Download help

If your computer asks you what program to open a file with, you need to install software to handle that type of file.

Here are the types of files available on this site, and free software to help you work with them.

PDF | ZIP | MP3 | MOV | WMV | RTF/DOC | GIF/JPG | PowerPoint | EXE

Legend: MB = megabyte = 1000 kB

Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) files

NOTE: There are currently (July 2010) a huge number of bugs in Firefox with PDF files. If you are having trouble viewing one of our PDF files you might try to download the file and open it with Adobe Reader instead of viewing it in your browser (especially if you are using Firefox):

• download the file (right click on the link and choose the option appropriate to your browser)
• open the downloaded file with Adobe Reader

Trouble cutting & pasting from Acrobat PDF files? The newest version of Adobe Reader lets you select the exact amount of text you want, even from documents that contain columns (older versions of Reader selected text line by line across all columns – a process that would jumble text and challenge even the most patient user). Download the latest FREE version of Adobe Reader with this link.

• To select text from a PDF document, choose the “I” beam Select Text tool from the Adobe Reader tool bar at the top of the screen, and highlight the text you want to copy from the document. Copy it. Then paste it into your bulletin or other document.
• To select images from a PDF document, choose the "Select Image" tool from the Adobe Reader tool bar at the top of the screen, and highlight the image you want to copy from the document. Copy it. Then paste it into your bulletin or other document.

Most of our downloadable resources are in this format. If you absolutely cannot get the PDF file to work, please contact the Resource Centre to request a hard copy.

• Software: Free Adobe Reader (also known as Adobe Acrobat Reader): Adobe Reader Download Page

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Archive (.ZIP) files

Files or folders that have been compressed for faster downloading.

• Software: UltimateZip (Windows only)
• Available at www.ultimatezip.com
• OR
• Software: Stuffit (Windows, Mac and Linux)
• Available at www.stuffit.com

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Audio (.MP3) files

Mostly music files.

• Software: WinAmp
• Available at www.winamp.com
• Windows Media Player, QuickTime and iTunes will also work.

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Video (.MOV or .MP4) files

Movie or Video files. These files can be played on computers or a limited number of DVD players.

• Software: QuickTime (Windows, Mac)
  • free download available at apple.com/quicktime/download
• Alternate Software 1: VLC Media Player (Windows, Mac, Linux)
  • free dowload available at videolan.org
  Alternate Software 2: Media Player Classic (for Windows)
  • free download available at sourceforge.net
• Alternate Software 3: RealPlayer
  • free download available at real.com

If you want to play these movies on a regular DVD player, you must "Author" them to a DVD-Video disc. The following software packages can do that:

• Mac Software: iDVD (comes free with all recent Macs)
• Inexpensive and popular choices for Windows:
  • Roxio: MyDVD or Easy Media Creator
  • WinDVD
  • Ulead DVD MovieFactory
• For a list of authoring software see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_authoring#Authoring_Applications
• A key requirement is that the software imports MPEG4 (mp4) video files.

It's also a good idea to burn DVD-Video discs onto DVD-R blanks. DVD+R discs may not be compatible with older DVD-Video players.

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Video (.WMV) files

Movie or Video files.

• Software: Windows Media Player
• free download available at microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/

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Document (.DOC) files

Documents you can work with in Microsoft Word. Some other word processors may be able to read and work with this file.

• Software: Microsoft Word
• Free alternative: OpenOffice (Windows, Mac and Linux)

Document (.RTF) files

Documents you can work with in a word processor. Almost any word processor will read RTF files.

• Software: Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect, or any other quality word processing software

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Image (.GIF/.JPG) files

Pictures you see on this site. Right-click on a picture and you will be presented with options to save the image. Your browser is capable of displaying these files but a popular free program called IrfanView lets you resize, adjust brightness and color and view whole directories of images.

• Software: IrfanView
• Available at www.irfanview.com

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PowerPoint (.PPT) files

Animated slide presentations. Microsoft offers a free viewer able to display but not edit these files.

• Software: PowerPoint 97 viewer
• Download [2.83 MB EXE file] - help with EXE files
• For online viewing you must use Internet Explorer; otherwise save the file and then view it.
• Free alternative: OpenOffice (Windows, Mac and Linux)

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Program (.EXE) files

Mostly installation files for software used in opening other file types.

When downloading, choose "open" or "run from present location," unless you want to save the file for later use. The file should download and start the installation process automatically.

Make sure to follow directions carefully and read any license agreements.

• Software: Windows 95/98/NT operating system

RapidShare Files

RapidShare hosts a number of our larger files and helps to keep our web site costs down. To download a file from RapidShare:

1. Click on the link
2. Scroll down to see and click on the "Free User" button
3. Wait the required time and click on the "Download" button
4. Save it to a place on your computer