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-
- Electronics
-
- Thank you for purchasing Electronics! We hope you
- find it to be an excellent investment and a tremendous value.
-
- If you experience any difficulty or problems with this CD-ROM
- program, please refer to this document for helpful suggestions.
-
-
- Contents
- --------
-
- Special Note For Users of Windows 95
-
- Special Note For Users of Windows 3.x
-
- Upgrading From An Earlier Version
-
- If You Have an Older or Slower Computer
-
- Enlarging Graphics on Your Screen
-
- If You Experience Video Display Problems
-
- How to Improve Your Video Display
-
- How to Get the Best Quality Video
-
- System Requirements
-
- Compatibility
-
- Solving Problems Under Windows 3.x
-
- Trademarks Mentioned
-
-
- Special Note For Users of Windows 95
- ------------------------------------
-
- If you use Windows 95, then there is an extra step you can take
- to get the best quality video and sound performance.
-
- In most cases, installing Microsoft "DirectX" will improve
- performance. DirectX is not required, in other words, this
- program will work properly without DirectX. However, in many
- cases, DirectX will significantly improve performance on your
- machine (especially a portion of DirectX called "DirectSound").
-
- To install DirectX (Windows 95 only) simply insert the CD into
- the CD-ROM drive, then click the Windows 95 "Start" button, and
- click "Run" on the menu. In the "Open:" box, type the following
- command, where "D:" is the letter of your CD-ROM drive:
- D:\DirectX\DX5ENG.EXE
- then click "Ok". Alternatively, you can click the "Browse"
- button and find D:\DirectX\DX5ENG.EXE by browsing to it.
-
- After DirectX is installed, we recommend that you repeat the
- above steps, but this time type the following:
- D:\DirectX\DPLAY50A.EXE
- which will update DirectX to correct some bugs discovered by
- Microsoft after DirectX 5.0 was released.
-
- In other words, DX5ENG.EXE will install DirectX version 5.0,
- and DPLAY50A.EXE will update DirectX to version 5.0A.
-
- DirectX will take up about 7Mb of disk space after it is
- installed, however, during the installation it will require
- up to 34Mb of disk space for temporary files that will be
- automatically deleted after installation is complete. So
- make sure you have plenty of free disk space before beginning
- the installation of DirectX.
-
-
- Special Note For Users of Windows 3.x
- -------------------------------------
-
- If you use Windows 3.x (which includes 3.1, 3.11, as well as
- Windows for Workgroups 3.1 and 3.11), then there is an extra
- step you can take to get the best quality video.
-
- In most cases, installing Microsoft "WinG" (pronounced "Win-Gee"),
- will improve video performance. WinG is not required, in other
- words, this program will work properly without WinG. However,
- in many cases, WinG will significantly improve the performance
- of video for this program. If video performance is not accep-
- table to you, try installing WinG and see if it helps. If you
- encounter problems while WinG is installed, you can always
- UNinstall it and return your system to its previous state. Of
- course, for the best possible video performance, we recommend
- upgrading your system to Windows 95 or later (WinG is built
- into Windows 95), and a CPU from the Pentium MMX family.
-
- If you have any difficulties with WinG, please remember that
- it comes from Microsoft and only Microsoft can provide
- technical assistance for problems involving WinG.
-
- To install WinG (Windows 3.x only) simply insert the CD into
- the CD-ROM drive, then choose the Run option in the Program
- Manager's File menu. In the command line box type
- "D:\SETUPWNG" where "D:" is the letter of your CD-ROM drive.
- Then press the Enter key.
-
- Should you later decide to UNinstall WinG, simply click on
- the UNinstall icon. After UNinstall is complete, you may
- need to manually delete four files from the WINDOWS\SYSTEM
- directory. The four files are: WING.DLL, WINGDE.DLL,
- WINGDIB.DRV, and WINGPAL.WND.
