Today, with the click of a mouse, movies can be downloaded in minutes and songs in seconds. But fears about damaging your computer with a virus, or uncertainties about what’s legal and what isn’t, mean that downloading is sometimes regarded as more trouble than it’s worth. With so many websites out there, which are the best and who can you trust?

A lot of people fail before they have even begun; have you ever tried to run a file – a movie perhaps – to find it just won’t work? That might be because the file and the program being used to open it are not compatible. Avoid this by checking the filename extension (the code at the end of a file’s name). For example, if you see a link that reads “morningbytheriver.jpg” the file extension is “.jpg”, which means it is an image file. In plain English, the link might read as “morning by the river – a photograph”.

In other words, filename extensions inform us about the file and the program needed to open it. Recognising this will save you the headache of downloading the wrong file and having to start all over again. To search for explanations of filename extensions go to www.fileinfo.net/common.php.

Music
Not all free music is illegal music; many artists put their music online free of charge to promote their work. Visit www.newmelodies.com, which has a long list of genres to choose from – anything from Bob Marley to Bach.

There are also many pay-for sites to choose from, which all have slightly different services. The leading legal music download sites are iTunes, AmazonMP3, eMusic, Rhapsody and Napster. They all offer lost-cost access to millions of songs. Other sites are geared towards particular genres; eClassical.com is dedicated to classical music and Calabash Music focuses on world music. All these sites are closely monitored and safe to use.

Don’t forget to double check the file you download is compatible with your MP3 player or music system.

Films
Good, legal sites such as ZML, SuperPass and The Movie Downloads offer new releases and old movies for download at reasonable prices. (A good tip when downloading movies is to bear in mind the size of your television screen; it’s no fun to watch a film meant for a 14-inch TV stretched out beyond all recognition on a widescreen.)

Once you pick the right package, you will usually need to download specific software to allow the site to communicate with your computer – this software should be free and provided by the website.

Books
Book files are not complex so downloading them should take no time at all. You can read your book on a computer or an eReader. As well as being portable, eReaders eliminate the eyestrain associated with reading from computer screens because they have no backlighting.

Unfortunately, the technology is new and eReaders are still quite expensive. Check out Amazon’s Kindle or the Sony Reader, amongst many others, if you want to make an investment.

And finally, remember that all download times depend on the size of the file, your equipment and the speed of your internet connection. Happy downloading!