A: This is typically a sign that an anti-virus or anti-spyware program on your computer is blocking outgoing connections from the Download Manager set-up program.

The Download Manager installation program works by first running a set-up program that checks your system requirements – that is, what version of Windows you’re running, what version of Windows Media Player is on board, and so on. Only then will it launch a Windows set-up program that attempts to download the install file, spiralfrogdm.msi. This is what might be getting blocked by your computer by the spyware program.

A: Since SpiralFrog is a Web site, and not a desktop application, you don’t need a desktop icon to launch the Web site. Once you’ve installed the SpiralFrog Download Manager, all you need to do is navigate to http://www.spiralfrog.com using your browser every time you want to download some songs or music videos.

There is a SpiralFrog icon for the Download Manager, however, and it’s located in your system tray – which is the collection of icons in the lower right-hand side of your desktop. You can recognize it as a white square with two green circles inside it. The Download Manager itself is just a background process (with an IE ActiveX control or a Firefox plug-in) that allows the Web site to download music to your computer.

A: You can do so via the Add/Remove Programs tool in the Control Panel. You can find the Control Panel by clicking on the Windows Start button.

A: This is typically a sign that the SpiralFrog Download Manager ActiveX control – for those accessing our site using Internet Explorer – or the Firefox plug-in is unable to communicate with the Download Manager background process. Here are a few things to try:

1. Restart the Download Manager by right-clicking on its system tray icon – that’s the one with the white square with a green circle in it – and selecting the "Restart" option.
2. Quit all Internet browsers you have open, and start a new browser session.
3. Go to www.spiralfrog.com and try to download a song.

You can also try removing and reinstalling the Download Manager, as it is possible that the ActiveX control or Firefox plug-in did not get registered properly during the initial install. If you think this might be the case, please follow these steps:

1. Remove the Download Manager via the Add/Remove Programs tool in the Control Panel.
2. Reinstall the Download Manager from this link: http://www.spiralfrog.com/pages/how_to.aspx.
3. Go to www.spiralfrog.com and try to download a song.

If you're still having trouble after trying these options, please email us the file (to feedback@spiralfrog.com) that you’ll find at the following location:

c:\Documents and Settings\YOUR USERNAME\My Documents\SpiralFrog\trace.log

This is the Download Manager “trace” file and it helps us figure out what's gone wrong. If you’re unable to find the “trace.log” file here, right-click on the SpiralFrog Download Manager system tray icon (white square with a green circle inside), choose “Configure” and look under the “Tracing” tab – the path to the trace file is shown here (and can be modified here).

A: The most likely cause is that your anti-virus or anti-spyware program, or possibly your firewall, is blocking connections from spiralfrog.exe, the Download Manager background process. Check to make sure none of these programs are configured to block, especially as some programs will automatically block unless you specifically grant access.

If you are on a corporate network, you may need to use a proxy server for all outbound traffic. You will need to configure the Download Manager so that it knows you’re using a proxy server. To do this, right-click on the Download Manager's system tray icon – that’s the one with the two green circles in the white square – and select the "Configure" option. Then click the "Connection" tab and enter the name of your proxy server's IP address or domain name.

A: The problem is most likely that your Windows Media Player is not properly initialized – or as Microsoft puts it, "individualized" – to be able to play Digital Rights Management-protected content. However, there is a simple fix.

Visit the following page at the Microsoft Web site:

http://drmlicense.one.microsoft.com/Indivsite/en/indivit.asp

And click the "Upgrade" button. Be sure to use Internet Explorer when visiting this site, as the site will attempt to load an ActiveX control to perform the security upgrade.

A: One possibility is that your browser settings do not allow you to load the ActiveX controls off the Web. The Microsoft Web site will attempt to load an ActiveX control and, if it is not successful, the button will be grayed out.

Be sure to use Internet Explorer when you visit the Microsoft site to fix this problem, even if you're a Firefox user. All we’re asking you to do at this stage is upgrade the security of the Windows Media Player – once you’ve successfully upgraded, you can go back to Firefox for all your Internet needs.

If this doesn’t work, your next step should be to reinstall Windows Media Player version 10 or 11. Here's a link upgrade to the latest version of Windows Media Player, version 11:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/11/default.aspx

Here is a link to a Google search that offers some alternative suggestions for how to resolve this problem:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Security+component+upgrade+button+greyed+out

Please note that one of the suggestions on this Google search link asks you to rename your Digital Rights Manager (DRM) folder. However, if you do rename your DRM folder, any previously downloaded DRM-protected songs and video will be unplayable.

Windows Media Player will create you a new DRM folder and reinitialize your WMP next time you launch it. Here are the steps:

1. Close the Windows Media Player.
2. Find the DRM folder on your hard drive (typically, you’ll find it at the following location: c:\documents and settings\all users\drm). (Please note that in order to see the DRM folder, you may have to unclick the "Hide Protected Operating System Files" option In the View tab of the Folder Options tool of the Control Panel.)
3. Rename this folder to something like “OLDDRM” so if you need to find it again and rename, you’ll know which one to look for.
4. Restart the Windows Media Player.
5. Now return to the Microsoft Web site and go to the following page:

http://drmlicense.one.microsoft.com/Indivsite/en/indivit.asp.