-
- If you have an ISA video board (rather than a newer PCI
- video board), then WinG will not be able to provide any
- acceleration for your machine. How can you tell what type
- of video board is installed in your computer? If your
- computer was made prior to about 1993 then it probably
- has an ISA video board. If your machine is newer, then it
- probably has a PCI video board. You can always install
- WinG and see if there is any improvement. WinG won't hurt
- anything if your machine is an ISA machine, it just won't
- give you any speed improvements.
-
-
- Upgrading From An Earlier Version:
- ----------------------------------
-
- If you already have an older version of this program
- installed on your computer, you'll need to take an extra step to
- ensure that the new version works properly.
-
- If the old version has a version number less than 1.3.0 then you
- should UNinstall the old version prior to installing this new
- version. If the old version has a version number greater than
- 1.3.0 then you should follow the directions below:
-
- Windows 3.1: Insert the CD into the CD-ROM drive. Choose the
- Run option in the Program Manager's File Menu.
- In the command line box type "D:\SETUP UPDATE"
- where "D:" is the letter of your CD-ROM drive.
- Then press the Enter key.
-
- Windows 95: Insert the CD into the CD-ROM drive. Click the
- "Start" button, then choose the Run option. In
- the command line box type "D:\SETUP UPDATE"
- where "D:" is the letter of your CD-ROM drive.
- Then press the Enter key.
-
- By including the word "UPDATE" after the word "SETUP", you are
- telling the Setup program to be sure to update some files
- that were left over by the older version.
-
-
- If You Have an Older or Slower Computer:
- ----------------------------------------
-
- All the videos on this CD can be played smoothly from
- a 1-speed CD-ROM drive. You do not need a fast CD-ROM
- drive to use this program. This is made possible by the
- use of state of the art video compression techniques.
-
- The performance of the videos included with this product
- is dependent upon the speed of your computer (CPU), your
- video board, how much memory you have, and which operating
- system you use (Windows 3.x, or Windows 95 or later).
-
- Older, slower computers, take longer to decompress the
- video. Computers running Windows 3.x take longer to
- copy the video to the screen. To ensure that you get
- the best quality video, even on older machines, we
- built some options into the program and provided two
- different versions of many of the videos. Here's how
- it works:
-
- Windows 95 (or higher):
- If you are using the 32-bit version of the program (running
- on Windows 95), then the program assumes that you have a
- newer, faster computer, and uses the larger videos
- for the best on-screen appearance. If you have an older
- computer, then you might want to tell the program
- to use the smaller videos, which will play more smoothly on
- your system. To tell the program that you have a slower
- speed computer, simply perform the following steps:
-
- Place your mouse over the program's icon on the Windows 95
- desktop (or folder), and right-click (click the right mouse
- button) on the icon. When the menu pops up, select
- "Properties" on the menu. When the Properties window opens,
- click on the "Shortcut" tab at the top. If you look next to
- the word "Target" you will see an edit box containing the
- location and filename of the program. Click on this name
- and use the right-arrow or end key to move the cursor to the
- end of the name, after the letters ".exe" (if there are
- quotation marks around the name, then position the cursor
- after the last quotation mark). At this point, insert one
- or more space characters, followed by the letters "Slower"
- (without the quotes). Don't worry, you can use upper or
- lower case letters (it doesn't matter), as long as there are
- no spaces in the word "Slower". Then click "OK". That's it!
- From now on, when you double-click on the icon to start the
- program, the program will know that you have a slower
- computer and would like to use the smaller videos for
- better performance and appearance.
-
- Windows 3.x:
- If you are using the 16-bit version of the program (running
- on Windows 3.x), then the program automatically uses the
- smaller videos for best performance. Even if you have a
- faster computer, the smaller videos will still look best
- when running the 16-bit version of the program. In other
- words, to get the best performance on Windows 3.x you don't
- have to do anything, it happens automatically. There is
- one step you can take, to make things look even better:
- refer to the "Special Note For Users of Windows 3.x"
- (above) for information about using Microsoft "WinG". WinG
- can make a very big difference in the quality of video.
