How to Create Encrypted Zip or 7z Archives on Any Operating System

Zip files can be password-protected, but the standard Zip encryption scheme is extremely weak. If your operating system has a built-in way to encrypt zip files, you probably shouldn’t use it.

To gain the actual benefits of encryption, you should use AES-256 encryption. 7z archives support this natively, but you can also encrypt Zip files with AES-256 encryption.

Zip 2.0 Legacy Encryption vs. AES Encryption

There are actually two types of Zip file encryption. The older Zip 2.0 encryption is extremely insecure, while the newer AES encryption is fairly secure.

Unfortunately, many pieces of software — particularly operating systems with built-in support for Zip files — don’t support the newer AES encryption standard. This means that using the Zip password-protection features found in Windows XP, current versions of Mac OS X, and even typical Linux desktops won’t give you securely encrypted Zip files. Even some third-party utilities are reluctant to switch to AES for their Zip encryption as it means those AES-encrypted zip files will then be incompatible with the built-in Zip features in Windows, Mac OS X, and other software.

It’s still possible to get AES encryption with Zip files — but such files will require third-party software to view, anyway. You may just want to use a different archive format, such as 7z. The 7z archive format requires strong AES-256 encryption. Whenever you create a password-protected 7z file, you know that it’s securely encrypted. Really, 7z is great — it came out on top in our file-compression benchmarks. It’s generally on the top of other file compression benchmarks we’ve seen, too.

Windows – 7-Zip

Windows offers a built-in way to create Zip files. Windows XP even offered a way to password-protect and encrypt these Zip files. However, Windows XP used the extremely insecure “standard” zip file encryption algorithm. Even if you’re still using Windows XP, you shouldn’t use this feature. Later versions of Windows dropped the password-protection option entirely.

Nearly every popular encryption utility offers this features. We like 7-Zip, which is completely free and open-source, so it won’t try to nag you for any money.

With 7-Zip installed, you can select some files in a File Explorer or Windows Explorer window, right-click them, and select 7-Zip > Add to archive. Be sure to select the “Add to archive” option, as it gives you the ability to set a password. If you don’t see the menu option here, you can also open the 7-Zip application directly and use it to create an archive.

7-Zip will create a 7z archive by default, but you can also choose Zip. If you do opt to go with Zip, be sure to select the AES-256 encryption method instead of the weaker ZipCrypto method. Enter your password into the provided boxes and click OK to create your encrypted archive file.

Mac – Keka

Mac OS X also provides an easy way to create Zip files from a Finder window, but there’s no way to encrypt a zip file with the graphical user interface. The zip command included with Mac OS X does offer a way to encrypt zip files without using any third-party software. However, like the password-protection feature built into Windows XP, it uses the old and insecure standard zip encryption scheme. If you really wanted, you could use the “zip -e” command in a Terminal on a Mac. However, we strongly recommend against this.

As on Windows, you’ll once again need a third-party file compression app for secure compression. Keka seems to be one of the most well-loved file compression and decompression apps for Mac, and we can recommend it. However, even Keka doesn’t use AES for encrypting Zip files by default. You can get the currently-in-beta version of Keka and enable a hidden option to do this, or just use the standard version of Keka and create encrypted 7z files instead.

Launch Keka, select 7z, and enter a password for your archive. (If you select Zip, be sure you have the correct version of Keka and that you’ve enabled the hidden option above to get the secure encryption.)

Drag and drop one or more files you want to compress onto the Keka window and they’ll be compressed into a 7z file encrypted with the password you provided. You’ll need the password to access the file’s contents in the future.

Linux – File Roller with p7zip-full

The standard Archive Manager (File Roller) application included with Ubuntu and other GNOME-based desktop environments does have an option to create password-protected zip files. However, the underlying zip command used still uses the old, weak encryption instead of strong AES encryption. Thankfully, File Roller can be used to create encrypted 7z archives.

To enable this option, you’ll first need to install the p7zip-full package. (On some Linux distributions, it may just be called p7zip instead.) For example, on Ubuntu, you can either open the Ubuntu Software Center, search for p7zip-full and install it, or open a Terminal window and run the sudo apt-get install p7zip-full command.

