. Click the ‘extract’ button and choose a temporary folder to store the set of installation files.

3. Once the files have been extracted, go to the folder where you unpacked them and look for a file called SETUP.EXE or INSTALL.EXE.

4. Double-click the file. The application’s installer will start. Follow the instructions on your screen.