People browse the internet to learn and discover new things. It takes a bit of curiosity to find what you are looking for but the goal is to find it. Today it seems that more people are trying out new software they believe will be essential for their PC or Mac. So before trying out new free or trial software, heed some warnings and take precautions for the download.
Figure out what you want to download
If you don't know what you want off the bat, two good authoritative places to look are download.com and softpedia.com. Use the search button to narrow the field down to the ones you are interested in. From there filter the results to pinpoint exactly what you want.
Read the reviews!!!
If there are no reviews to read, Google it! Reading reviews are important in downloading something. The reviews tell others what they have experienced to prevent others from going through the same thing or to recommend others to use the product. Although there are some that will not be honest, most are.
Back up your computer
Create a backup copy of all your important files and folders, including documents, photos, music and videos. Transfer them to your flash drive or portable hard drive; you can also burn those to a CD or DVD as data. Make sure that you have a backup copy of your whole computer as well. It should have come with your computer when you bought it; if not you can do a system restore before downloading.
Download
Once you decide this is what you want to try out, follow the instructions to download. When prompted don't press "run," press "save" to save it to either the desktop or a flash drive. Allow the file to download.
Scan the downloaded file for viruses
Even though the download process already scanned the file, it doesn't hurt to scan it once more, just to be safe. Some anti-virus software allows you to scan a file or folder instead of scanning the whole drive. Depending on your software, you can either select the file and right click or open up your program and select that choice from there. It will let you know when it is done.
Run the software
Accept the agreement then follow the prompts. Reject any and all additional software or special offers that you don't want. Then try out the software You will either keep the software or uninstall. If you decide to uninstall, uninstall through the start menu and find the folder it came with (if the option is available) or uninstall through the control panel.
It is always a risk when trying new software. Heed the warnings and you should be fine.
Tonya Reynolds - My life lesson would be to just try, 'cause you'll never know where writing or anything else can take you.
