Download Help

How to download

Using Internet Explorer:
Most links you can just click on and will then be prompted to "Open this file from its current location" or "Save this file to disk." Choose the "Save this file to disk" option and click "Ok." Then enter the file name to save the file with (most of the time you will use the default name given). Be sure to make note of what directory you are saving the file to.

Using Netscape Navigator:
Upon clicking on the download link Netscape may prompt you to "Open it" or "Save it to disk. Choose "Save it to disk. The directory C:\WINDOWS\TEMP will probably be the default directory to save the file in. If Netscape does not recognize the file it may try to open the file in the browser window. This may result in garbage text output to the screen. To correct his hold the shift key down while clicking on the link. This will bring up the "Save as..." box. Proceed as before making note of the directory where you save the file.

What the file extensions mean (.gz, .tar, .tar.gz, .tgz, .E00)

The .gz file extension indicates the the file is in a compressed (or zipped) format. Files with the .gz extension can be uncompressed using the gzip utility.

The .tar file extension indicates that the file is an archive that has been put into "Tape ARchive" format. Today tar is most commonly used to package files together for transfer over the internet. One tar file usually corresponds to many regular files. Files can be extracted from the archive using the tar utility.

The .tar.gz file extension indicates that the file is in gzipped tar format (both archived and compressed).

The .tgz file extension (or sometimes fname_tar.gz where fname is the actual file name) also indicates that the file is in gzipped tar format. This extension may be used if the creator wanted to limit the file extension to three characters.

The .E00 file extension indicates that the file is in ARC/INFO export format. This file type can be directly imported into ARC/INFO.

How to use WinZip® (shareware Windows version of tar and gzip utilities)

Once you have downloaded the compressed file double click on it. This will launch the WinZip® program. Select "Yes" to decompress fname.tar (where fname is your actual file name) to a temporary file and open it. Next click extract on the WinZip® toolbar. Make a note of the location that you are extracting to and click "Extract." WinZip® will now extract your files into the selected directory.

Links to free versions of tar and gzip utilities

gzip utility:
UNIX Version
DOS Version
MAC Version

tar utility:
UNIX Version
DOS Version
MAC Version

How to use gzip (UNIX and DOS Versions)

For a gzipped file:
At the command line type "gzip -d fname.gz" (where fname is your actual file name). This will create a decompressed copy of your file. Unless the file is part of an archive there is no need to run the tar utility on it.

For a gzipped tar file:
At the command line type "gzip -d fname.tar.gz" or "gzip -d fname.tgz" (where fname is your actual file name) depending on the file extension used. This will create a decompressed copy of your file and give it a .tar file extension. You can then use the tar utility to extract files from the archive.

How to use tar (UNIX and DOS Versions)

At the command line type "tar -xvf fname.tar" (where fname is your actual file name). The tar utility will then extract all the files from the archive in the current directory. Depending on how the files were archived it may create a directory called fname in the current directory and extracted the files into fname.

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://agdc.usgs.gov/tools/download.html
Page Contact Information: ascweb@usgs.gov
Page Last Modified: Fri May 30 07:59:53 2008