-
-
- Enlarging Graphics on Your Screen:
- ----------------------------------
-
- Some of the graphics within the tutorial may be unreadable
- under certain screen resolutions (such as 640x480) or in
- windows that are not maximized. We recommend that you use
- the screen resolutions specified below. If you don't wish
- to change resolutions, then try the following steps:
-
- 1. Left-Click on the graphic that is hard to read.
- 2. Move the mouse pointer to one of the small black
- boxes that appear on the sides of the highlighted
- box around the graphic.
- 3. Press the left mouse button and drag the side
- of the box (while holding the mouse button down)
- until it is the size you want, then release the
- mouse button.
-
- The graphic will return to its original size when you exit
- the chapter, lesson, or the program.
-
-
- If You Experience Video Display Problems:
- -----------------------------------------
- This program will adapt itself automatically to most video
- display resolutions, so long as your video driver is set to at
- least 256-colors (or higher). If your video driver is set to
- something less than 256-colors, then please refer to "How to
- Improve Your Video Display" (below) for instructions on changing
- your video driver settings.
-
- This program was designed to look best at 800x600 with
- 256-colors or more. If your system can display only 256 colors
- at a time then you should expect to see some screen flashes and
- color changes as the program selects the best 256 colors to use
- at that particular time. If your system can display more than
- 256 colors at a time then your display will look even better,
- since this program automatically selects higher resolution
- pictures and backgrounds for use on such systems.
-
- If you use Windows 3.x then you should set your system for
- 256-colors, not more. If you have your system set for High
- Color or True Color modes, then the videos will have to be
- converted from 256-colors as they play, which will really
- slow things down. This is not as significant under Windows
- 95, but it can still slow things down somewhat.
-
- If you use Microsoft Windows 95 and sometimes have problems with
- icons looking funny, there are a couple of things you can do.
- First, this is not a problem with this program, it is a
- problem with Windows 95. It can happen with ANY program, even
- Microsoft Word. It most often starts when you are running a
- 16-bit program and a 32-bit program at the same time. It can
- also start anytime you are running more than one program at a
- time. Once it starts, the only reliable way to get it to stop
- is to restart Windows 95. You can avoid the problem entirely
- by not running more than one program at a time. Windows 95
- uses a technique to try to optimize display updates, where the
- display is only updated when absolutely necessary.
- Unfortunately, sometimes Windows 95 does not properly notice
- that an icon needs to be painted, this is why the icons can
- suddenly start looking funny. This problem does not appear
- on versions of Windows older than Windows 95.
-
-
- How to Improve Your Video Display:
- ----------------------------------
- Video displays are a very flexible part of today's modern
- systems. They are flexible because you are able to change
- or modify the way your screen looks. Of course, having choices
- often makes something seem more complicated. Don't worry,
- changing video display settings is a fairly simple process.
- In fact, the hardest part is deciding what you want the new
- settings to be. The following suggestions and recommendations
- will help to make the decision easier.
-
- The first step is to choose what video settings you wish to use.
- This normally involves a trade-off or balance between the best
- looking display and the most efficient use of available memory.
-
- For most situations, we recommend that you select 800x600 with
- 256-Colors. The more colors available, the better the screen
- will look, but more colors also use more memory. If your
- computer has less than 12-Mb of memory, then we recommend that
- you stick with 256-Colors only. If your computer has more
- than 12-Mb of memory, then feel free to select a setting that
- provides even more colors. Keep in mind, however, that the
- videos included with this program are 256-color videos. If
- your system is set for more than 256-colors, then the videos
- have to be converted to a different bit depth as they play.
- This can really slow things down on a computer running
- Windows 3.x (Windows 3.x is already slow when it comes to
- video). The difference is not as significant in Windows 95.
-
- Another consideration is how small you want text and icons to
- appear. Generally, as you increase the number of dots or
- "pixels" on the screen, things will look smaller and smaller.
