Automatic software downloading from a computer network

One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions for performing a method for automatically downloading and installing computer software on a local computer from one or more remote computers, the local and remote computers being connected to a computer network, the method comprising:

• locating automatically a control file on a specific remote computer connected to the computer network, the control file including references to one or more computer software components on the specific remote computer, or one or more links to one or more software components on one or more other remote computers, or one or more software components in a compressed format, and an initialization file that includes information about the version of all files needed for the software components;
• downloading automatically to the local computer in an asynchronous manner the one or more of the computer software components referenced in or linked to the control file using a uniform resource locator to locate each of the computer software components;
• verifying automatically that each of the computer software components downloaded to the local computer is safe to install on the local computer;
• installing automatically each of the verified computer software components in one or more locations on the local computer;
• and
• registering automatically each of the installed computer software components in a registry database on the local computer.

A method for automatically downloading and installing computer software on a local device from one or more remote computers, the local device and remote computers being connected to a computer network, the method comprising:

• responsive to encountering a reference to a control file on a remote computer connected to the computer network, automatically locating the control file, wherein the control file is of a syntax supporting platform independence by enumerating choices for a plurality of platforms;
• using the control file automatically to determine a location of one or more platform-dependent software components;
• downloading automatically to the local device the one or more platform-dependent computer software components;
• and
• installing automatically one or more of the platform-dependent computer software components in one or more locations on the local device.

A computer readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing a method for automatically downloading and installing computer software on a local device from one or more remote computers, the local device and remote computers being connected to a computer network, the method comprising:

• responsive to encountering a reference to a control file on a remote computer connected to the computer network, automatically locating the control file, wherein the control file is of a syntax supporting platform independence by enumerating choices for a plurality of platforms;
• using the control file automatically to determine a location of one or more platform-dependent software components;
• downloading automatically to the local device the one or more platform-dependent computer software components;
• and
• installing automatically one or more of the platform-dependent computer software components in one or more locations on the local device.

A system for automatically downloading and installing software from a networked device to a local device, the system comprising;

• a locating module that, in response to encountering a tag possessing at least one location parameter, locates software associated with the location parameter on a remote device, wherein the locating module consults a control file having a syntax supporting platform independence for the software;
• a data download module that, using the tag location parameter, downloads one or more software components, wherein the data download module pulls software components from different locations depending on a desired platform;
• and
• a software installation module that installs the one or more software components on the local device.