Once you have, you can create encrypted 7z files directly from the File Roller window. Select some files in a file manager window, right-click them, and select Compress — or open the Archive Manager application directly and use it to create a new archive.

In the Compress window, be sure to select the 7z archive format. Click the Other Options header and provide a password. The password will be used to unlock your archive later.

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There are many different software programs for creating password-protected archives, but — whatever you use — be sure it’s using secure encryption. The problem with Zip encryption isn’t purely theoretical. The web is full of tools that can “recover” a password-protected zip file that was created using the old encryption scheme. “Recover” is a less-scary word for breaking and removing the encryption.

How to Check Your BIOS Version and Update it

You probably shouldn’t update your BIOS, but sometimes you need to. Here’s how to check what BIOS version your computer is using and flash that new BIOS version onto your motherboard as quickly and safely as possible.

Be very careful when updating your BIOS! If your computer freezes, crashes, or loses power during the process, the BIOS or UEFI firmware may be corrupted. This will render your computer unbootable — it’ll be “bricked.”

How to Check Your BIOS Version in Windows

Your computer’s BIOS version is displayed in the BIOS setup menu itself, but you don’t have to reboot to check this version number. There are several ways to see your BIOS version from within Windows, and they work the same on PCs with a traditional BIOS or a newer UEFI firmware.

To use a command, open a Command Prompt window — press Windows Key + R, type cmd into the Run dialog, and press Enter. Run the following command:

wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion

You’ll see the version number of the BIOS or UEFI firmware in your current PC.

You can also find your BIOS’s version number in the System Information window. On Windows 7, you can search the Start menu for System Information to find it. On Windows 8, it’s more hidden — but you can still launch the System Information panel on Windows 8.

The BIOS version number is displayed on the System Summary pane. Look at the BIOS Version/Date field.

How to Update Your BIOS

Different motherboards use different utilities and procedures, so there’s no one-size-fits-all set of instructions here. However, you’ll perform the same basic process on all motherboards.

First, head to the motherboard manufacturer’s website and find the Downloads or Support page for your specific model of motherboard. You should see a list of available BIOS versions, along with any changes/bug fixes in each and the dates they were released. Download the one you want to update to. You’ll probably want the newest BIOS version unless you want an older one for a specific reason.

If you purchased a pre-built computer, head to the computer manufacturer’s website, look up the computer model, and look at its downloads page. You’ll find any available BIOS updates there.

Your BIOS download probably came in an archive — usually a .zip file. Extract the contents of that file. You’ll find some sort of BIOS file — in the screenshot below, it’s the E7887IMS.140 file.

The archive should also contain a README file that will walk you through updating to the new BIOS. You should check out this file for instructions that apply specifically to your hardware, but we’ll try to cover the basics that work across all hardware here.

You’ll need to choose one of several different types of BIOS-flashing tools depending on your motherboard and what it supports. The BIOS update’s included README file should recommend the ideal option for your hardware.

Some manufacturers offer a BIOS-flashing option in their BIOS, or as a special key-press option when you boot the computer. You copy the BIOS file to a USB drive, reboot your computer, and enter the BIOS or UEFI screen. From there, you choose the BIOS-updating option, select the BIOS file you placed on the USB drive, and the BIOS updates to the new version.

You generally access the BIOS screen by pressing the appropriate key while your computer boots — it’s often displayed on the screen during the boot process and will be noted in your motherboard or PC’s manual. Common BIOS keys include Delete and F2. The process forentering a UEFI setup screen on a Windows 8 PC is a bit different.

There are also more traditional DOS-based BIOS-flashing tools. You’d create a DOS live USB drive and copy the BIOS-flashing utility and BIOS file to that USB drive. You’d then reboot your computer and boot from the USB drive. In the minimal DOS environment, you’d run the appropriate command — often something like flash.bat BIOS3245.bin — and the tool would flash the new version of the BIOS.

The DOS-based flashing tool is often provided in the BIOS archive you download from the manufacturer’s website, although you may have to download it separately. Look for a file with the .bat or .exe file extension.