- For instance, at 800x600, text will look smaller than it does
- at 640x480. Of course, you can also fit more on the screen at
- the same time, which is exactly what most people want.
-
- Most video drivers give you some flexibility, so you can fit more
- on your screen, without making things too small to see clearly.
- They make this available by giving you a choice of "Large Fonts"
- or "Small Fonts", or they might call it "Large System Resources"
- or "Small System Resources". Typically, this choice is only
- available when the driver is set to at least 800x600 (not at
- 640x480). We always recommend "Large Fonts" or "Large System
- Resources" because it makes things much easier to see and use.
-
- This program was designed to look its best in 800x600 with
- "Large Fonts" or "Large System Resources", and 256-Colors or more.
-
- Once you have chosen the settings you wish to use. Follow the
- instructions below to actually change your system settings. There
- are two procedures, one for people using Windows 95, and another
- for people using Windows 3.1.
-
- Changing Video Setting, Windows 95:
- For computers running Windows 95 only.
-
- Click on (press and release the left mouse button) the "Start"
- menu button, scroll up to "Settings", which will open a sub-
- menu, click on "Control Panel". When "Control Panel" opens
- look for an item called "Display" and double-click on
- "Display".
-
- After you double-click on "Display" you will see a series of
- notebook pages with little tabs on top. Click your mouse on
- the notebook tab called "Settings". Here you will be able
- to change your video display settings.
-
- The "Color Palette" section enables you to choose the number
- of colors you wish to display. We recommend 256-Colors. If
- you wish to choose more colors, we recommend that you do so
- only if your computer has more than 12Mb of memory, keeping
- in mind that it will slow down the performance of the videos
- included with this program.
-
- The "Font Size" section enables you to choose large or small
- fonts. We recommend "Large Fonts" for the most readable
- display.
-
- The "Desktop Area" (and optional "Viewport Area") is where you
- select the video size you wish to use. If both areas are
- present, then both areas should be set to the same numbers.
- We recommend 800x600. This will give you a good overall
- balance between appearance and efficient use of your
- computer's memory. Remember, higher numbers mean that more
- memory will be used.
-
- After you make your selections, click on the "OK" button to
- instruct Windows to make the changes. At this point, your
- screen will blank temporarily, then will reappear using the
- new settings. A pop up message will ask you if you wish to
- keep the new settings, click "Yes". If you changed the font
- size (Large Fonts or Small Fonts), then you will need to
- restart Windows before the changes take effect. Simply
- click "Yes" when it asks you if you want to restart Windows
- now. That's all there is to it!
-
- Changing Video Settings, Windows 3.1:
- For computers running Windows 3.1 only.
-
- Windows 3.1 is a bit more primitive than Windows 95 when it
- comes to changing video settings. Windows 3.1 will always
- restart before the new settings take effect.
-
- In the Program Manager, double-click on the "Main" program
- group. When it opens, double-click on the "Setup" or
- "Windows Setup" icon. When the Windows Setup window opens,
- click on the "Options" menu, then click "Change System
- Settings".
-
- When the "Change System Settings" window opens, you will
- see a choice called "Display". The current settings are
- shown. Pay close attention to the current settings, because
- they will tell you what kind of video display card you have.
- For instance, it might say "Super VGA" or "Stealth VRAM" or
- something else. You should stick to the options for that
- particular video display adapter. In other words, if it
- says "Super VGA", for instance, then choose only from those
- options that start with "Super VGA". Select the setting
- you want. We recommend 800x600x256 (the third number is the
- number of colors). If you have a choice of Large or Small
- Fonts, we recommend Large Fonts.
-
- After you have made your selection, click on the "OK" button.
- The next message will ask you if you want to restart Windows
- now, select "Yes" to restart Windows now. That's it!
