? DOWNLOADING ?
Quick Reference For The Basics of Downloading
General: This document is based on the use of Windows 95-98-ME-NT-2000, but should be useful for users of other operating systems. Internet pages are viewed with a browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape) and are created in a "language" called html. Html is very efficient but does not lend itself to formatted printing as most people are used to. If you use the print key to print a web page it is impossible to control where page breaks are or exactly how the page prints out. To provide much more usable documents many files on this site are stored on the site server so they can be downloaded from the server to your computer. Usually these files are provided as either a Microsoft WORD (.doc) file or as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file, or both.
Downloading Word Files When you see something like US SAILING Championship Events Notice of Race (NOR) (Word) it means that the file is available for downloading in Word format. There are two methods of saving these files. They are both fairly straightforward, but the second method described will always work (Click here to go directly to that description) while the other method will work if and only if you are running a current version of Microsoft Internet Explorer (5.x or now 6.x) and you have Microsoft Word installed. In this case when you click on the link, you will automatically open a page in Internet Explorer running Microsoft Word and the document will be displayed as follows:
Look at the top line and you see "(Read-Only)". This means that you cannot edit the document at this point, and that is because the document is still located for all practical purposes on the web server. Click on one of the following to save the file:
OR
When you select either of the above options, you get a window like:
Note the file name (lower center) is same
as the name of the file being downloaded, but the folder name for the
storage location While the above process usually works on the type of setup described (IE and Word) it doesn't always work. "Not working" means that the appropriate windows will not open and you just can't save the file this way. There is one way to select a file for downloading and then save it that always works: US SAILING
Championship Events Notice of Race (NOR) (Word) or
(PDF) Click on link (Links are almost always blue in
color and underlined) with the right mouse button and you get a menu like: Select
Here again, leave the file name and type at the bottom alone and select a folder to save the file in.
It is very important that you keep a current version of the reader on your computer. Just go to the same site for downloading and check to see what version is there. You can check the version of Adobe (or any program) by clicking on the Help drop down selector and selecting the "About _____" item. You can always read a pdf file with a version of the reader that is more current than the version of Acrobat that was used to create the document, but you can not always read a pdf file with a version of the reader that is older than the version of Acrobat that was used to create the document. Why use Adobe pdf files? There are a lot of reasons for using this format, but the most important ones are:
Adobe pdf files are used for forms and things that should not be changed. In addition a pdf version of a Word document is often provided so that people that have no other way to get the file (not running a computer that can run or has Microsoft Word on it) can at least have something to work from. Downloading Adobe pdf Files When you see something like US SAILING Championship Events Notice of Race (NOR) (PDF) it means that the file is available for downloading in Adobe pdf format. There are two methods of saving these files. They are both fairly straightforward, but the second method described will always work (Click here to go directly to that description which is in the Word file section as the process is exactly the same) while the other method will work if and only if you are running a current version of Microsoft Internet Explorer (5.x or now 6.x) and you have Adobe Reader installed. In this case when you click on the link, you will automatically open a page in Internet Explorer running Adobe Reader and the document will be displayed as follows:
To save the file use the row of buttons
marked "< Use These" and
select: Note about PrintingIf you are used to working with Word and sharing documents, you know that Word saves information regarding the printer used on the system that created the file. This can lead to strange page breaks etc. when printing the file on your printer and you have to make adjustments. Adobe can also do some "strange" things when a file is converted. Adobe uses a default "Postscript Printer" in the process of distilling files to convert them to Adobe format. That issue has to be addressed by the person creating the Adobe file. Once Adobe has the material on a page that page should print on any printer! Some people have had problems with Adobe files not printing properly. If this is happening to you, first be sure you have the latest version of Adobe Reader installed. if the problem persists:
That should solve the problem. For information this is the normal default setting. FINAL EXAM ! Think this is useful? Like to print it out? How about a test! Try downloading this file (Without the exam!) and seeing how it goes! Hope you found this article useful. jcl 01/01/07 |
This
is the disc or save file button typically located on the second row below
the title row.
This
is the "File" drop down menu (upper left) and from this menu 
select
"Save As"
is probably a
little strange depending on what operating system (Windows 95, or 98 or ME
or 2000) you are using. Click on "My Documents and select a
folder to save the file in, or create a new folder to save it in. Leave
default file type alone when saving the file. Once the file is saved
you can now edit it at your will, and rename it or do what you want with
it on your computer.
