Page Updated: 12 December 2011
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The first thing to note is that we do not offer a 24/7 support service like Clips4Sale. You will also read in our terms and conditions that it is your responsibility to know how to download files and know which videos players will play them. In short, we are not here to school you in learning to use the Internet. We cannot possibly know everything about each operating system or browser version or movie player, and advise you on how to fix bugs in those systems. The purpose here is to guide you through using Files Forever because it has a few quirks which can cause confusion to users. With that in mind, the first few items below deal with the most common questions we receive. Following those, you will find a complete walkthrough showing you how to select, purchase and download a movie with the Files Forever system. It is highly detailed and probably contains more information than you need, but it's there if you do need it.

1. I don't see a link called "Download this file now!"

If you don't see this link, it means you have not used the password e-mailed to you by the Files Forever system. You need to log in using this to access your new movie for the first time. After accessing it that first time, this temporary password will stop working (for secuity), and you then need to access your movies using the account you created when you signed up with FF, including the password you yourself selected.

2. The link "Download this file now!" does not work.

Yes it does. The problem is that you didn't follow the instructions on the purchase page regarding how to start the download. The link may make you think you can just click on it, and logically you should (that's what the staff at Dreamhost intended), but it simply doesn't work for most people. An extra step is required. You need to force the download to start by (if you use a PC) pressing your right mouse button when you click on "Download this file now!" and select from the drop down menu either "Save link as" or "Save file as" or "Save target as" - the exact wording varies with browser, e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc. If you use a Mac, life is far simpler: press the OPTION key and click on the link to start the download.

3. When I bought a new movie, I was charged again for one I bought previously.

No you were not. It may look like it, but you will never get charged twice for a movie. What you see is simply the previous purchase stored on your account. Each time you buy a new movie and perform the download, that movie will be added to your account and will stay there forever, hence the name of the system.

Complete walkthrough when you buy using Files Forever

Files Forever is a system operated by our web hosts (the company is called Dreamhost) which enables customers to pay for a movie and download it straight away. Here is a little information about the process because the system has some confusing aspects which are a little counter-intuitive. I'm going to step you through the process of purchasing a movie and subsequently download it. I have gone into a lot of detail, probably more than you need, but it is all here in case you do need it. Click on any of the pictures below for a larger image.

If, after reading this page, you are still have a problem with a download, e-mail us at north@bound2burst.net and we will do our best to help you, but do keep in mind that we cannot resolve problems with your computer since only you know how that is configured. Happy shopping!

Selecting a movie to buy
Click on the shopping cart associated with the movie of your choice on Bound2Burst. You can add multiple movies if you wish. For recent releases, you will have a choice of movie format: WMV (use the red shopping cart) and MP4 (use the yellow shopping cart). Once you have clicked on the cart, you will see a page like this:

Adding the movie you want to the Files Forever shopping cart
Yes, you have already used a shopping cart on Bound2Burst, so you may be wondering why you need to do this again. The reason is that the carts displayed on Bound2Burst are really there to direct you to Files Forever where the movie file is actually stored. Once there, you need to add it to the FF cart so that it knows you want to make a purchase. When you click on the "Add to Shopping Cart" button, the movie page will look like this:



You're not done with this page yet. Look now on the left-hand side where it says, in very small print, "Your Shopping Cart". The title of the movie you have selected to purchase is shown there together with a REMOVE button, in case you change your mind (the remove button is there to allow you to edit the cart when you have multiple items listed). Below this, in green, it says "1 file in your cart." The price of the movie and its size (in MB) are listed. Below this is a very small CHECKOUT button. Click on this to go to the next page.

The checkout and payment process
Clicking on the CHECKOUT button will take you to a page that looks like this:

If you already have a Dreamhost account (Dreamhost is the company who owns and operates Files Forever), you need only enter your e-mail address in the first box. If you are a new customer, you will also need to create a password. This is your own password for your account. You will find later that it is not the password you use to download a new purchase (a temporary password is issued to you by the Files Forever system which is sent to the e-mail account you have entered in the first box on this page - more on that in a minute). This is where you also need to enter your name, credit card number, card expiration date and the security code displayed on the back of the card. Once you have completed all the required fields, click on the button at the bottom of the page where it says "Pay now and complete your file purchase!". PLEASE NOTE: We do not see any of this credit card information at Bound2Burst, and if you commuicate with us, you should never include it in an e-mail. E-mail messages are not secure and a third party could steal this information. The Files Forever system is encryption secured and is the ONLY PLACE you should provide this information.

