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 07/26/08 Back to Demos Guide to Downloading
Once you’ve downloaded a file to your hard disk, you’re ready to do something with it. If the file has a .ZIP extension, you’ll need to extract its contents. (A .ZIP file might contain a single file or a group of files.) While a variety of freeware and shareware programs perform this feat, the easiest for new users to work with is Aladdin Systems’ StuffIt Expander, a Windows utility that you can download for free. Why StuffIt Expander? Because it’s so darn simple to use. Once you’ve downloaded StuffIt’s set-up file, double-click it to launch the installation program. More good news: Stuff It installs in about two seconds, and automatically configures itself to work with your system. Now you’re ready to decompress .ZIP files. Simply double-click the .ZIP file’s icon on the Windows 95 Desktop. Or, if you prefer, you can double-click the file’s name in Windows Explorer or File Manager. Either way, StuffIt launches automatically and "unzips" the file, placing the expanded file or files in a new folder on the Desktop.
To download StuffIt Expander, visit GameSpot's Utilities page. Advanced Zipping and Unzipping Although StuffIt is our favorite file expander, you’ve got other choices. WinZip is popular among Windows 95 users and, like StuffIt, is very easy to use.
When you double-click a .ZIP file on the Desktop, WinZip automatically unzips it. And like StuffIt, WinZip works with a variety of other compressed and encoded formats, including .TAR, .gzip, and .UUE. WinZip is available for Windows 95 and Windows 3.1. So what’s not to like? Well, WinZip costs $29, whereas StuffIt Expander is free. Frankly, we’ll take the bargain route every time. For DOS users, GameSpot recommends PKZIP. This program is a bit more complex, but contains extensive documentation to help you get started. To download WinZip or PKZIP, visit GameSpot's Utilities page. Self-Extracting Files Not all of GameSpot’s compressed files require StuffIt Expander or a similar utility to extract the file’s contents. For instance, many game demos have an .EXE extension instead of .ZIP. However, before you go and double-click a freshly downloaded .EXE file, we’d like to offer a bit of advice that will ensure that the file you are about to work with expands correctly. Note: In some cases, an .EXE file is actually a self-contained installation program rather than a collection of files. If the previous step causes your .EXE file to run an installation program, such as the one shown here, then simply follow the prompts to install the demo or files and skip the next step.
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