A zip file is a single compressed file that contains the complete set of program files. Compressed files are valuable in the electronic world because they cut your downloading time drastically, and they make it possible to download just 1 file rather than the full set of files (which can often be dozens of individual files).

To decompress (unZIP) a zip file, you need a copy of an unZIPing utility. We recommend PKZIP (for DOS) or WINZIP (for Windows). These are both shareware programs, which need to be registered if you plan to continue using them. These are also distributed in a ZIP format, but they are a "Self-Extracting" variety -- simply download them to your temporary directory (see below), and 'RUN' them to extract the program files. Once you've run them to extract the program files, you need to follow the steps below to install these programs.

• Download a file simply by clicking on its filename.

• If you are using Netscape, it may say "No Viewer Configured for File Type..." just choose the "Save" or "Save to Disk" option.

• It is best to save the file to a temporary directory that you've created just for this purpose. For example, you might have a subdirectory on your hard drive named \TEMP which you use strictly for downloading and unZIPing files.

• UnZIP the program files from the ZIP file, using your unZIPing utility.

• After all the files are extracted from the ZIP file, you can install the program, or view the documentation. We recommend that you view the documentation first, to determine what steps are required to actually install and/or launch the program.

• To view the Documentation, look for a file in the temporary directory called README.TXT, INSTALL.TXT, or some other non-executable file.

• Some programs do not require any additional installation process. In these cases, you can simply create a permanent directory for the program, and copy the files from your temporary directory to the permanent program directory.

• Once you've completely installed the program, and you are sure that it works properly, you can go back and delete the various installation files from your temporary subdirectory. However, you should keep a copy of the original ZIP file just in case you need to install it again in the future.

A few folks have reported having trouble when they try to unZIP their downloaded files. The problem seems to be that for some unknown reason they are not getting the entire file when they download it, or the file was corrupted during the download transfer.This is especially true with extremely large files. Here's what you can try:

• Delete the incomplete file from your temporary directory, and try downloading it a 2nd time.

• Try downloading the files from the ASP ftp site. Their primary site gets full very quickly, but their new Secondary site is very reliable, and often easier to get into.

• Try downloading the files from another site --- the best way to find files at other places on the net (including sim-tel and coast-msdos) is to search Shareware.com. If you don't find what you are looking for, do the search again for 25 more listings.