Once you purchase a Weed file, you're free to play it all you want on up to three PCs. You also can burn the file to CD and play it on your stereo system, or transfer it to a portable device like the Creative Labs Nomad, the Rio S10, or any current Windows CE PDA.

Best of all, you can share Weed files with anyone you like, as long as the files remain in their original form as Windows Media files. And if someone you share a file with purchases that file, you'll earn a payment for helping to distribute it.

Specifically, the artist always receives 50% of each sale, and the rest goes to those who helped distribute the file. You get 20%, the person who shared the file with you gets 10%, and the person who shared the file with that person gets 5% of the sale price. Weed receives the final 15% for service and software maintenance costs.

All purchases and distributor payments are made into your Weed account through PayPal. Deposits and withdrawals from your Weed account cost 50 cents, but all other transactions are free. You must have a PayPal account to make deposits to your Weed account.

Q: How much do Weed files cost?
A: Prices generally range from 50 cents to four dollars per title. Most are about a dollar.

Q: How can I get the Weed software?
A: The Weed v.2.0 software (only 720KB) is available from the Weedshare web site.

System requirements are:

For a Windows PC: Windows 98 or later.
Broadband Internet Connection. (Weed files average around 5MB in size.)
Version 7.1 of Windows Media Player, or more recent. Earlier versions of Windows Media Player will automatically attempt to update themselves when they encounter a Weed file. Current versions of the RealOne Player and MusicMatch Jukebox also work.
A PayPal email address. You can begin using Weed without providing a PayPal address, but you will need a valid PayPal address to deposit and withdraw funds.

Q: How do I buy a Weed file?
A: First, download the Weed files you'd like to purchase. Then open and log in to the Weed Media Activator (the Weed software). You'll be looking at the Buy Files window, which displays a list of all the Weed files that you have downloaded. Locate the song you want to buy, and click once. A window will pop up to confirm your purchase. Click OK, and you now own the file.

If you don't see any files in your Buy Files window, click Account, then Select Weed Folder - here you can choose where the Weed software should look for your Weed files.

In the Buy Files list, you can tell which songs you own by the icon: the ones with the little lock on them are unpurchased, and the ones without the lock are purchased.

Q: Are users limited to Windows Media Player to play back the files on their computer? What platforms are supported?
A: Weed files can be played on recent versions of RealPlayer and MusicMatch Jukebox. Right now, the Weed software only works on Windows PCs or Macintosh PCs with OS X, Virtual PC emulator software and Windows.

Q: Does the Weed software play music files?
A: No, the Weed software manages transactions and licenses for the files you purchase.

Q: Which portable devices are Weed file compatible?
A: The following portable music players can play Weed files (this list will be updated regularly):

The Nomad Jukebox
Jukebox 2
Jukebox 3
Nomad Zen USB1.1/1394
Zen USB 2.0
NOMAD MuVo2 4GB
NOMAD MuVo TX
Creative Zen Portable Media Center

BENQ Joybee120
BENQ Joybee125

iRiver iFP-599T 1 GB Flash Music Player
iRiver iFP-595T 512MB Flash Music Player
iRiver iFP-395T 512MB Flash Music Player
iRiver iFP-390T 256MB Flash Music Player
iRiver iFP-380T 128MB Flash Music Player
iRiver iFP-340 64MB Flash Music Player
iRiver iFP-195T 512MB Flash Music Player
iRiver iFP-190T 256MB Flash Music Player
iRiver iFP-180T 128MB Flash Music Player

Q: How big are Weed files?
A: Anywhere from 3-10 megabytes, but usually more like 4-6 megabytes. They're essentially the same sizes as MP3 files.

Q: Do I have to be online to listen to a Weed file?
A: The first time you play a Weed file on your computer, the player will go out to the Internet to acquire the appropriate license. So yes, the first time you play the file you'll need to be online. You will also need to be online to purchase the files.

Q: I'm not an artist, but many of my friends are and I'm a huge fan who would love to promote them. How do I distribute and share their Weed files?
A: Because Weed files are usually 4-6 megabytes, it's best to put your Weed files on a website and send your friends links to the files via email. Sending a Weed file via email is not recommended because many email servers will reject a file that exceeds 1 megabyte in size and the time required to download a large file into an email account can be pretty intense. Besides, it's a lot more fun to share files via your own Weed website and your site can be as simple or as complex as you want.

Q: So I can distribute Weed files on a CD? What happens when people play them?
A: The best way to distribute Weed files on a CD is to purchase them first, then burn them to a CD as data files. Tell your friends to pop that CD into their computer and copy the files to the hard drive. This way they can play them 3 times for free, then purchase them. Best of all, since you bought them first your information will be stamped on the file and you'll get 20% of subsequent sales.

If you're not connected to the Internet, you will not be able to get past the splash screen of the application.

If you have cookies turned off, you may not be able to get past the splash screen of the application. Weed uses Internet Explorer to display the user interface and it uses cookies to save configuration data on your PC.

