Spectrum Computing

Quite often I try and download a TAP and instead of saving the file it opens it as a webpage full of gobbledegook.

Is this a Windows setting? How do I get around it?

Right-click and choose 'Save as'.

It is quite likely the web server not being configured with the correct mime type for the file. It probably defaults to delivering it down as text and your browser displays it as such.

Sokurah wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2018 1:06 pm Right-click and choose 'Save as'.

That's not an available option, the closest is 'Save target as' which only saves the .htm of the link.

Spud wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2018 1:20 pm It is quite likely the web server not being configured with the correct mime type for the file. It probably defaults to delivering it down as text and your browser displays it as such.

[duffer]Is that something I can change or is it the place providing the file?[/duffer]

For example it's happening with all the .bbsongs at http://freestuff.grok.co.uk/beepola/showcase/

Ordinarily it is something that needs to be fixed by whoever hosts the files.

I experience the same problem with that site though. Affects Internet Explorer, but not Firefox or Chrome. Suggest you switch browser and try again?

The part that puzzles me is this:

R-Tape wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2018 1:42 pm That's not an available option, the closest is 'Save target as' which only saves the .htm of the link.

The .bbsongs on the Beepola showcase aren't being delivered as .htm. The links go directly to the .bbsong files. So it is definately your browser doing this.

Spud wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2018 2:18 pm Affects Internet Explorer, but not Firefox or Chrome. Suggest you switch browser and try again?

I wouldn't consider IE a valid option for browsing in 2018. To everyone who still uses it: Please stop doing that. You're creating an unnecessary risk for yourself and everyone else.

Yes, use a modern browser please

If Windows recognizes the extension, it should open the associated program immediately when the download stops.
If not Windows will ask and you can try to create that association. Usually it works!

If switching browser is the solution then that's good enough for me.

I might regret asking this but why don't we like IE? And why does IE decide these files are text and others don't?

Aside from incorrect rendering and lack of support for some newer web techniques, the main problem with IE is that it provides little protection against common "hacking" attacks.

Sadly, nowadays the whole browser market looks pretty bleak. Edge is a privacy nightmare and still falls short in terms of security. Chromium and other Blink-based browsers (Opera etc.) are RAM leeches beyond compare (and standard Chrome is another privacy disaster). Firefox is almost equally slow and RAM-hungry (I've heard things have improved with the new Rust-based engine though), and Mozilla seems to think that changing the UI every 3 months should be a priority over everything else. Last but not least, Safari is a bug-ridden joke. Still, I believe IE is the worst possible option.

As to why IE thinks .bbsongs are text files, gotta ask that to Bill Gates I guess

R-Tape wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2018 2:52 pm I might regret asking this but why don't we like IE?

Because IE decides that

these files are text and others don’t.

utz wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:28 pm Safari is a bug-ridden joke.

You just don’t know how to cook it. Works fine for me. (Unless, of course, you’re referring to the discontinued Windows version.)

utz wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:28 pm As to why IE thinks .bbsongs are text files, gotta ask that to Bill Gates I guess

Chris Cowley must have told him his wife belongs in a zoo or something.