Usually, when you get new software it comes with an installer program. You run the program and it copies everything it needs into a directory, changes your windows "registry", and puts an entry in your start menu. I didn't want to mess around with any of that, so my stuff is designed to sit in its own directory and work.

In the discussion that follows I'm demonstrating how to install "singing cells," but all of my programs that come in a "zip file" work the same way.

1) First, you must download the zip file and save it on your computer. Clicking on the link will probably make your browser ask where you want to save it. For convenience, you might as well put it on your desktop.

2) A "zip" file takes a bunch of different files and bundles them together into one small package. If you double-click on the file, Windows will probably open it up, like so:

3) You need to "extract" these files into a new directory. Click on the extract button on the left, and it will open this wizard, asking you where you want to put the new files. (If the zip file is on the desktop, it will try to make a new directory on your desktop as well.)

4) Once you hit "next," you'll have a new directory called singingcells.

5) If you click on the directory, you'll see all the files that singingcells need to work. The text files contain the actual cells, the .dll files make the MIDI sounds work, and "singcells.exe" is the actual program. Click on that to start it up.

That's all you need to know! You could leave the singingcells directory on your desktop, and when you get tired of it just delete the whole thing. A "fancier" setup would be to hide the directory in the "Program Files" directory (which should be on your main drive, probably C:), and then create a shortcut to singcells.exe. (Right-click on the singcells.exe, choose "create shortcut", and then move to shortcut to your desktop, drag it into your start menu, or whatever.)