Now
you know what you are want, and have a good idea of where
and how to get it. What exactly is it going to look like when
you find it? There are tons of fake files, partial files,
spyware and even viruses out there for people that don’t
know what they are doing. The biggest thing to pay attention
to is what TYPE of file you are downloading, which is indicated
by its extension. You will also need to know what file types
are played with what program.
On the left, you'll
find info you should know if you are downloading movies, music,
ebooks, games, software or whatever. There are descriptions
of common
extensions and how to use them. If you don’t know what
a file type is, you really need to read through these carefully.
Compressed Files, or “archives” (.rar
.zip .ace .r01 .001)
I put this section
first deliberately. Many of the files you want, including
music, movies, programs or games are compressed to save space
and bundle files (like individual songs on an album, or installation
files for a program) to make downloading easier. That changes
the file type. For instance, if you are downloading music,
you may come across “Dave_Matthews.rar” instead
of “Dave_Matthews.mp3.” You need to know what
you are looking at to know if you are getting the right product.
Compression extensions
are VERY common and mean that your file or files are compressed
into an "archive". Generally, opening archive files
is safe. Be careful if there is a file that is contained in
the archive that looks fishy. It could be a virus.
The best program
to open most compressed files is WinRAR.
So download it. Use it. If it doesn’t work, you can
also try Winace.
I’ve never had a problem with WinRAR.
Tip: If
you are a comic book fanatic, you may come across these file
types: .cbr or .cbz These are usually comic books in an archive
format. However, often opening them with WinRAR may disorder
your pages. To display these archives properly it's often
best to use CDisplay.
If you can't find
your extension in this list you can also check http://filext.com/index.php
for a comprehensive list.
Pay attention to
the file extension. It may be called “Baby Got Back”
but if the extension is .exe and you are looking for music,
do not open it. If the file is less than 1 kilobyte, don’t
waste your time downloading it. It’s not legit. Sometimes
you will download a bad song, or movie.
When you start
actively downloading from any source, you are going to have
to pay attention to a few details. How big are the files supposed
to be (approximately) that you are downloading? If you are
trying to get a movie, say Lord of the Rings, and it is listed
with a size of 2.0 mb, then something is wrong. Most movies
should be at least 650 mb. Mp3s, depending on quality, should
be about 4 mb.
So just what is good and bad? How do you know how to sort
through the sea of crap and get the files that you want? Well,
the short answer is that there are never any guarantees. There
is always a chance you will pick up something you didn’t
mean to. People intentionally misname files to look like something
it’s not. But, if you become familiar with what is out
there, and follow some guidelines, you can avoid the vast
majority of these bad files.
DownloadAnythingFree.com
does neither endorse nor condone the sharing of copyrighted
materials. You should only share and download files
which you are legally allowed to or have otherwise received
permission to share. |
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