In this article you will learn to:
*- Open "My Computer" and create new folders on your hard drive
*- Connect to a website and download a program from the Internet

Opening "My Computer" and Creating New Folders Now that you know how to access your hard drive, we are going to use that knowledge to create some folders. If you think of your hard drive as a file cabinet, then the concept of file folders is an easy one to grasp. The difference is that in Windows you can place a folder 'in' another folder, and other folders can go into that one. Once you grasp that concept, the rest is easy. Our goal is to create a place into which you will download a program from the Internet.

1) Let's open "My Computer" once again. It can be full-screen size for now.

2) Find your C:\ drive and double-click on that folder in the left window (that means that you place your cursor over the folder and rapidly click the left button twice) or juct click on the "+" next to it. Again, let me remind you that some of your folders will have slightly different names to them from those you will see in these examples.

3) Highlight (select) the "C:\" drive in the LEFT pane by LEFT clicking on it one time. It should look something like this:

4) Now that the "C:\" is highlighted from the 'click' in the last step, go to the top menu bar of "My Computer" and click on where it says "File". That will give you a drop-down menu (a list of choices). From that menu choose "New." In the Next menu that pops up (really, to be accurate in this case, it popped 'out') choose "Folder".as you see I have done here:

The example above shows my system, so the 'name' of the drive at the top and the choices in the menus will be different for you.

5) Now look at the right side window. At the bottom you will see a new folder. You will know it is the one you just created because it is named "New Folder" and the name is highlighted as you see in the above example. You will also notice that Windows placed the cursor in the name area and it is flashing (blinking). It is waiting for you to type a name in this folder. We are going to call it "DOWNLOAD". This is a convenient place to put any downloaded files and it makes them really easy to find in the future.

Many people would rather have ALL their folders and files in the "My Documents" folder. if that is what you wish, feel free to create the folder there. Just modify the rest of these instructions to match your choice.

Connecting To A Website and Downloading a File 6) Now connect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP)- that is, go online, and open your web browser (Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, or whatever you have to browse the World Wide Web (WWW).

7) We are now going to go a website, but NOT YET! Be sure to have a copy of these instructions handy before you go! While you are still viewing this very page, go to 'File' and hit 'Print'.
[ADVANCED STUDENTS: If you want to be fancy, open a new browser window and size this window and the new one so they appear side-by side- this window with the instructions, and the browser in the second window.]

8) We are now off to download an application from the Internet. That means that you will go to a website and select a file to be sent through the phone lines from that website to your computer. We are headed off to the ZoneLabs website to get a copy of "ZoneAlarm." This is a firewall program that will isolate you computer from the Internet so that only those programs to which you give permission can get on the Internet, and so that other computers cannot "see" your computer online. This is a software firewall. It is free and it works great! I consider it a "must-have" application for anyone connected to the Internet.

9) Feel free to look around there as the site has a lot of good information, but you can get to the page you need by clicking "THIS LINK". The download link on that page says "Download Free ZoneAlarm."

10) Underneath where it says "ZoneAlarm" click on "Download". Be sure to ALWAYS select "Save to Disk." That is the safest choice.

11) Wow! Did you see that! There, right in your face is a new dialogue box called "Save As" almost like the one above (the name on the top bar of that new box). At the top of the box is white text window with the words "Save in" to the left of it. You have to navigate to the "Download" folder we created earlier to appear in this window like you see in the example... Hmmm... How to do that? Follow along...

12) Click on the little black triangle to the right side of the text window ("1" in the above image).

13) Now, in the "mini-explorer" that appears, find "C:/" and navigate to the "DOWNLOAD" folder you created. Select the "DOWNLOAD" folder by clicking on it.

14) "DOWNLOAD" should now be in the little window labeled "Save in" at the top (#2 above). That is where we want the file we are about to save to go. Now you can hit the "Save" button on the lower right side of the "Save as.." dialogue box (#3 above). When you click "Save" you are presented with a box from your Browser that shows the progress of the download.... Now we wait.

15) When the program is through downloading, open Explorer and find the "Download" folder again. Open the folder (by double-left clicking on it) and check to see that the file (named something like "zlsSetup_51_001.exe" is in it. If it is, you can close your browser, and you can also close your connection to your ISP. If you don't see it, don't panic yet! In "My Computer", go to "View" and choose 'Refresh' from the drop down box. If you already had "My Computer" open it may not have changed since you added the ZoneAlarm program, so you need to make it 're-list' the files and folders. That's what Refresh does. If it is there it is time to go to part three....

Now You Are ready For Lesson 3

NEW USERS TUTORIAL Table Of Contents Click on the dot next to each title to go to that page

Lesson Introduction

Lesson 1

NEXT- Lesson 3

Back to F.R.C.N.U.


Updated Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Lessons For New Users - Lesson 2