Downloading Problems – The Singing Zone

Downloading files

Downloading files from the internet is easy, and even fun, but it takes a bit of specialized knowledge about your computer. This page will help you get started. We want you to have a good experience in getting the Sing With Freedom files downloaded to your computer and stored in a safe place.

Please take a breath, relax, and read through this (long) tutorial - browse through the section titles and you'll certainly find your problem listed. This article covers many possibilities, and will really help with all the details.

Get Started Right Away

It's important to get started with your lessons right away. You are excited and committed at this moment, and this is the best time to start. You'll also find yourself quickly getting into the swing of things once you understand how Per teaches. Don't keep it a mystery! The biggest adventure starts with one step?

If you also have the DVD set don't wait for them to arrive. You can start right now by downloading a copy of the lessons to your computer.

What is "Downloading"?

The first, most basic, thing to understand is that "downloading" makes a copy of a file, located up on the internet, and saves it to your computer. The copy is then located on your computer and you don't need to be online to find or run it. The type of computer you have, and the way it works will determine how this happens for you.

This means that, once you have downloaded the files, you will not need an internet connection to be able to do your lessons. It also means that you own the lessons, just as if you had purchased DVDs. Be sure to keep them safe with a backup copy.

Size of Files

You will need approximately 4 GB of space on your computer to hold the files. If you do not have this space available you could use a cloud storage (such as Dropbox) to store and backup the files. You can also upgrade to the DVD set - if you did not get the DVDs in the package you purchased. You'll find a link to purchase the DVDs on the homesite of the member's area.

You will have access to the member's site for a full month to watch the lessons online so that you can also get started that way.

Here are your two main steps:

Download the files to your computer.
Store them in a place where you will always be able to find them.

Overview of computers

You will need to download the files to some sort of computer. Currently there are several major types of computers

Windows PC

This is any computer (desktop or laptop) that is running Windows. It could be running XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10. These computers are easy to use and our download feature should run automatically for you. PC's usually have plenty of space to hold the download files. The default is to download the file to your "Download" folder.

Mac computer

This is any type of Mac/Apple computer from a desktop to a laptop. These computers are easy to use and usually have plenty of space to hold the download files. The default is to download the file into the "Download" folder in Finder.

Apple iPads & Phones

Tablets and phones are powerful and fun to use for general web browsing. However they are programmed to use Apple's proprietary software which does not natively handle and manage download files. They also may not have enough space to hold the 6 videos that comprise the Sing With Freedom program. More, detailed, instructions for this below.

Android Tablets & Phones

These tablets and phones are also fun to use. But you may find that you need additional software (Aps) to download and manage the Sing With Freedom files. You'll also need enough space on the phone to hold the 6 videos.

Linux Computer

Linux computers can run a variety of Linux operating systems. You'll need to refer to documentation for your particular system. More than likely Firefox or Chrome will work automatically to download the files for you. Most of the time Linux systems are run by people with a lot of knowledge about computers, so we won't cover fine details of Linux systems in this tutorial.

Finding the Sing With Freedom files

First of all you will need to log on to the Singing Zone here - www.thesingingzone.com/members

If you are having problems logging in, please refer to this Knowledge Base Article.

To download the Sing With Freedom program lessons choose the "Sing With Freedom" link.That will open a page where you will find a welcome video which you should watch as it will explain how the website works and what is on it.

Underneath that video you will see links to your lessons that you can download.

Downloading Sing With Freedom

Our first instructions will assume you are using a regular PC or a Mac. If you are using something else, please look for those instructions below.

You are now on the lesson page. The big "Download" button will start an automatic download.

On a PC or Mac you can click on it and the download will start automatically. Depending on your browser it will start a countdown process at the top or bottom of the screen. Watch that process and wait until it is entirely finished.

Here is a screenshot from the bottom of a Chrome browser.

In our image you can see the name of the file downloading, and that 27.8 MB have been downloaded already. The icon at the left is spinning and will spin the whole time the file is downloading. The file will download to the folder you have specified in your browser settings. In my case, I am using the default setting and the file is downloading to my "Downloads" folder.

When the download is done make sure you can locate it on your PC and test that it runs. Repeat for the other weeks. Also be sure to backup the files so you don't lose them.

If you don't see the download button, simply click the top "Log out" link to log completely out of the site, and then log back in again. That will clear your browser and reset permissions so the button will show.

iPad

You can download to an iPad or iPhone if you have enough space on it. The easiest thing to do is to download to your computer and then use iTunes to transfer to your phone.

To download directly you'll need a new browser app. There is one called Puffin Browser that is really cool. It will download directly to a cloud account, including Dropbox. It does that directly without using your bandwidth. Here's the link for that- https://www.puffinbrowser.com/index.php - it has instructions.

Alternately you can go into your App store and search for "Video Downloader." You'll find a free one that does great. We don't provide links for that because searching in the Apple Store is more efficient.
The Video downloader app works just like a browser.

Download the app, and then open.
It will look like a browser and you will use it instead of Safari.
Go to "thesingingzone.com/members."
Then go to the first download page by clicking on "Sing With Freedom" and Week 1.
With the Video Downloader you do not use the download button. Instead you touch and hold on the video itself, and a download menu will pop open. It will allow you to download the files and to manage them as well.

On an iPad the workbooks are a bit easier. You can do them in Safari. It will use an app that should already be available called iBooks. What you do is log into the Singing Zone with Safari, go to Sing With Freedom, and then start with Week 1. Click on the download button for the Workbook and the workbook will open up. Up in the top right corner as it opens you'll see "Open in iBooks" or "Open in". It kindof comes up fast and then goes away. If you miss it, you just click on the top right of the workbook and the words will pop up. click on that and it'll either save it to iBooks, or (if you have more than one pdf reading app) it will ask you to select your app. It goes pretty fast.

Android and Other Devices

There are many other types of tablets and phones which can play the Sing With Freedom lessons. The fastest, and easiest, way to find information on your device is to use the Google search engine. Simply search for "download videos onto name-of-your-phone" and you'll certainly find good articles and videos to help. it will almost always be the case of having the right app to do the job. We'll let you select this on your own as you'll be able to choose what makes the most sense, and what works best for you.

Have fun with your lessons!