In the past, this process was performed with bootable floppy disks and CDs. We recommend a USB drive because it would probably be the easiest method on modern hardware.

Some manufacturers provide Windows-based flashing tools, which you run on the Windows desktop to flash your BIOS and then reboot. We don’t recommend using these, and even many manufacturers who provide these tools usually caution against using them. For example, MSI “strongly recommends” using their BIOS-based menu option instead of their Windows-based utility in the README file of the sample BIOS update we downloaded.

Flashing your BIOS from within Windows can result in more problems. All that software running in the background — including security programs that may interfere with writing to the computer’s BIOS — could cause the process to fail and corrupt your BIOS. Any system crashes or freezes could also result in a corrupted BIOS. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so you should use a BIOS-based flashing tool or boot to a minimal DOS environment to flash your BIOS.

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That’s it — after you run the BIOS-flashing utility, you’ll reboot your computer and immediately begin using the new BIOS or UEFI firmware version. If there’s a problem with the new BIOS version, you may be able to downgrade it by downloading an older version from the manufacturer’s website and repeating the flashing process.

How to Create and Run Virtual Machines With Hyper-V

Hyper-V is a virtual machine feature built into Windows. It was originally part of Windows Server 2008, but made the leap the to desktop with Windows 8. Hyper-V allows you to create virtual machines without any additional software.

This feature isn’t available on Windows 7, and it requires the Professional or Enterprise editions of Windows 8 or 8.1. It also requires a CPU with hardware virtualization support like Intel VT or AMD-V, features found in most modern CPUs.

Install Hyper-V

Hyper-V isn’t installed by default on Windows 8 Professional and Enterprise systems, so you’ll have to install it before you can use it. Thankfully, you don’t need a Windows disc to install it — you just need to click a few checkboxes.

Tap the Windows key, type “Windows features” to perform a search, and then click the “Turn Windows features on or off” shortcut. Check the Hyper-V checkbox in the list and click OK to install it. Restart your computer when prompted.

Open Hyper-V Manager

To actually use Hyper-V, you’ll need to launch the Hyper-V Manager application. You’ll find it in your list of installed programs, and you can also launch it by searching for Hyper-V.

The Hyper-V Manager application refers to a “virtualization server,” which gives away its heritage as a tool for servers. It can be used to run virtual machines on your own computer — in that case, your local computer functions as a local virtualization server.

Set Up Networking

Click the name of your local computer in Hyper-V Manager to find the options for your current computer.

You’ll probably want to give the virtual machine access to the Internet and local network, so you’ll need to create a virtual switch. Click the Virtual Switch Manager link first.

Select External in the list to give virtual machines access to the external network, and click Create Virtual Switch.

Give the virtual switch a name afterward and click OK. The default options should be fine here, although you should ensure the External network connection is correct. Be sure to select the network adapter that’s actually connected to the Internet, whether it’s Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet.

Create a Virtual Machine

Click New > Virtual Machine in the Actions pane to create a new virtual machine.

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The New Virtual Machine Wizard window will appear. Use the options to name your virtual machine and configure its basic hardware. This should all be fairly self-explanatory if you’ve ever used another virtual machine program before. When you reach the Configure Networking pane, you’ll need to select the virtual switch you configured earlier — if you didn’t configure one, the only option you’ll see here is “Not Connected,” which means your virtual machine won’t be connected to the network unless you add a network adapter to its virtual hardware later.

If you have an ISO file containing your guest operating system’s installation files, you can select it at the end of the process. Hyper-V will insert the ISO file into the virtual machine’s virtual disc drive so you can boot it afterwards and immediately start installing your guest operating system of choice.

Boot the Virtual Machine

Your new virtual machine will appear in the Hyper-V Manager list. Select it and “Start” it — click Start in the sidebar, click Action > Start, or right-click it and select Start. The virtual machine will boot up.

Next, right-click the virtual machine and click Connect to connect to it. Your virtual machine will then open in a window on your desktop — if you don’t connect to it, it just runs in the background with no visible interface. Again, it’s easy to see how this management interface was designed for servers.

After you connect, you’ll see a standard virtual machine window with options you can use to control the virtual machine. It should look familiar if you’ve ever used VirtualBox or VMware Player. Go through the normal installation process to install the guest operating system in the virtual machine.

