Help | Home » Theravada Text Archives

# Downloading Files from Access to Insight

This page explains how to download, open, and use the "zip-compressed" files that are available from the website.

All of Access to Insight's texts are available as plain HTML (hypertext) files that you can read online immediately simply by clicking your mouse on the appropriate links. Here and there in the website, however, there are links to "zip-compressed" ("zipped") files, some of which are marked something like:

Download this anthology

By clicking on one of these links you download a large batch of HTML files all at once, in the form of a single zip-compressed archive. If you're planning to read many texts from the website, you may find it more efficient to download these zipped archives, then go offline and uncompress them (using a commercial uncompression program). You may then browse through the HTML files at your leisure, without needing to be connected to the Internet.

A few zipped archives contain other types of files -- for example, bulk downloads of the entire website, the Pali fonts and a few books that are available as Microsoft Word documents (e.g., Wings to Awakening.) You can download and un-zip these files in just the same way as you would the archives of HTML files.

Don't forget: You can now download the entire website in a single file.

## Downloading and un-zipping: general instructions

> 1. Download the archive onto your hard disk.
> Just click your mouse on the "Download..." link to transfer the file to your computer.

> 2. Uncompress the archive on your hard disk.
> The zipped archives all have names ending in ".zip", and have been compressed in "PKZIP 2.04g" format. To open these files you need a utility program on your computer that can uncompress files in this format. If you don't already have such a program, follow the instructions appropriate to your computer type: Macintosh | Windows | DOS | Unix, Linux, etc. .

> After un-zipping the archive, the files it contained will appear on your hard disk.

> 3. Open the files.
> If the files are HTML files, simply open them with your Web browser program. If the files are Microsoft Word documents, use that program to open the files, or use a conversion program to convert them into a format you can use. If the files are fonts, read your computer's instruction manual to see how to install them.

## Obtaining and using the ZIP utilities

### Macintosh users:

> ZipIt is a useful shareware program (US$15) that allows you to open and create .zip archives.
> - To install ZipIt on your Macintosh:

>   > 1. Download ZipIt from the » official ZipIt website.

>   > 2. Double-click the "ZipIt 1.3.8.sea" icon on your desktop to install the program onto your hard disk.

> - To uncompress a ZIP file:

>   > 1. Double-click the ZipIt program icon to launch it.

>   > 2. From ZipIt's File menu choose "Open..." and open the file you'd like to un-zip.

>   > 3. A small window will open with a list of the files contained in the zip archive. Select the files you wish to un-zip, and type Command-E (or select "Extract..." from the Zip menu).

> > Note: Although other un-zipping utilities exist for the Macintosh, of the ones I've tested (ZipIt 1.3.8, Stuffit Expander 5.1.2 and Unzip 5.32) only ZipIt seems to restore the icons of Macintosh files consistently and correctly. At the moment I can therefore only recommend ZipIt for un-zipping files from this website.

> ZipIt is shareware. Please honor the licensing agreement that comes with the program.

### Windows Users:

> WinZip currently appears to be the most popular un-zipping utility among Windows users. It is a commercial program ($29), but a free evaluation version is available on the Internet.
> - To install WinZip on your Windows PC:

>   > 1. Download the latest version of WinZip from the » official WinZip website. (Please note that there are separate versions for Windows 95/98 and Windows 3.1 users.)

>   > 2. Run the installer program that you downloaded: either "winzip70.exe" (Windows 95/98 users) or "winzip31.exe" (Windows 3.1 users), and follow the on-screen installation instructions.

> - To uncompress a ZIP file:

>   > 1. Double-click on the file to be un-zipped, or select WinZip from the Windows Start menu, click WinZip's Open button, and select the file to be un-zipped.

>   > 2. WinZip's main window will reveal a list of the files contained in the chosen zip archive. Select the files you wish to un-zip, click on the Extract button, and select the destination folder into which the files will be placed.

> WinZip is a commercial product. Please honor the licensing agreement that comes with the evaluation copy.

### DOS PC Users:

> PKUNZIP is the definitive file-unzipping shareware utility for the world of DOS personal computers. It comes bundled in the shareware package PKZIP that is widely available on computer networks.

> > 1. To install PKUNZIP on your computer:

> > > 1. Download a copy of PKZIP [202 Kb].

> > > 2. At the DOS prompt, change directory (cd) to the directory in which you downloaded the file "pkz204g.exe".

> > > 3. Type "`pkz204g`". This will install PKUNZIP, PKZIP, and a few other related programs on your hard disk.

> > 2. To uncompress a ZIP file:

> > > 1. If the file you want to uncompress is called "somefile.zip," just type "`pkunzip somefile`".

> PKUNZIP is shareware. Please honor the licensing agreement that comes with the program.

### Unix, Linux, etc. users:

> You probably already have the programs you need to uncompress ZIP files. It varies from one system to another, but commands like "unzip," "uzip," or "gunzip" have been known to work. If you're not sure what the command is on your system, type "`man -k zip`" to track it down. Once you've identified which command to use, then use the "man" program to figure out how to run it. It's usually as simple as: "unzip somefile" (to uncompress the file "somefile.zip," for example).

Revised: Tue 16 April 2002