CompuServe 
THE INFORMATION SERVICE YOU WON'T OUTGROW.

Welcome to the CompuServe Information Service, the world's largest and most prestigious network of personal computer users.  This file will tell you about the information service and provide you the opportunity to sign‑on now. In just moments, you could become a member and have instant access to nearly 2000 products and services and over 2 million CompuServe members worldwide.  

CompuServe Information Service puts information, communication, and entertainment right at your fingertips. Its resources can help you advance your career, enrich your personal time, and enhance your knowledge. And use all our basic services for just $8.95 per month. 

If you need any help in getting signed on to CompuServe, contact 
CompuServe Customer Service at 800—848—8990.

To get signed up to CompuServe, contact 
CompuServe Membership Sales at 800—524—3388 and ask for Rep 643.  Outside of the United States, call 614—529—1349 and ask for Rep 230.

This document will tell you about:  

- Setting up the CompuServe Information Manager software and signing up your membership.  
- CompuServe rates and payment plans.
- Where to get help if you need it.

First, we'd like to tell you about the different services you'll find online.

GET UNPARALLELED COMPUTER SUPPORT
Among our most popular areas are the computer support forums where you'll find computer industry experts, long‑time users, and company representatives who are all on hand to share advice, swap tips, or just talk about the latest product developments. Today nearly 700 hardware and software companies (including Borland, Dell, Hewlett‑Packard, IBM, Lotus, Microsoft, Novell and WordPerfect) support their products on CompuServe, making it the undisputed leader in online computing support.  Once online, you'll find libraries full of shareware and freeware programs for you to download. As a matter of fact, CompuServe has over 320,000 files including, utilities, and patches ... and more are added every day.

COMMUNICATE WORLDWIDE
CompuServe Mail allows members to communicate quickly and efficiently with other CompuServe Mail users and users of  MCI Mail, Internet, AT&T Mail, AT&T Easylink, cc:Mail, Infonet, Advantis, Telebox 400  (Deutsche Bundespost Telekom), SprintMail, Fax, Telex, and postal mail. The CompuServe Mail Hub Service permits LAN-to-LAN communication, too. 

SEE THE WORLD
Save money with CompuServe's complete travel services. We offer WORLDSPAN TravelshopperSM, EAASYSABRE, the Official Airlines Guide's reservation system plus hotel and car rentals. You can check flight listings and find the best rates, have your rental car waiting for you when you arrive at your destination, and be assured your hotel room is booked...all at the touch of your fingertips.

  CHECK THE WEATHER
Our Accu‑Weather maps and weather reports give you a clear picture of weather conditions...from Cape Mendocina to Cape Cod...and everywhere in between. We also offer local reports for major cities throughout the world ‑‑ a big help for planning your next business trip or vacation.

 KNOW WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPENING
Turn on to CompuServe daily for news from the Associated Press, The Washington Post, Reuters, OTC News Alert and United Press International.  You'll find immediate updates as stories break around the globe, throughout the day.  We also offer updated news from the world of sports.

CHECK YOUR REFERENCES
CompuServe helps you find facts fast by connecting your computer to the reference libraries of science, medicine, law, literature, and dozens of other disciplines.  We also offer professional journals, consumer magazines, newspapers, specialized newsletters and published research papers.  Among our more popular reference databases are IQuest and Knowledge Index.

JOIN A GROUP
CompuServe forums are online gathering places for people with common interests, hobbies or professions.  They hold a special appeal for many members because of the support and unique information resources they offer.  Each forum has a public message area, libraries loaded with topical information, and conference areas for real‑time online conferences and chats.

 INVEST WISELY
Take control of your investments using the same electronic tools and information that experts depend upon daily.  Among the services we offer are Standard & Poor's, Disclosure, Company Analyzer, Current Stock Quotes, FundWatch Online by Money Magazine, and even online discount brokers ‑‑ so you can buy and sell anywhere you are, anytime you want.

 SHOP AT HOME
CompuServe's Electronic Mall is open 24 hours a day, and offers some of the top retail stores, specialty shops, and discount wholesalers in the country.  We have more than 100 stores online, and they're waiting to take your order.  Visit The Mall often, for prize‑winning contests and to see who's new to our ever‑growing 
electronic shopping center.

PLAY GAMES
Not only does CompuServe provide thrilling, action and adventure games online, we also offer forums for tips and discussion, modem‑to‑modem gaming, and even demos and walkthroughs from famous gameware manufacturers.

GET THE EXECUTIVE SERVICE OPTION
The Executive Service Option is a terrific enhancement to your CompuServe service, which you may select at the time of sign‑up. This option provides you with a news clipping folder ‑‑ a service that electronically searches newswires for stories of particular interest to you and keeps them in a file for your later reference. 

