the icon always ends up disappearing from my desktop, even if it's silently working in the back ground. Where can I find it on my pc so I can send a shortcut to my desktop?

Where did you extract it to? It doesn't really install so it's probably where you downloaded it to or the desktop.

I don't know, but I look under GoG in both hard drive and documents and while i have Gog files I can't find the downloader. So I can't send a shortcut to the menu. I know have the downloader installed. But I want an actual icon on my desktop, and I can't seem to do this. It always goes away, and I can't monitor download progress. I just want a GoG icon to stay on my desktop.

The downloader doesn't set up its own shortcuts or anything so you'll need to find where it is and make them yourself. If you aren't sure where it is you can download another copy of it and point it to your original download folder.

Once you've got it again through either method you can make shortctuts on the desktop or taskbar or whatever.

You know what I love? I press install on my GoG account ..FOR A GAME I HAVE BOUGHT, and nothing happens. That is awesome. I get to guess whether anything is happening or not, whether the game is downloading or not...isn't this what the fucking downloader is for?

Don't get your panties in a bunch. I'm assuming you are clicking the 'add to GOG downloader'?

Check the task manager to see if it's running in the background. If it is, kill it and re-open it. That way it will stay in notification area. When you are not using it close it, some games and programs make it go "hidden".

You don't install the downloader, all you do is extract it from the .zip/.rar.

When you say install, you mean the install link in the GOG downloader? If you're using Windows Vista or Windows 7 it can take a while for the installer to start (up to several minutes depending on your system and the size of the game). This is the normal behaviour for GOG installers, oddly enough. Given enough time the installer will eventually start and you can proceed with installation.

You may see better results by going to the download folder and running the installer directly, but there will still be some delay. Hopefully GOG will consider changing how their installers are built to eliminate this delay, but for now this is the way it is.

So just download the games from your shelf if the downloader doesn't work for you. Click on "My Account" and there they are.

OK, so, to clarify, here are the complete steps for getting the downloader and downloading a game with it, from start to finish.

1. Download the latest version of the downloader (from this link).
2. Extract it somewhere.
3. Run the extracted file and log in (you will see your user name and avatar show up in it).
4. Open your web browser (or close and re-open it if already open)
5. On the GOG.com website go to the "My Account" page, pick a game and click "add to GOG.com Downloader".
5a. If you get a box talking about the downloader just click "add game to Downloader".
6. The downloader should now start downloading the game.
7. When the download is finished click "install" on the game in the downloader OR go to where it downloaded to and run it directly.
8. Wait for the installer or User Account Control prompt (this may take up to several minutes).

At what step in this sequence are you having problems? Knowing where exactly things go wrong will help identify what the problem is and how to resolve it.

the downloader icon is in my taskbar. I click it to monitor progress of the current download. nothing happens. No window is brought up. I have no way to tell the progress on my current download.

Basically, whenever I try to install the game now, I get a message saying the download is corrupt. This is why I'm trying to re-download.

So far, whenever I've re-installed, the launcher says of all things 'please use the launcher to start the game' If I try to patch my recently installed game, the GoG patcher claims it can't find where the game is installed ( this is just after I Installed the game)

Btw, I get the skull and crossbones in the initial game launcher. not the lightning bolt. Perhaps someone can use that info and tell me what to do.

All of this is a result of me trying to update to 2.1, which prevented me from launching the game at all. I just want to get the game installed to 2.0 and call it good.

Try play around with "Number of concurrent connections". I used to have same problem as yours, the downloader seems unresponsive with big files. Personally, i change the value from default; to 10. So far, it run without any problem.

Skull and crossbones indicate that you're offline / their server is offline / your connection couldn't reach their server.

Just re-installed the game. I get 'installed version is invalid or incomplete' message. the readme file says I'm patched up to 2.0, just what I want. My internet connection is fine.