With the release of a new version, problems downloading the installation file occasionally crop up. Although there can be any number of reasons for download troubles, in my experience, security and more specifically firewalls account for most of the issues brought to our attention.

If your download is timing out or just freezing up, then your computer’s or network’s firewall is most likely preventing the download. So, what can you do – other than wait for the CD to arrive?

For starters, if you’re using Internet Explorer to download, make sure that you have your FTP access set correctly. Go to your ‘Internet Options’ in Explorer Tools, click on the Advanced tab and check the ‘Use Passive FTP’ box if it’s not already checked. This is the default setting for Explorer. For the other browsers that I’m familiar with, they only allow Passive FTP so it’s not an issue.

If that doesn’t do the trick, then you need to change your firewall’s security rules as it relates to ftp downloads from our download site. Unfortunately how you do this depends on the firewall software you’re using; however, if you have questions and can tell us which firewall software you’re using, we’ll be glad to help.

Of course, a ‘last resort’ option if you don’t want to mess with your firewall software is to temporarily disable your firewall for purposes of downloading the PlanGuru software. That means that your firewall is not protecting your computer for a minute or two during the download until you turn it back on. Is this a good solution? No, it’s not, but I mention it just to make you aware of all your options.