Finally, we have found occasional problems with Internet Explorer version 5.x. If you are using version 5.x of IE, upgrading IE to a current version is likely to solve the problem.

Q: I noticed I can scroll the user interface partway out of the Window, is that a feature or a bug?
A: It's a feature. Please enjoy!

With more than 100 million registered users the PayPal service is presently available in five currencies and 38 countries.

It's easy to sign up for a PayPal account.

For more answers to your questions about PayPal, visit their help center.

Q: Why can't I use a credit card to purchase a Weed file or manage my account?
A: All of our transactions are currently processed through PayPal because it offers a centralized account with flexible deposit and withdrawal options.

You can use any major credit card to charge cash to your PayPal account, which can then be transferred into your Weed account. You also can deposit money into your PayPal account from your checking account electronically or by check. (Deposits by check will incur a small additional processing fee.)

When you receive a payment from Weed, you can withdraw the money electronically or by check through PayPal. In addition, the PayPal service is available in five currencies and 38 countries.

Q: Does PayPal charge me a fee every time I buy a song?
A: No. There is no fee to purchase songs using the Weed Media Activator (aside from the price of the song itself). If you want to deposit to or withdraw funds from your Weed account, then you are charged a 50 cent transaction fee.

This link downloads an installation package that does the following:
First it checks to see if you have the appropriate version (2.0) of Windows Installer. If not, it will download and install the updated version.
Then the installer downloads the Weed setup application (.MSI) from the website.
The installer runs the set-up application.

If you already have Weed installed, it will reinstall the current version of Weed.

Q. I'm having problems installing Weed. What can I do to fix things?
A: If you have trouble installing the Weed software try downloading the Weed Set-up Application file directly: http://www.weedshare.com/web/weed_setup2.0.1.msi.
If you get an error (something other than a download dialog) then check to see if you're having connection problems.

If you're not having connection problems, try clearing out your Internet Explorer cache. You can do this by going to the Tools menu in IE, going down to Internet Options, then clicking on the Delete Files button in the Temporary Internet files section of the General tab. These instructions are for IE 6, but older versions have similar instructions.

Q: I'm having trouble logging in and a message on the splash screen said that IE 5.5 might be the cause. What's up with that?
A: On occasion, we've seen connection problems for users who have Windows 2000 and Internet Explorer version 5.5. We are still trying to find out why this happens, but for now the only solution is to upgrade your version of Internet Explorer.

Q: The software won't let me enter my email address during set-up. What's wrong?
A: On some non-US keyboard configurations, the Weed software does not recognize the combination of keys necessary to create the "@" symbol. This is a problem because Weed requires a valid email address. This is a bug that will be repaired in the next version of the software.

In the meantime, there are a few ways to fix the problem. You can use the ASCII symbol for @ by typing ALT+320. Or, you can temporarily reset your keyboard to the US English configuration and type "Shift-2" for the "@" symbol. To navigate to the keyboard configuration panel: Start | Settings | Control Panel | Keyboard | Language. Or, you can cut and paste an @ symbol from another application. Or, you can email Weed at support@weedshare.com and request that they create an account for you.

Q: Why do I have to upgrade Windows Media Player?
A: If you are using an older version of Windows Media Player or a compatible player, you may need to upgrade to a more recent version in order to play Weed files. This is because Weed uses a file encryption system that began shipping in 1999. Earlier players will need to be upgraded.

Q: What is re-licensing?
A: If you lose your Windows media licenses, you won't be able to play your Weed files. But once you have purchased a title, you're entitled to play it on three PCs. Therefore, Weed allows you to "re-license" a title you've already purchased. To do this, simply go through the standard purchasing sequence.

You will be informed that you have already purchased the file in question and will be asked if you wish to re-license at no cost. This will unlock previously purchased titles without a current license on your computer.

Q: If I download and re-license a file I've already purchased, where do the payments go?
A: When you re-license a file, all of the commission slots are set to whatever they were when you first licensed the file.

Q: What if my hard drive dies? Do I just lose all of my Weed files?
It's pretty simple to acquire a new license, since Weed keeps track of what you've bought. In your Weed software, if you click to buy a song you've already bought, you'll get a dialog window saying that you already own the track. It will then ask if you need to acquire a new license. This would also be the case if your drive crashed and you had to re-download the tunes you already bought.

Q: What information do you keep track of?
A: Your transaction history is stored locally and updated from the server. Your user name is stored locally, but not your password.

Q: How does Weed know when to let a file play and when not to?
A: Whenever you request a license, the request contains a unique ID for your PC. This is used to determine if you've requested a license before, and this determines if you will be granted a free license for 3 plays.

Q: Can't I just hack the files?
A: It would be illegal to do so, but it would also be self-defeating. When you buy a Weed file that you have sampled 3 times, you know you're getting a good deal on music you like. In addition, you're free to share it, transfer it to a portable device, or burn it to CD. Almost anything you do to hack Weed files will result in a reduction of quality - plus it rips off musicians and the friends that shared the file with you in the first place.