When you’re done installing the operating system, click Action > Insert Integration Services Setup Disk. Open the Windows file manager and install the integration services from the virtual disc. This is Hyper-V’s counterpart to VirtualBox Guest Additions and VMware Tools

Using Hyper-V

When you’re done with the virtual machine, make sure you’ve shut it down or turned it off in the Hyper-V Manager window — just closing the window won’t actually close the virtual machine, so it will stay running in the background. The virtual machine’s state should be “Off” if you don’t want it running.

Each virtual machine has a settings window you can use to configure its virtual hardware and other settings. Right-click a virtual machine and select Settings to adjust these options. Many of these settings can only be modified while the virtual machine is turned off.

This tool was created by Microsoft, but that doesn’t mean it only works with Windows. Hyper-V can also be used to run Linux-based virtual machines. We were able to run Ubuntu 14.04 with Hyper-V on Windows 8.1 — no special configuration required.

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Hyper-V has other useful features, too. For example, checkpoints work like snapshots in VirtualBoxor VMware. You can create a checkpoint and then revert your guest operating system’s state to that state later. It’s a useful feature for experimenting with software or tweaks that may cause problems in your guest operating system

How to Set Up BitLocker Encryption on Windows

Windows can encrypt entire operating system drives and removable devices with its built-in BitLocker encryption. When TrueCrypt controversially closed up shop, they recommended their users transition away from TrueCrypt to BitLocker.

BitLocker Drive Encryption and BitLocker To Go require a Professional or Enterprise edition of Windows 7, 8, or 8.1. However, the “core” version of Windows 8.1 includes a “Device Encryption” feature that works similarly.

Enable BitLocker For a Drive

To enable BitLocker, open the Control Panel and navigate to System and Security > BitLocker Drive Encryption. You can also open Windows Explorer or File Explorer, right-click a drive, and select Turn On BitLocker. If you don’t see this option, you don’t have the right edition of Windows.

Click the Turn on BitLocker option next to an operating system drive, internal drive (“fixed data drive”), or removable drive to enable BitLocker for the drive.

There are two types of BitLocker encryption you can enable here:

• BitLocker Drive Encryption:  Sometimes referred to just as BitLocker, this is a “full-disk encryption” feature that will encrypt an entire drive. When the computer boots, the Windows boot loader loads from the System Reserved partition, and the boot loader will prompt you for your unlock method — for example, a password. BitLocker will then decrypt the drive and load Windows. The encryption is otherwise transparent — your files will appear like they normally would on an unencrypted system, but they’re stored on the disk in an encrypted form. You can also encrypt other drives in a computer, not just the operating system drive.
• BitLocker To Go: External drives, such as USB flash drives and external hard drives, can be encrypted with BitLocker To Go. You’ll be prompted for your unlock method — for example, a password — when you connect the drive to your computer. If someone doesn’t have the unlock method, they can’t access the files on the drive.

Use BitLocker Without a TPM

BitLocker Drive Encryption normally requires requires a computer with a TPM to secure an operating system drive. This is a microchip built into the computer, installed on the motherboard. BitLocker can store the encryption keys here, which is more secure than simply storing them on the computer’s data drive. The TPM will only provide the encryption keys after verifying the state of the computer. An attacker can’t just rip out your computer’s hard disk or create an image of an encrypted disk and decrypt it on another computer.If the PC you’re enabling BitLocker on doesn’t have a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), you’ll see a message saying your administrator must set the “Allow BitLocker without a compatible TPM” option.

If you’re doing this on your own computer, you’re the computer’s administrator. You’ll just need to open the Local Group Policy Editor application and change this setting.

Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog, type gpedit.msc into it, and press Enter. Navigate to Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Windows Components \ BitLocker Drive Encryption \ Operating System Drives. Double-click the “Require additional authentication at startup” setting, select Enabled, and check the “Allow BitLocker without a compatible TPM” option. Click OK to save the new setting.

Choose an Unlock Method

Next, you’ll see the “Choose how to unlock your drive at startup” screen. You can select several different ways of unlocking the drive. If your computer doesn’t have a TPM, you can unlock the drive with a password or by inserting a special USB flash drive that functions as a key.

