Downloading something from the Internet is easy. Be it an update, a new product, or something fun. The process is so simple that you probably don’t notice all the extra crap that you’ve installed along the way.

It’s innocuous.

You finally get to the Big Green Download button. You click it. There are a few more questions to ask:

Do you accept the license agreement?

Pretty much everyone answers YES, they accept the license agreement. A lawyer would recommend that you not click YES. Basically the agreement assigns all the rights to the product to the developer and leaves you with nothing.

In fact, many licensing agreements state that if the optical disc you install is blank or, say, a piece of cheese, that the developer has no liability for that. (Of course, that slice-of-cheese stipulation doesn’t apply to software that you download, but it’s in the the license agreement anyway.)

The license agreement is known as the EULA, pronounced yoo-lah. It stands for End-User License Agreement.

Do you agree to be put on our mailing list?

It’s a harmless question. I often click the box, because it’s good to be notified of product updates. Most developers use the list legitimately, not sending you any spam. That’s because there is usually a companion question:

Would you like to be contacted by our partners?

Un-click that option. The “partners” are the parasites who will send you spam and “special” offers. I’m certain one of the “partners” for something I bought online is a porn outfit, which explains all the weirdo porn email I get.

Mind the wording of the “partners” question. Sometimes it comes off as a special offer or the opportunity to get free stuff or to enter a contest. The phrasing can be very tricky.

Install the whatever toolbar?

This is the nasty one I don’t like. I’m not saying that those toolbars are evil. (They are.) I’m referring to the optional installation of extra software, which is often overlooked by a human when downloading stuff from the Internet.

Beyond the Google/Live/Bing/Yahoo toolbars, there are other programs that leech onto your download, stuff you probably don’t want and didn’t expect, mostly because you were in too much of a hurry to click the Next button to read the details.

Always read the details.

Getting extra stuff isn’t the end of the world. You can always uninstall programs or disable toolbars. I’ll explain how in Monday’s blog post. You can always uninstall unwanted programs that hitchhike on your downloads. (And you should! Often!)

Some unwanted download hitchhikers, however, can dig themselves into your system like blood-sucking brain ticks. You’ll need anti-Spyware software to remove them. Keep in mind that such a step isn’t necessary, providing that you pay attention when you download things in the first place.