# Assisted Installation

In order for a user to access a plug-in, it must be located on their hard drive in the "plugins" subdirectory (Windows) or "Plug-ins" folder (Macintosh) in the same folder or directory as the Navigator application. Plug-ins can be installed through various methods, including manual installation (in which the user copies the plug-in to the appropriate directory by hand), automatic installation with an installation scripts provided with the plug-in, and Navigator's assisted installation feature. The assisted installation feature is automatically activated when the user displays an HTML page containing embedded data requiring a plug-in that is not currently installed.

To use the assisted installation process:

- The user displays a page that requires a plug-in not currently installed.

- A special icon is displayed on the page in place of the plug-in (similar to the icons Navigator displays as place-holders for images that haven't been loaded or couldn't be found).

- A dialog box automatically opens. The dialog box contains two buttons: Plug-in Info and Cancel.

- If the user clicks Cancel, the assisted installation process is halted and the dialog box closes. If the user accesses embedded data requiring the same plug-in in the future, the dialog box will not open automatically (to avoid annoying the user if they don't want to install the plug-in). The user can access the dialog box manually by clicking the special icon.

- If the user clicks on Plug-in Info, Navigator opens a URL. The URL is either the location specified in the PLUGINSPAGE attribute of the the EMBED tag, or if the attribute is not used, the Netscape page that lists current plug-ins. The URL may contain information about obtaining the plug-in or the ability to download the plug-in and install it in the appropriate location on the hard disk.

- The user follows the instructions to obtain and download the plug-in.

- With current versions of Navigator, the user must quit Navigator and restart it in order to make the newly-installed plug-in available.