If your computer does have a TPM, you’ll have additional options. For example, you can configure automatic unlocking at startup — your computer will grab the encryption keys from the TPM and automatically decrypt the drive. You could also secure it in other ways — for example, you could provide a PIN at startup. That PIN would unlock the strong decryption key stored in the TPM and unlock the drive.

Choose your preferred unlock option and follow the instructions in the next screen to set it up.

Back Up Your Recovery Key

BitLocker will provide you with a recovery key. This key can be used to access your encrypted files if you ever lose your main key — for example, if you forget your password or if the computer with the TPM dies and you have to remove the drive.

You can save the key to a file, print it, store it on a USB flash drive, or save it to your Microsoft account on Windows 8 and 8.1. If you back up the recovery key to your Microsoft account, you can access the key later at https://onedrive.live.com/recoverykey . Be sure to keep this key safe — if someone gains access to your key, they could decrypt your drive and bypass the encryption. You may want to back it up in multiple locations — if you lose this recovery key and your main unlock method, your encrypted files will be lost forever.

Encrypt and Unlock the Drive

BitLocker will automatically encrypt new files as you add them, but you’ll need to choose what happens with the files currently on your drive. You can encrypt the entire drive — including the free space — or just encrypt the used disk files to speed up the process.

If you’re setting up BitLocker on a new PC, encrypt the used disk space only — it’s faster. If you’re setting BitLocker up on a PC you’ve been using for a while, you should encrypt the entire drive to ensure no one can recover deleted files. Encrypting only the used disk space is faster, while encrypting the entire drive takes longer.

You’ll be prompted to run a BitLocker system check and reboot your computer. After the computer boots back up for the first time, the drive will be encrypted. Check the BitLocker Drive Encryption icon in the system tray to see its progress. You can continue using your computer while it’s being encrypted, but it perform more slowly.

When your computer boots, you’ll see a BitLocker prompt if you need to enter a password, PIN, or plug in a USB flash drive.

Press Escape here if you lose your unlock method. You’ll be able to enter your recovery key.

If you choose to encrypt a removable drive with BitLocker To Go, you’ll see a similar wizard but your drive will be encrypted without any rebooting required. Don’t remove the drive while it’s being encrypted.

When you connect the drive to a computer, you’ll be prompted to provide the password or smart card you chose to unlock the removable device. Drives protected with BitLocker are identified with a lock icon in Windows Explorer or File Explorer.

You can manage a locked drive — change the password, turn off BitLocker, back up your recovery key, or perform other actions — from the BitLocker control panel window. Right-click an encrypted drive and select Manage BitLocker to go directly to it.

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Like all encryption, BitLocker does add some overhead. Microsoft’s official BitLocker FAQ says that “Generally it imposes a single-digit percentage performance overhead.” If encryption is important to you because you have sensitive data — for example, a laptop full of business documents — it’s worth the performance trade-off.

How to Bypass and Reset the Password on Every Operating System

Passwords can be reset or bypassed on every operating system. On Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, you can gain access to a computer’s unencrypted files after resetting the password — the password doesn’t actually prevent access to your files.

On other devices where you can’t gain access to the files, you can still reset the device and gain access to it without knowing a password. These tricks all require physical access to the device.

Windows

Resetting a password without an official tool is fairly simple. For example, the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor works well for this. First, you’ll need to boot from a special disc or USB drive — either a live Linux system or a specialized Offline NT Password & Registry Editor boot disc. The tool can edit the Windows registry, allowing you to clear the password associated with the user account. You can then boot into Windows and log into the account without a password.There are many ways to reset a Windows password. Windows allows you to create a password reset disk that can reset your password in an approved way — create a disk first and you can use it if you ever need it.

Even if you’re using Windows 8 with a Microsoft account, you can always reset the password of the built-in Administrator account to gain access.

To protect against this, you could password-protect your BIOS and restrict booting from external devices. Someone with physical access to the PC could reset the BIOS password to bypass this.Encrypting your Windows system drive with something like BitLocker would prevent the registry from being accessed and modified with this tool — encryption is the only good protection.

