Here are some top tips for downloading safely from the internet.
One of the most useful things you can do on the internet is to get documents and images that you can then store on your computer. This is called downloading.
You do need to be careful about what you download, however, and there are some precautions you should take before you press that Save button.
You should only download from websites you trust. Major organisations, such as your bank, insurance company, or the government can generally be trusted, so anything you download from them should be safe. But what about other websites?
There are some clues that a site is safe to download from.
Still, if you have any doubts about whether the site is safe, it’s best not to download anything from it.
A virus is a type of computer program that you may get if you download from untrusted websites. It can do bad things to your computer, including preventing you from accessing your files. To avoid viruses, follow these guidelines:
Antivirus software is a special kind of computer program that helps detect and remove viruses you might download.
If you accidentally download a virus, your antivirus program will pop up and tell you that you’ve downloaded something dangerous, and ask if you want to delete it.
There are many antivirus programs, including:
Every document or image you download from the internet has what is called a file type. This tells your computer which program it should use to read the file. The file type is usually indicated by a three- or four-letter code at the end of the file name. For example, a .doc on the end indicates the file is a Word document.
You need to the right program to read the document. Some examples include:
Knowing which websites you can trust and how to open the files you download is important. When you’re armed with that information, downloading becomes a very useful tool indeed.