Downloading and installing files looks confusing because of the scary messages that your browser pops up when you click on them. But those messages are just shorthand for "be careful - only download files from people you trust". That's good advice, but we're Hamumu, so trust us!

When you click on a download link on any webpage, you see something like this (depending on which version of Windows you are using, the dialogs will look different, but the directions are the same):

Just click "Save". You could click Open, but I always choose Save. Open actually saves the file in a hidden "temp" directory on your hard drive instead of letting you choose where to put it, then runs it. The reason Save is better is that you keep a copy of the file you downloaded, in case you need to reinstall, or want to copy it to somewhere else. When you click Save, you see this screen, or similar:

You can save anywhere you like, perhaps you have a "My Downloads" folder you like to use. But if you're new enough to downloading that you are reading this page, then you should do what I do: save the file on your Desktop! Click in the "Save in" box and choose Desktop as I've done in the picture above. Once you've done that once, it will be set to the Desktop by default from then on (in fact, it probably already is!). Then just click "Save" at the bottom right, and the download will begin!

So here's the download in progress! I have "Close this dialog box when download completes" checked, which means this window will just go away when the download is done, and the file will be on my Desktop. An easier way to go is to leave that box unchecked. Then, when the download is complete, you can just click "Open" to install the program immediately. If you do it the way I do, you'll have to go to your desktop and double click the downloaded file's icon, then follow whatever directions it has for you!

If the install program you download for a game doesn't leave you an icon on the desktop once it finishes installing, then open your Windows Start Menu - you can be sure that there is an icon in there to run the game!

One last topic: if you're wondering how long your download will take... figure on about 4 minutes per megabyte if you are on a dial-up modem, and anywhere from 10-30 seconds per megabyte if you are on cable or DSL. It can vary quite a bit, but remember - you're in Windows, you can do anything you want while it downloads! If a file's size is listed in "KB" instead of "MB", it takes 1000 KB to equal 1 MB (1024 to be exact, but you really didn't need to know that).