Linux

We’ll use Ubuntu as a concrete example here. Ubuntu offers a recovery mode in its default Grub boot menu — select Advanced options for Ubuntu and select Recovery mode. You’ll see the boot menu while booting your computer — if you don’t, you can hold the Shift key as you boot and the menu will appear.  You can easily boot directly to a root shell prompt from here.

This option isn’t necessary, as you can just press the e button to edit Ubuntu’s boot options and boot directly to a root shell prompt from within the main Grub menu. You’ll then be able to use the root shell to reset and change passwords on the system. If the Grub boot menu is locked and password-protected, you can still boot to Linux live media and change your password from there.

Once again, encryption would prevent your system from being accessed and modified without your encryption passphrase. We used Ubuntu as an example, but almost every Linux distribution uses Grub and few people set a Grub password.

Mac OS X

Macs have a built-in password reset tool, and it’s very easy to access. This option is available in recovery mode. You’ll need to restart your Mac by clicking the Apple menu and selecting Restart. Press and hold the Command + R keys as the computer boots and it will boot into recovery mode.

Click the Utilities menu in recovery mode, select Terminal, type resetpassword into the terminal, and press Enter. You’ll see the Reset Password utility, which allows you to reset the password of a any user account on the Mac. You can also access this tool from a Mac OS X installation disc.

To prevent your Mac’s password from being reset, you could enable FileVault disk encryption on your Mac, set a firmware password inside recovery mode, or both.

Chrome OS

Your Chromebook’s user account password is your Google account password. You could reset your Google account password on the web to regain access.

Let’s say you have a Chromebook you want to use, but you can’t sign in. Perhaps you’ve forgotten the Google password associated with the device. Perhaps an old Google account is considered the device’s owner account. In this scenario, you can boot the Chromebook to the sign-in screen and press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + R at the same time. You’ll be prompted to factory reset your Chromebook with Powerwash. After you reset it, you can log in with another Google account and that Google account will be considered the owner account. This will erase all data on the device, but most Chromebook data is synced online.

There’s no way to gain access to a user’s files without their password on a Chromebook — those files are encrypted by default.

Android

If you don’t have this information either, you may be able to bypass the lock screen in other ways. This should be easy on a device with USB debugging enabled, as you can connect it to a computer and manipulate it over USB with adb — that’s why USB debugging is disabled by default.If you forget your Android’s lock screen code, you can reset it. Try an incorrect password, PIN, or pattern a few times and you’ll eventually see a “Forgot password,” “Forgot PIN,” or “Forgot pattern” option. You can then regain access to your device by entering the username and password of the Google account associated with your device.

You can’t bypass the lock screen without your Google account password unless there’s a hole open in the device — for example, USB debugging. If you want to use the device, you can stillperform a factory reset from recovery mode — this will set the device back to its factory state, wiping the data on it . You can then log in and set up the device with another Google account.

iOS

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iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches are also built without a way to reset the password. Unlike on Android, you can’t just reset the device’s password with your Apple ID information. If you forget your iOS device’s password, you’ll have to perform a factory reset. However, if you’re syncing the device to an Apple ID and you still remember your Apple ID password, all your device’s data can be restored afterward thanks toiCloud backups.

You can do this in several ways. If you’ve set up Find My iPhone, you can visit the iCloud websiteand erase your device from there. If you’ve backed up your device to iTunes on a computer, you can connect the device to your computer and restore your device from an iTunes backup.

If you don’t have access to Find My iPhone and you’ve never backed up the device to iTunes, you can still reset the device using recovery mode. Turn off the device, press and hold the Home button, and then connect the device’s USB cable to your computer. If it doesn’t turn on automatically, turn it on. iTunes will tell you it’s detected a device in recovery mode and allow you to restore it to factory default settings.

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Passwords keep honest people honest, and they ensure people can’t gain access to your device without knowing the tricks or looking them up. But, if someone has physical access to your device and wants to bypass the password, there’s nothing you can do to stop them. Even encrypting your files will only protect your personal data — they can always wipe the encrypted data and start over fresh.

