What Does Download Mean - Computer Terminology Explained

In this article I will answer the questions "what does download mean", "what does install mean" and help you understand some commonly misunderstood computer terminology.

I got an email a couple of days ago in response to my last computer tips newsletter where I talked about the importance of using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer.

A subscriber in Texas named James wrote me the next day and said:

"Dear Mr. Godwin,

I just switched to Firefox, and am having a problem downloading Flash Player. A message tells me I have to close Firefox in order to download it. How can I possibly do that when I'm actually using Firefox as a browser. That's rather like trying to pull myself up by my bootstraps! I'd appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks.

James"

First off James, you made the right decision by switching to Firefox. As I mentioned in my last email, it is a *much* safer option than Internet Explorer, and if you have a Windows computer you're really making a mistake by continuing to use IE (Internet Explorer).

Apple's Mac computers don't have the same security risks, but it also is a good idea for Mac users to avoid IE since it is so out of date that there are not only some security risks in using it, but many websites won't work.

What I think James is running in to is a common misunderstanding of two computer terms -- "downloading" and "installing".

Before I explain the two terms, let me first say that it's not your fault if you misunderstood or confused these terms -- it's very common, and is due to other people misusing the terms around you, as well as because no one has ever explained them in a clear and easy way.

Here's an easy way to understand the two terms "download" and "install".

Downloading is like delivery -- imagine you have ordered something from a catalog, or Amazon.com or someplace. Let's say it's a TV set.

Before you can use the TV set it has to be delivered to you -- shipped to you -- and this is basically what downloading is. A file (like the Mozilla Firefox installer program) has to be sent "down" to your computer (coming from the Internet is down, sending to the Internet is up, so downloading is coming "down" from the Internet from a web page or an email, etc., while uploading is sending it "up" to the Internet to a webpage or via email, etc.)

So if you want to use Firefox, or Flash Player, or other programs, you need to download them and then you need to "install" them.

So downloading is the delivery of the TV, to go back to our analogy, but before you can use the TV you still need to take it out of the box, put it on the stand, plug it in, etc. Set it up for use -- in other words, install it.

So once you've downloaded a program, you then "install" it to get it ready to use.

And here's where I think maybe you're confusing two terms, which is completely OK on your part, but if Adobe (who makes Flash player) is using the term incorrectly on their website, that is not excusable because they should know better. Again, I don't blame you one bit if you've mixed up the terms, it's a very common mistake, but Adobe should know better.

What you need to do is close Firefox once you've downloaded Flash Player, but before you *install* it. This is because Flash Player has to add some information to Firefox, and if Firefox is running, it can't do it. Kind of like how if you're standing on a rug, you can't pick it up to clean it.

Make sense?

So what you need to do James is download Flash Player, then completely close Firefox and *install* Flash Player, by double-clicking the icon of the file you download from Adobe's site, and then it should work.

Hope that helps and makes sense!

Until later, take care and enjoy,

Worth Godwin

P.S. If you have computer questions, feel free to join my free computer tips newsletter, and reply to any of my emails with your question and I'll answer it in a future newsletter email. I also have a monthly live computer Q&A call-in -- I'll be announcing the next one soon in a future email.

P.P.S. As I mentioned in my last email, I'll be recording video lessons for Windows and Mac that show step-by-step how to download and install the new version of Firefox, as well as an overview of using it on this month's Gold Club video lesson CD, and the lessons will also be available on the password-protected Gold Club members-only area of my website.

If you'd like to join in and empower yourself with more knowledge about the computer and how to make it easier, more fun, and more safe & secure, you can take advantage of my free trial membership to the easy computer lessons Gold Club right now and gain instant access to a large library of my video and audio computer lessons by clicking the links.