-
-
- How to Get the Best Quality Video
- ---------------------------------
-
- The quality of video on your computer is largely dependent upon
- the type and speed of your processor (CPU), your video adapter,
- and the amount of memory in your computer. Increasing any of
- these will improve video playback performance. For the absolute
- best results we recommend upgrading your computer to a CPU that
- includes Intel's new "MMX" instruction set. CPU's with this new
- capability include the "Pentium MMX" and the "Pentium II". This
- new processor enables vastly superior video performance when
- compared to older CPUs.
-
- This program uses special video compression technology to provide
- you with the best possible video quality and performance. Of
- course, the possibilities are largely limited by the capabilities
- of your computer. Newer computers, with an MMX CPU and Windows 95
- or higher, will give you the best video performance.
-
-
- System Requirements:
- --------------------
- This program requires Microsoft Windows, Windows 95 or Windows NT.
-
- Video Requirements: 256-Color or better
- CPU Requirements: 80386 or better
-
- The CD-ROM discs contain two versions of the program: a 16-Bit
- version and a 32-Bit version. The 16-Bit version requires
- Microsoft Windows 3.1 or higher. The 32-Bit version requires
- Windows 95 or higher, or Windows NT 4.0 or higher. The correct
- version is automatically chosen when you install the program.
-
- Memory Requirements: The memory requirements depend on which
- version you are using. The 16-bit version
- for Windows 3.1 requires at least 4-Mb of
- memory, with 8-Mb recommended. The 32-bit
- version for Windows 95 requires at least
- 8-Mb of memory, with 16-Mb recommended.
-
- This program will work with most common video display resolutions,
- including 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768, with video drivers set
- to either Large or Small Fonts (sometimes called Large or Small
- System Resources).
-
-
- Compatibility:
- --------------
- This program has been tested with Microsoft Windows 3.1 and 3.11,
- Windows for Workgroups 3.1 and 3.11, Windows 95 and Windows 95
- with Service Pack 1, Windows 95 OEM-SR2, and Windows NT 4.0 with
- Service Pack 3 installed. It has also been tested with "beta"
- versions of Windows 98.
-
- This program has been tested in the following video resolutions:
-
- 640x480 - 256-Color
-
- 800x600 and 1024x768 with the following color depths:
- 256-Colors (8-Bit)
- 32,768-Colors (15-Bit, HighColor)
- 65,536-Colors (16-Bit, HighColor)
- 16,777,216-Colors (24-Bit, TrueColor)
- 4,294,967,296-Colors (32-Bit, TrueColor with Alpha Channel)
-
-
- Solving Problems Under Windows 3.x:
- -----------------------------------
- If you are using Windows 3.x (not Windows 95 or later) and experience
- problems such as videos not playing, sounds not playing, or error
- messages, please follow these steps to solve the problems.
-
- 1. Using the Windows NotePad (in the "Accessories" group) or your
- favorite editor, create a file in the Windows directory called
- "SEEFIXER.INI".
- 2. On the first line of this file, type the following:
- "[ForCredit132]"
- without the quotes. Be sure not to include any spaces.
- 3. On the second line of this file, type the following:
- "ForCreditNoSound=1"
- without the quotes. Be sure not to include any spaces.
- 4. Save and close the file (SEEFIXER.INI).
-
- In summary, the file "SEEFIXER.INI" should contain the following
- two lines:
-
- [ForCredit132]
- ForCreditNoSound=1
-
- Once you have performed the above steps, the problems will be
- solved the next time you start the program. The video sounds
- will work normally, but all other sound effects will be disabled
- (including music, button clicks, audio instructions, etc).
-
-
- Trademarks Mentioned
- --------------------
-
- Uses Smacker Video Technology. Copyright (c) 1994-1998 by RAD Game
- Tools, Inc.
-
- Uses Miles Sound System. Copyright (c) 1991-1998 by RAD Game Tools, Inc.
-
- Portions Copyright (c) 1994-1998 by Corel Corporation. The images may
- not be saved or downloaded and are only to be used for viewing purposes.
-
- All trade names mentioned herein are either trademarks or registered
- trademarks of their respective companies.
-