Is there a signal for auto-downloads?

submitted by FormosaOolong from (self.AskSaidIt)

Is there a way to tell (and if not could there be one?) if a title link is a download? I'd like to be able to decide whether to download rather than have it happen by surprise.

Or do I just train myself to click on the comments rather than the title? Thanks Magnora!

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[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

It's almost always a link... where have you seen any that go to files that download?

Anyway, the best is to hover over it with your mouse and in the bottom left of your browser it'll say the URL. If you look at the end of the URL, check for a file ending (like .zip or .mp3 or whatever) and if there is none then it's just a website. That's how I'd check. But hopefully this shouldn't be a problem in the first place?

And lastly downloading a random file will not hurt your computer. Only if you run that file after it's downloaded can anything bad happen. If you immediately delete it during or after download, nothing bad can happen.

Let me know if you need any more help!

[–]FormosaOolong[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Thanks, Magnora, that's really helpful.

I see now that the pdf that opened itself was clearly marked in the title, so my bad. Migraine.

It was the Franklin cover up thread, and it was not a malicious file. Thanks for the tips and sorry I'm an idjit.

[–]magnora7 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ah I see! No worries, it's all good! Let me know if I can help with anything else