Newly installed; getting Error #403 for purchased downloads

I am still setting the store up. Thanks to the manual and wikki, I think I have the correct file and folder permissions within Download and Public. Download files= 644; folders = 755. I made sure that the file types (all various video formats) are listed as exceptions in the .htaccess file within Public. I activated re-direct in the Zen Cart. Can anyone give me additional troubleshooting advice to make the downloads work? Each time the "client" clicks on the download, the #403 message comes up as file not accessible. It shows the re-direct in the string.
Hints gratefully accepted or a new link to read. I am waiting on a response from our domain host to see if they require different CHMOD settings. On Apache server. Thanks

bpw1:

... I made sure that the file types (all various video formats) are listed as exceptions in the .htaccess file within Public. ...
Did you make the changes to the .htaccess file in the /downloads directory, too?