Treasures abound on the Net. All you need is your Internet connection, a couple of handy utilities, and a little downloading savvy. Rose Vines explains.

The downloader's toolkit
To download files, you need two things: a browser or FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program, and a decompression utility.

That's the basic kit. To that, you should add one, possibly two, other items. The first is an anti-virus program. The second, a download resume utility.

Any competent browser supports file downloads automatically. Whenever you come across a downloadable file on a Web site, you can use your browser to download it.

If you're into serious downloading, an FTP program, such as Cute FTP or WS_FTP, offers advantages over a browser. FTP downloads are normally faster than browser-based downloads. They also let you download multiple files concurrently, perform timed downloads, and get additional control over the downloading process.

An anti-virus program is essential if you download files from the Internet. Although the danger from viruses is often blown out of proportion, chances are that you'll eventually snare one in your net if you download frequently. Make sure you install anti-virus protection before you start downloading, and then check every file before you open it on your hard disk. There are dozens of anti-virus programs available, including Norton Anti-Virus (www.symantec.com), McAfee's (www.mcafee.com)  and Thunderbyte (www.thunderbyte.com).

Finally, a download resume utility can come in handy if you regularly find yourself disconnected in the middle of downloads. A resume utility can reconnect and recommence your download from where it left off.

We've included a complete downloader's kit on this month's (May '98) cover CD-ROM.

Freeware and public domain software is software available free of charge. Netscape and Internet Explorer are two examples of freeware.

Shareware is try-before-you-buy software. You can download it and give it a test run without paying anything. If you continue to use it after the trial period, you must register it and pay a fee. Shareware is usually cheaper than equivalent commercial software and its quality ranges from abysmal to excellent. Shareware makes up the bulk of software available on the Internet. Most of the software in our Downloader's Toolkit is shareware.

Demo software is software that allows you to test the features of a product, while not being fully functional. Some demos are merely guided tours of the program; others are fully functioning except for some key feature (such as having the save or print command disabled).

Trial software is fully functional commercial software which you can test for a specific period. As soon as that period is up, the software stops functioning unless you purchase it and get an unlocking code.

Commercial software. An increasing number of companies are selling their commercial products online. You usually need a credit card to purchase such software. Once you've handed over your plastic, you'll be able to download a full version of the software.

There are a few problems with commercial software downloads. Firstly, you may face a very large and expensive download, which you need to factor in when assessing the cost. Secondly, some online versions omit extras and add-ons to limit the size of the download. You should check to see if you're missing out on anything by purchasing an online version. Thirdly, unless you make a full backup of your original download, it's easy to lose your sole copy of such software if you have a hard disk crash or accidentally delete the program. Some companies only let you download the software once, which can leave you in a tough position. You should make sure you check the download policy before you purchase such software.

Updates and patches. Many companies provide free updates to programs online, and patches to fix bugs in existing versions.

Beta software is pre-release software still being tested. Hundreds of companies conduct 'public betas', where they let anyone download their test software and get feedback on how well it performs. You should be wary of using beta software unless you're an experienced computer user: by its very nature it tends to be buggy, less than fully functional and it may even harm your data. On the other hand, beta software is at the cutting edge of what's happening in the computing world, so trying it out can be lots of fun.

As well as programs, you can also download all sorts of other files: Web pages and sites, documents, templates, multimedia files, and so on.

There are also sites which gather together files or links to files and categorise them. Some of the best sites are:

• CNet's Download.com (www.download.com)  which describes and rates tens of thousands of files.
• Jumbo (www.jumbo.com) has about a quarter of a million files and links, sorted into channels such as business, kids, games, homework, Internet and developer.
• TUCOWS (www.tucows.com) stands for The Ultimate Collection of Winsock Software. Tucows and its mirror sites feature communications and Internet-related software. Mirror sites, by the way, contain copies of the files found on popular sites. Tucows, for instance, is so popular that it has hundreds of mirror sites all around the world. Instead of trying to compete with hundreds of thousands of people trying to access the same files on the same site, you can select a local mirror site and download files faster. The main Tucows mirror sites in Australia are www.tucows.trump.net.au (Tas), www.tucows.hunter.net.au (NSW), www.topend.com.au/tucows  (NT), www.tucows.nt.gov.au (NT) and www.tucows.skynet.net.au (Vic).
• Strouds Consummate Winsock Applications (http://strouds.ameritel.net/strouds), like Tucows, features Internet and communications software. Strouds provides program ratings and reviews.
• For games, Happy Puppy (www.happypuppy.com) is one of the best destinations.
• You can also search for files using a number of search engines. Filez (www.filez.com) is one of the best. The metasearch engine, Dogpile (www.dogpile.com), also searches both FTP and Web sites for files.

Basic downloading

Unzipping with WinZip

With Communicator 4, Netscape has finally introduced resumed downloads. If you lose your connection while downloading a file, here's how you can recommence the download from where it left off:

1. Reconnect to the download site.

2. Click the file link to start the download once more, making sure to save the file to the same location as before.

3. Netscape will prompt "This file already exists, do you want to replace it?" to which you should reply "Yes".

Unfortunately, this doesn't always work. Some proxy servers can't handle resumed downloads and you may find you're unable to salvage a particular download.

If you're using Internet Explorer, there's no resume feature. It was in an early beta of the product, but failed to make the final version. However, there are alternatives.

GetRight (included on this month's - May '98 - CD-ROM) is a download resume utility that works with both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. GetRight monitors your operations within the browser and intervenes when you commence a download. It handles the download (infinitely better than your browser could ever do on its own) and it includes the option to resume downloads when they fail.

Once again, some servers don't support resumed downloads. The good thing is, GetRight displays this information when it commences the download, so you're forewarned.

One caveat: GetRight and the WinZip Browser Support Add-On (also included on the May '98 CD-ROM) don't work together. Given GetRight's extreme usefulness, you'll probably want to use it and give the WinZip add-on the shove.

Check out GetRight's other features. It lets you queue multiple downloads, set a 'speed limit' so your downloads don't hog all your bandwidth, and automate connections and reconnections. When a file is available from multiple mirror sites, GetRight will check the speed of each connection and select the fastest for the download.