How to Install Software on Linux

Installing software works differently on Linux. Instead of visiting a website, you’ll usually need to grab the software from your Linux distribution’s software repositories with its package manager. This sounds complicated, but is actually simpler than installing software on Windows.

A typical Linux distribution’s software installation system has a lot in common with an app store. There’s one place you go to to install most of your software and software updates arrive in one consistent way.

Install Software From Your Distribution’s Repositories

Most of the software you’ll want to install on your Linux distribution is available in its software repositories. Your Linux distribution likely provides a nice graphical frontend for this system. Select your desired package and your package manager will automatically download the package, grab any other software packages it requires, and install them all.

On Ubuntu, the included package manager is the Ubuntu Software Center — look for the orange shopping bag icon on your dock. Use this interface to search for packages and install them. You can search for a type of application like “video player” or a specific application name like “VLC.” Click the download button, enter your password, and the package manager will do the rest.

Each Linux distribution has its own software repositories and package manager, but practically all Linux distributions use a software repository system that works this way. For example, onLinux Mint, you’d use the Software Manager application instead.

The pretty graphical interface is just a front-end to the real package manager, which you can access in other ways. For example, you can install packages from the terminal with the apt-get command on Ubuntu. The graphical interface and terminal command accomplish the same thing.

Install Proprietary Software

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Some programs aren’t located in your Linux distribution’s software repositories. This includes popular proprietary programs like Google Chrome, Skype, Steam, and Opera. Your Linux distribution generally doesn’t have the license to redistribute this software, so you have to get it from the source.

To download software like this ,visit the project’s official website and click the Download button. You’ll generally see a page pointing you to various Linux download links. For example, here’s theSkype for Linux download page.

You’ll be prompted to choose the appropriate package for your Linux distribution. You should choose the package that matches your Linux distribution as closely as possible. For example, Skype offers an “Ubuntu 12.04 (multiarch)” package. It’s the most recent version number in the list, so it’s the ideal package to use on Ubuntu 14.04.

Different distributions use different types of packages with different file extensions. Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian, and similar distributions use Deb packages with the .deb file extension. Fedora, Red Hat, openSUSE, and some other distributions use .rpm packages.

Just double-click the downloaded package and it should open in a package installer that will handle all the dirty work for you. For example, you’d double-click a downloaded .deb file, click Install, and enter your password to install a downloaded package on Ubuntu.

Downloaded packages can also be installed in other ways. For example, you could use the dpkg -I command to install packages from the terminal in Ubuntu. The graphical tool is the easiest.

More Ways to Install Software

The two methods above are the basics every Linux user needs to know. With these tips, you can install most — if not all — the software you’ll need. But here are some other ways to install software on Linux:

Use Third-Party Repositories: Anyone can create their own software repositories, package software, and distribute it from there. You may sometimes want to use a third-party repository to install software you just can’t get in your Linux distribution’s repositories. For example, Ubuntu makes it fairly easy to set up “personal package archives” (PPAs). You can add these PPAs to your package manager and the packages in the PPA will appear in the Ubuntu Software Center and other package management interfaces. It’s a common way to get packages that aren’t yet in your Linux distribution’s official repositories.

Unpack a Binary Archive: Some Linux software is distributed in precompiled form designed to run on any Linux distribution without installation. For example, the “Dynamic” download Skype offers is a .tar.bz2 file. This is just an archive, like a ZIP file — you’d extract it to a folder on your computer and double-click the executable inside it to run it. Mozilla also offers downloads of the latest version of Firefox in .tar.bz2 form, so you can download and run it without any installation — just unpack the archive to a folder anywhere you like and double-click the firefox file inside it. You should prefer software in packaged form for better compatibility with your system and easier updating.

Compile From Source: Typical Linux users shouldn’t need to compile and install software from source anymore. All the software you want should be available in packaged form. That said, most Linux software projects distribute their software in source-code form and leave Linux distributions in charge of packaging and distributing it to you. If your Linux distribution doesn’t have a package you want or doesn’t have the latest version of a package you need, you can compile it from source. Compiling from source isn’t something average Linux desktop users should do, but it’s also not as hard as it may sound.