Obtaining your movie for download
After you have paid by clicking on the "Pay now and complete your file purchase!" button on the previous page, you will see a page that looks like this:



It looks as if you can click on the link that says "Download this file now!" and everything will be fine. Wrong! You need a different password in order to download the file for the first time. After the first time you download it, the movie will be stored in your Dreamhost account and will be accessible using the password you created yourself for your account. The system is very misleading in this way and it catches out a number of customers, hence this long and detailed walkthrough of the process. What you need to do next is look in your e-mail account, the one you entered above. After a minute or two, you should see a message which looks like the one in Maria's e-mail in the following example:



The e-mail message will appear to be from me, Dave North, but it is in fact generated automatically by the Files Forever system (it simply appends my name and e-mail address as your point of contact, but I never actually see this e-mail). Notice that it contains your e-mail user name and a receipt number for your purchase, as well as displaying the name of the movie you have purchased (this is a little different if you have made multiple purchases). If you don't see this e-mail in your inbox, then check inside the SPAM folder. E-mails generated by machines instead of people have certain characteristics that e-mail filters use to identify them as spam, so it might put your message in there. You will always receive an e-mail from the system, but you may have to look for it somewhere other than your inbox. The next step is, of course, to open this e-mail. When you do, you will see a message which looks like this:



The message contains a link to your movie. Click on it. The page you get looks almost identical to the original purchase page, but don't let this confuse you. On the left-hand side of the page, enter your e-mail address in the user name box and in the box below this, enter the password issued to you in the e-mail message. In the example, the actually password has been removed for Maria's security, and the words "Password goes here" have been substituted. In your own e-mail message, there will be a password from the Files Forever system which is unique to you and the purchase you have just made. Now click the LOGIN button next to where it says "Forgot password?".



The page that now opens should now look like the one below, where it says "Download this file now!" with the title of the movie in small print beneath it, but no "Add to Shopping Cart" button.



Now you are ready to start the download. There is just one more detail, a very silly and annoying detail, but the staff at Dreamhost insist it is not a problem. Depending on how your system is configured, you may find that clicking on the link "Download this file now!" will simply lead to a blank white screen instead of starting the download. The system has not crashed on you; what it is doing is LOADING the file to play it on-line! This is obviously not what you want to do - it would take forever, literally! To make sure the download starts without a problem, use your right mouse button when you click on the "Download this file now!" link and select an option from the drop down menu, such as the example shown below:



This is the menu in Firefox and the selection to make in this instance in "Save Link As". Other browsers have different names for this, such as "Save Target As" or "Save File As". There are various possibilities and we don't have a full suite of browsers installed to check what each one says, but hopefully it will be fairly obvious. Good news for Mac owners, all you need to do is press the OPTION key and click on "Download this file now!" and everything will work just fine - Mac software is so intelligently written! Once you have made this selection successfully, you will see a small window open which looks something like this:



The download is ready to begin. Your browser just wants to know where it should place the file on your computer. You can select the file destination using the "Where" box. In this example, the movie file will be downloaded to the computer's desktop. Once you have made your choice, click the "Save" button. You should now see the download begin, and it should look something like the example below. Again, the exact style varies from browser to browser and system to system.



Let the file download completely before you attempt to play it. The little window will probably close when the download is finished, but if not it should tell you that the download is complete. Now your movie is ready to play!

A note about zip files

If you purchase a set of movies where the files have been zipped together into one large file, you will need to unpack the zip file to extract your movies after the download is complete. If you have a Macintosh computer, you need only double click on the zip file and your system will unpack it for you. If you are using a PC, you will need a piece of software called WinZip (or an equivalent program for unzipping files). WinZip came free with all Windows operating systems up to and including XP. It seems that it was excluded from Vista where Microsoft makes you pay to download it. We don't know anything about the availability of WinZip on other PC platforms so you will need to investigate this for yourself.

A few other matters

Seeing earlier purchases when you log in to your account to make another purchase
Some customers have written after making a purchase because they see their previous purchases listed when they go to download their new movie, and worry that they have been charged twice. This is not the case. Files Forever is literally that - you will see all your purchases listed when you log in, and they will remain available to you forever. If you lose or delete movies and then want to recover them, you can re-download them without being charged again. Compare this with Clips4Sale's 48-hour access policy! All we ask is that you don't give other people access to your password - the movies you buy are yours to keep, but despite what Files Forever may seem to suggest, they are NOT copyright free and not yours to circulate or re-sell. Doing this would harm our business, and if that happens, there will be fewer new movies, and eventually perhaps none at all. We're trying to be fair with you, so please be fair with us.

Dreamhost storage fees - THERE ARE NO STORAGE FEES
Some customers have written to ask how to close their Dreamhost account because they do not want to be charged storage fees for their movies. Dreamhost does not charge you storage fees. It may seem too good to be true, but it is true; you have access to your movies on your Dreamhost account forever at no charge. The only time you will ever pay is when you make your initial purchase of a movie, and a one-time download fee is built into the price. The fee is actually levied against us and not you. You never need to worry about it.