You also receive special discounts on selected financial services and CompuServe products when you choose the Executive Service Option.  It's all available to you for a $10 monthly minimum CompuServe expenditure. (Your $8.95 monthly rate is included in this minimum, making the Executive Service Option an excellent value.)

COMPUSERVE RATES AND PAYMENT PLANS

CompuServe's Standard Pricing Plan

Your CompuServe basic services membership is only $8.95 per month and provides unlimited connect time access to more than 60 of CompuServe's most popular services.  Your first full month of basic services membership is FREE! 

The basic services are free of communications surcharges when you use CompuServe's network in the U.S. and Canada, or the CompuServe network in Europe during the evenings and weekends. Once you have become a member, GO RATES online for more information. 

Services included in the Standard Pricing Plan are:

NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER 
Associated Press Online
Accu‑Weather Maps and Reports
National Weather Service Reports
U.S. News & World Report Magazine
    (current issue)
Deutche Presse-Agentur Kurznachristendienst
     (German-language news summary)

NEWSPAPER COLUMNISTS
The Aces on Bridge
Alan Dershowitz
Fight Back!
The Gadget Guru
Harris Poll
Harvey MacKay
The Housing Scene
Jack Anderson
Joyce Jillson Horoscope
Marilyn Beck/Stacy Smith
Media Beat
The Medical Advisory
Miss Manners
Mona Charen
Morton Kondracke
Taking Stock
Tune in Tonight
You be the Critic

ELECTRONIC MAIL
CompuServe Mail 
 -‑ Send up to 60 three‑page messages per month

REFERENCE LIBRARY 
American Heritage Dictionary 
Consumer Reports Complete Drug Reference 
  ‑‑ As compiled by the U.S. Pharmacopeia 
Grolier's Academic American  Encyclopedia 
Handicapped Users' Database 
HealthNet 
  -- A medical reference source 
Peterson's College Database 
 
TRAVEL AND LEISURE 
Department of State Advisories
Travelshopper, EAASY SABRE and OAG (the Official Airlines Guides service) 
  -‑ Airline, hotel, and rental car information and reservations
Lanier Golf Database
Travel Britain Online
Visa Advisors 
Zagat Restaurant Survey

SHOPPING 
The Electronic Mall 
Shopper's Advantage  
  ‑‑ A Discount Shopping Club 
Classified Ads
Consumer Reports

MONEY TALKS 
Basic Current Stock Quotes 
FundWatch Online By Money Magazine 
Issue/Symbol Reference 
Mortgage Calculator

GAMES & ENTERTAINMENT 
Biorhythms
Black Dragon 
CastleQuest 
Classic Adventure 
Enhanced Adventure 
Hangman 
Hollywood Hotline 
Roger Ebert's Movie Reviews 
Science Trivia Quiz 
ShowBizQuiz 
Soap Opera Summaries 
The Grolier Whiz Quiz 
 
MEMBERSHIP SUPPORT SERVICES
CompuServe Information Manager Software Support Forums
Navigator Support Forums
Feedback ‑ General online assistance for members
Directory of CompuServe Members 
CompuServe Help Forum
CompuServe Practice Forum  
  -‑ To teach you the fundamentals of real‑time online communication
Online Today Daily computer news

Services outside of the basic services are charged at hourly connect rates based on your modem speed.  Some premium services, which bring you an advanced world of information, include additional charges which are outlined for your approval online before you incur any charges. Connect time rates are billed in one minute increments, with a minimum of one minute per session. If you are a member under the Standard Pricing Plan ($8.95 per month), connect rates are:

      300 -   2400 baud             $4.80/hour
    9600 - 14400 baud             $9.60/hour

For those members who prefer a pay‑as‑you‑go‑plan, rather than a flat‑rate package, we also offer billing solely on a usage‑time basis.  

For more information on CompuServe pricing plans, select GO from the Services pull-down menu once you are online and enter RATES. To change your pricing plan, GO CHOICES.

COMPUSERVE MAIL PRICING
Under the Standard Pricing Plan, your CompuServe basic membership of $8.95 per month includes an electronic mail allowance of $9.00. With this allowance you can send up to the equivalent of 60 three‑page messages per month with no additional charge.  Reading messages is free (except Internet messages).  Messages to more than one address will count as more than one message.  Messages are priced at $.15 for the first 7500 characters and $.05 for each additional 2500 characters.  Your $9.00 message allowance expires at the end of each month.  (Note: Each 2,500 characters is about one double‑spaced page.  The $9.00 allowance does not apply to additional charges for Fax, Postal, Telex, or TWX.  Once online, GO MAILRATES to view a complete list of all CompuServe Mail charges.)

