How to Download files

EXCEL, WORD & RICH TEXT FORMAT (RTF) FILES

Some documents and reports on this Web site are made available for download as Microsoft Excel or Word files. Links that will open Excel files will be identified with angraphic; links that will open Microsoft Word documents will be identified with a graphic.

Forms/documents designed to be downloaded to your computer and completed with your particular word-processing application (e.g., Apple Works, WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, etc.) will usually be offered in Rich Text Format (RTF) file. RTF files will be identified with a graphic.      

Downloading, Saving, Opening and Using Word or Excel Files
You must have Microsoft Word or Excel (or comparable programs that will convert the files) on your system to download, save, open and use files in Word or Excel format. Depending on how your computer is set up, when you click on a file link, you will likely get a dialogue box asking whether you would like to open the file or save the file to disk. We recommend that you save the file to disk, preferably your hard drive (usually a c:\ drive) or a network drive (if you are on a network) rather than to a floppy disk. Once you have saved the file(s) you wish to download, open documents from the appropriate software.

If you choose to open a file directly and begin filling it out be sure to use the "save as" function when you save the file to avoid having it save to your system's temp (temporary file) directory. Although you can retrieve or move files from your temp directory, it will be easier to find your files if they've been saved to a location (such as a dedicated folder) you specify.

PDF FILES
Numerous documents are made available to Web site users for printing or downloading through the use of PDF (Portable Document Format) files. This type of formatting preserves the "look" of the original document, but makes it available cross-platform. PDF documents throughout this Web site are identified with a graphic. NOTE: A conversion is underway to have PDF files open in a new browser window. Should that occur, simply close the new browser window that opened in order to see the original department Web page.

To view or download these PDF files, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader software. If you do not have the software, you may download it for free by clicking on the yellow icon to the left (or on the icon which will be found at the bottom of every page that contains a direct link to a PDF file) and following the directions. NOTE: You will need to know what operating system (OS) you are using in order to download the correct version of Acrobat Reader. The newest versions of Acrobat Reader (currently Adobe Reader 8) may not work with older operating systems such as Windows 98 or Windows 2000.      

Launching the Software
The Acrobat software will either launch automatically and display the document, or you will get a dialog box asking which software you want to use to open the document. If you get a dialog box, you will need to browse to locate the software on your system. Ask your system administrator for assistance; you may also wish to ask your system administrator to set your file association for PDF files so Acrobat will launch automatically in the future when you click on PDF file links.

NOTE: Depending on the version of Acrobat you are using, your software may launch into the browser window you are using or it may open the software separately. If Acrobat launches into the window you are using, you will be able to use the back button to return to the download page. If you click on a PDF link and nothing seems to happen, your software may have opened separately. In this case, you will need to switch between the Internet browser and the software to get back to the download page. In Windows you can do this by clicking on the software icons on your start menu (usually at the bottom of your screen). On the Macintosh, choose your browser application from the pull-down menu located in the upper right corner of your desktop (OS 9) or from the dock (OS 10).      

Searching Within a PDF File

Once a document has been downloaded, use the search function (the binocular icon on your tool bar) to find specific phrases or section numbers.      

Printing a PDF File
Because these files are in a PDF format, the pages will print as you see them. If you only want to print a few pages of a document, be sure to specify in the print dialog box the page range you would like to print; check the lower left corner of the Acrobat screen for page numbers.      

Saving PDF Documents to Your Computer
You may save a PDF document to your computer for later use without going to the Internet. To save a PDF document, click on the floppy disk icon in the Adobe Acrobat Reader toolbar.