And click the “Upgrade button”.

A: The renewal process requires the SpiralFrog Download Manager to be running on your computer. However, if you have disabled or uninstalled the Download Manager, the icon keeps spinning as it’s looking for a program that isn’t there.

Please make sure that you have the Download Manager running during the renewal process.

A: Yes, you can transfer SpiralFrog music – songs and video – to up to two portable devices. The files you download from SpiralFrog are not compatible with an iPod or Zune, but work well with most other portable music players and music phones. You can find a partial list of compatible devices here:

http://www.playsforsure.com

SpiralFrog is categorized as a "subscription service" by the portable device specifications. If a device works with Napster To-Go, Rhapsody To-Go or the Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscription service, the same device should also work with SpiralFrog.

Note that some of the portable devices do not list their level of DRM (Digital Rights Management) support clearly or use consistent terminology. All the subscription services mentioned above require Windows Media Player version 10 or 11 to support the DRM placed on each downloaded file.

It is also possible that a device claims to support Windows DRM files, but in fact supports only purchased (non-expiring) tracks - and has Windows DRM 9 level support only.

A: Songs and video files that you download from SpiralFrog are not compatible with Apple’s range of iPods or Microsoft's Zune

A: Unfortunately, those running the Apple operating system on their computers will not be able to play preview clips, stream videos, or download songs and videos at SpiralFrog.

We require you to be running Windows XP or Vista at SpiralFrog for the simple reason that Windows Digital Rights Management is the only standard available for independent music stores like us to protect the songs and videos as required by the record labels' licenses.

Windows Digital Rights Management is not supported by Apple Macintosh computers. Macintosh supports the AAC Digital Rights Management, but it is closed to Apple's own use only.

At this time, we're sorry to say that all you can do is browse our site, but it's a very good site, and you'll find lots of information about all your favorite artists. So, please... enjoy!

A: Songs downloaded from SpiralFrog may not be burned to a CD. The songs are great quality, and they’re legal, but the record labels that allow us to let you download for free draw the line at CD burning. However, you can synchronize the music you download to up to two portable devices, which you then may be able to connect to your car stereo.

A: SpiralFrog supports Internet Explorer, versions 6 and 7, as well as Firefox version 2.0 (and later) – using either Windows XP or Windows Vista.

Firefox users need to install the Windows Media Player plug-in to play clips to watch streaming music videos. You can download it for free from here:

http://port25.technet.com/pages/windows-media-player-firefox-plugin-download.aspx

A: The problem is most likely due to an insufficient Internet bandwidth, or a temporary Internet slowdown.

We stream the videos to the Web site at 300Kbps. We'd recommend that you do an Internet speed test at a location like the following:

http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

If you find that your Internet connection is less than 300Kbps, then that’s probably why the video stream seems intermittent on your computer.

A: In the system tray, the collection of icons you’ll find in the lower right-hand side of the desktop, there’s a white square icon with two green circles inside it. Right-click this icon, and now select the “Configure” option, and you’ll open up the Download Manager Configuration tool. The third tab is for “Tracing”.

The tracing functionality automatically records the recent actions of the Download Manager to a file in the following location:

c:\Documents and Settings\YOUR USERNAME\My Documents\SpiralFrog\trace.log

If you ever find that you’re experiencing technical problems, we may request that you email us this file to feedback@spiralfrog.com so that we can better help you.

You can turn off the tracing function by clicking the “Tracing On” box so that the check mark disappears. However, since the tracing does not affect the speed of downloading songs and videos at SpiralFrog, we recommend that you keep this feature activated should you ever experience a problem in the future.

The "Reset Trace File" will empty the trace file so that it will start from scratch. Please note that the tracing entries will "wrap" within the file so that the trace file size will never exceed 1MB.

A: The “Buy” buttons are located on our site at the request of the record labels, providing you with an easy-access link to Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca in Canada) where you can buy the physical CD of the album.

SpiralFrog is not involved in the transaction at Amazon other than being in the role of providing you with a convenient link to make your purchase, should you choose to do so.

A: As long as you still have the song and video files on your computer, we can help you recover the licenses you’ll need to make them as good as new. Please email us at feedback@spiralfrog.com and we’ll send you the necessary instructions.

A: We have two qualities of song – either 128 Kbps or 192 Kbps, depending on the song.

A: The best way to find songs in a certain category of music is to click the “GENRES” link in the top navigation bar. This will take you though to a page presenting our top genres – of which Country happens to be one. You can also access a page of Editor’s Picks for the Country genre, a list of songs our Editors select each week.

Of course, the easiest way of finding artists is to search for them. But if you can’t come up with any names to search for, try the “ARTIST” link in the top navigation and filter the available artists by the genre of your choice. This will give you an alphabetical listing of all artists in that genre.

A: Although you can search for up to eight million songs at SpiralFrog but, at this time, we only have over 800,000 songs that you may download. Most likely, you have come across one of the songs that we do not yet have available for download.

A: We are a legal downloading site, so we must clear all licensing rights with record labels and music publishers before we can operate. Music licensing is carried out territory by territory and, so far, we have cleared rights in both the U.S. and Canada.

Our plans are global, and we will be launching in your country as soon as soon as we clear the music rights.