SETTING  UP YOUR COMPUSERVE INFORMATION MANAGER SOFTWARE 
From the File Manager within Windows, select your CD-ROM drive, then select the \WINCIM 
directory and double-click the SETUP.EXE file.

Signing up is easy.  Just click on the Membership Sign Up icon and follow the instructions.  

Note that if you were already a CompuServe member before you obtained the WinCIM software and did not go through the signup procedures, choose Session Settings from the Special menu in the WinCIM main window and complete the entries.  Click on the Help button for the Session Setting dialog box for assistance.

NEED HELP?
If you encounter problems when setting up WinCIM, call CompuServe Customer Service at one of the phone numbers listed at the end of this article.

HOW TO START WINCIM
To start WinCIM, double‑click on the WinCIM icon in the CompuServe group window within the Windows Program Manager.  If there is no CompuServe group window, WinCIM may not be installed.  Check to make sure that the program was installed correctly. 

 HOW TO CONNECT TO COMPUSERVE
When your CompuServe software is communicating with CompuServe, after you've double‑clicked the icon,  the RD(receiving data) or SD (sending data) buttons on your screen will light up.  The number above the word "Cancel" indicates how many seconds WinCIM will wait for a response from CompuServe before it determines that there is a connection problem.  (Sometimes this number will be reset before or as it reaches zero.)  To cancel your online session, click "Cancel."

 HOW TO DISCONNECT FROM COMPUSERVE
The CompuServe software automatically connects you with CompuServe when it's necessary. It's up to you to disconnect!  When you're ready to quit, select "Disconnect" from the File menu. (Note that from some services, you must first select "Leave" from the File menu.)

HOW TO USE WinCIM

The initial desktop includes a menu bar and a ribbon of icons which stand for Help, Favorite Places, Find, GO, Quotes, Weather, In‑Basket, Out‑Basket, Filing Cabinet, Address Book, Exit WinCIM, Disconnect and Get New Mail. The software also offers a "status bar" along the bottom of your screen.  At certain times, the bar will become a "notice line" telling you more about what you're doing at the time.

SOME EXTREMELY IMPORTANT ICONS

 Favorite Places
The heart-shaped Favorite Places icon puts the services you use most just a GO button away.  Select "Add" and enter your own description of the service.  Then, add the service name (or GO word).  If you're not connected to CompuServe, you'll need to enter CIS: followed by the name for that service, e.g. CIS:MSTATION.  (Service names usually appear near the top of a window.)

 Find 
Look for the Find magnifying-glass icon to do just what you'd expect--take you to a dialog box that asks you for a topic. You can be as general or as specific as you like.  CompuServe then lists all the related services and gives you the opportunity to add whichever ones you want to your Favorite Places menu.  You can also GO immediately to any service.

 GO 
The GO command, represented by the traffic-light icon, is extremely useful in helping you bypass menus to go straight to the service you choose.  Simply enter the name of the service you want to use, and you will be taken to that area immediately. 

WOULD YOU LIKE ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONAL INFORMATION?
If you would like in‑depth documentation, CompuServe publishes a two‑volume set of comprehensive users guides: one volume provides instructions for using WinCIM; the other volume describes CompuServe services in detail.  To order these guides from the online CompuServe store, choose GO from the Services pull‑down menu and specify ORDER as the service name.

Once you are a CompuServe member, you can also obtain information and instructions for using WinCIM from the WinCIM Support Forum. To access the forum, choose GO from the Services pull‑down menu, and specify WCIMSUPPORT as the service name.

LONG‑DISTANCE TELEPHONE ACCESS TO COMPUSERVE
If there is no local telephone access number for CompuServe, the Signup software will fill in a long distance number in the Session Settings dialog box.  You may be able to find a more cost‑effective phone number online, by choosing GO from the Services menu and specifying PHONES as the service name. Be sure to enter the most cost‑efficient phone number into your Session Settings.

US WATS line (800 service) is also available to you after your permanent password is assigned, but at an additional hourly charge.

WANT TO KNOW MORE? NEED HELP?
If you have any problems installing WinCIM or connecting to CompuServe, please call CompuServe Customer Service right away.

In the U.S., call (800) 848‑8990 weekdays from 8 A.M. to midnight, or weekends from noon to 10 P.M. (Eastern time). Holiday hours vary.  Outside the United States, call 614‑529-1340.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?  
If you have any questions about CompuServe, GO FEEDBACK online to post a message to CompuServe's Customer Service department.  

To get to a menu of membership services, GO MEMBER.  To practice using a forum free of connect time charges, GO PRACTICE or GO HELPFORUM.  

To order additional documentation, GO ORDER.   

To get assistance with your CIM software, GO CIMSUPP.

Thank you for your interest in CompuServe. Remember, you can sign on right now and, within minutes, enjoy access to the information service you won't outgrow.