Hotkey North Shore
Internet
Useful software available on
the web - usually free!
To get any of the software on these sites, first go to the site using
the hyperlink text (in blue) below.
Getting There
Once you reach the site's homepage - which will usually display it's contents
as another set of hyperlinks - you can navigate - surf - along the various
option paths until you find what you want. Once found it's a simple matter
of clicking on the hyperlink that says something like "Download xxxxx for
Win95" or whatever. (Remember to download only software suitable
for your system!)
What Goes Where
The software is usually in the form of a compressed (xxxx.zip) file or
a self-executing file (xxxx.exe). When downloading starts, a dialogue box
will ask you where you want to store it; You should have - or make - a
Temp directory / folder, or one perhaps called Downloads, with a subdirectory
for each downloaded file named for the program it contains (the files themselves
often have incomprehensible acronyms for names!). If you have the spare
hard disc space this is useful as a time-saving backup if your program
later becomes corrupted or needs reinstalling for whatever reason - it
takes plenty of time to download a multi-megabyte file!
Downloading
During downloading the dialogue box will tell you the speed of the download,
the percentage completed and the time remaining. Since speed of transfer
(download and upload) can vary significantly - despite your 33.6 modem
you will seldom download faster than 3k per second by phone line due to
the other demands on the processor of the host computer - so if you see
that the download is working at less than 1kps, think about canceling and
waiting to see if it gets any faster in a few hours. One tip is to access
these sites when its the wee hours of the morning in their part of the
world - even the local computer nerds have to sleep occasionally!
Installing
Once downloaded, locate the downloaded file (that's why I suggested you
name the sub-folder for the program name!) and double-click on it to start
it self-extracting, or to start unzipping it. (If it is zipped, and you
have no zip program, or yours is out of date, simply go to www.winzip.com
and download the latest version - its free!) Either file type should launch
its own install suite, which will guide you through the install process.
They usually show you an agreement form about the same length again as
a combined Ulysses and War and Peace to start with. They
say you have to read it all, and then click somewhere to indicate that
you have understood it all and agree to it all, even the bit about donating
both eyes and your liver next Wednesday week. (If you ever meet anyone
who has actually read one of these things, you should treat that person
with respect but also keep yourself strategically located between them
and any sharp objects in the room.) After the agreement, you will be asked
where you want to put the program (be polite, now!), and the install wizard
will suggest where it wants to save it. Unless you have a huge reason to
do otherwise, go with the wizard's suggestion. Never you mind why, just
take my word! It might offer one or two other options, just select what
you want or take the suggested option, and the installation will complete
itself pretty quickly. Once finished, it will either offer you a launch
icon for the program (which you can drag and drop onto your desktop, if
you want) or it will inform you that you or it needs to restart the computer
in order for the new program to function. So you reboot. And that's that.
Enjoy!
The Sites
One of the greatest sites for shareware - a huge selection! Make sure you
select a download site from the list that's near to you!
http://www.tucows.com
For a wonderful little applet that sits on the side of your screen and
tells you which of your pals are online -
http://www.mirabilis.com/
http://www.mirabilis.com/downloadupdate.html#download
This site is a multiple mirror site of some interesting software. It's
in Dublin, Ireland, so under least pressure during daytime in Australia.
http://online.thecia.ie/
A site of marvelous graphics programs, with a GIF image animator to make
your own animated pix for your website! Also a novelist, a bookshop and
publisher, and a gallery of Baroque art.
http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/alchemy.html
Homesite of CorelDraw and WordPerfect and possibly many more by the time
I have written this sentence. There's a nice little applet which enables
Corel graphics to download in vector format instead of GIF or JPG, thus
saving many valuable baud clicks.
http://www.corel.com/
Ever hear of them? Surprise, they actually offer something free. Gatesie
will be LIVID!
http://www.microsoft.com/products/default.asp
A program to enable recording and playback of audio on your websites. Better
luck with it than I had!
http://www.echospeech.com/speech.htm
Sorry - no free big black creamy-headed pints of stout - but there's a
wealth of goodies here, and some wonderful screensavers.
http://www.guinness.com/hours/deluxe95.html
A composite site with links to lots of interesting freebie software download
sites!
http://www.drdownload.com/freebies.htm
This little number once installed lurks in the bowels of your computer
and while you are not using your modem to up- or download it can be taking
in new software. Once it has downloaded the software, it slips you a message
on your screen - "Psst! Joe sent me ... wanna try XYZ program - it's free!"
A good one!
www.backweb.com
Actually I can't remember what this one is. Try it anyhow!
http://www.bcs-online.com/webc.cgi?JumpTo=/channel/channel.htm
That's enough for you for now! If you find any interesting download
sites, please let us know - with your comments on the software - and we'll
put it on this webpage! (Maybe. No promises.)
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Contact me -
Vincent O'Connor
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