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- README
-
- Total Recorder version 3.0.1
- Copyright (C) 1998-2001 High Criteria, Inc.
- All Rights Reserved
-
- CONTENTS
-
- Overview
- - Introduction
- - What's new with version 3.0.1?
- - What's new with version 3.0?
- - What's new with version 2.2?
- - What's new with version 2.1?
- - What's new with version 2.0?
- - System Requirements
- - Program Restrictions
- Installing and Configuring
- - Package Content
- - Specific Information for Windows NT
- - Specific Information for Windows 2000
- - Installation Steps
- - Configuring Total Recorder
- Registering Total Recorder
- Uninstalling Total Recorder
- Technical Support
-
-
- =======================================================================
- OVERVIEW
- =======================================================================
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- INTRODUCTION
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Total Recorder is a sound recording and playing program. It records
- analog sound digitized by a sound card, as well as sound generated,
- or requested, by other computer programs, such as RealPlayer, Windows
- Media Player, Quick Time, WinAmp, and many others. Recorded sound is
- saved in wave-file format or you can use external programs to save
- recorded sound using MP3 format.
-
- For example, you can use Total Recorder to record:
- - audio from the Internet, either audio files or live streams
- - music from a game program
- - a conversation, if you use an Internet telephony program.
-
- Total Recorder uses a virtual sound driver to capture the sound output
- from another program. By installing this driver, and setting this
- device as the default, different sound reproducing programs send their
- output stream to Total Recorder's driver and not to the driver of a
- real device. Total Recorder then passes the information to the sound
- card driver.
-
- Total Recorder has a built-in scheduler. This allows you to
- automatically record a show at a given time for later playback or you
- can use the scheduler as an alarm. Note that this latter function does
- not require registration.
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- WHAT'S NEW WITH VERSION 3.0.1?
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Version 3.0.1 is a maintenance release and does not add any new
- features. It fixes the following issues in the version 3.0:
- - The compatibility problem between Total Recorder driver and some
- Creative drivers for Sound Blaster Live! family of sound cards.
- - The compatibility problem with some players, which use very small
- buffers (e.g. Ultra Player)
- - The problem with international characters in registration names.
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- WHAT'S NEW WITH VERSION 3.0?
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Version 3.0 adds many new features, including the following:
- - The ability to play and record compressed sound using installed
- codecs.
- - The ability to use external MP3 modules for recording in MP3 format.
- - Compatibility with Windows Millennium Edition.
- - A Fast save capability.
- - Automatic stop after a specified amount of recording time.
- - Interface improvements.
-
- Warning: Version 3.0 uses a new format of the registration key. When
- you install this new version, it will be unregistered until you enter
- a new registration key.
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- WHAT'S NEW WITH VERSION 2.2?
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- In addition to maintenance, Version 2.2 adds the following features:
- - Support for Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000.
- - The ability to resample a recording (i.e. change sound stream
- parameters). Resampling can be done either during the recording
- process or when you save a recording.
- - The maximum recording size is no longer limited to 2GB. It is now
- possible to record up to 49 continuous days. However, since an
- individual .wav file has a limit of 4GB, a long recording must be
- broken into pieces in order for it to be saved.
- - A save progress indicator.
- - The ability to increase the priority of the Total Recorder program
- and provide cleaner recordings.
- - The ability to normalize the volume of a recording.
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- WHAT'S NEW WITH VERSION 2.1?
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- In addition to maintenance, Version 2.1 adds the following features:
- - Accelerated recording/converting. This allows you to convert a sound
- file to standard wave format without listening to it. This operation
- normally takes a fraction of the time it would require to play the
- file.
- - Markers. These allow you to select and save only part of a recording
- or part of an existing wave file.
- - The ability to continue recording to the same file after it was
- stopped.
- - A level indicator reflects the amplitude of a signal during recording
- and playback.
- - The ability to have more than one open copy of Total Recorder (like
- in version 1.0).
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- WHAT'S NEW WITH VERSION 2.0?
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Version 2.0 adds many new features, including the following:
- - Capturing and recording of sound streams that programs request from a
- sound card. This allows full duplex recording of Internet phone conver-
- sations when using programs such as NetMeeting and VoxPhone.
- - Recording from CD, microphone and other input lines
- - Built-in scheduler that allows you to program jobs (record or playback)
- to start at a given time, similar to programming a VCR
- - Command line parameters that allow you to use an external scheduler
- such as Microsoft Task Scheduler to schedule a recording or playback
- - Automatic installation and uninstallation of the virtual device driver.
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- SYSTEM REQUIREMENT
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- To use Total Recorder, you need the following:
- - an IBM compatible computer
- - a sound card
- - Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME (Millennium Edition), or 2000, or
- Windows NT 4.0.
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- PROGRAM RESTRICTIONS
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Total Recorder cannot record sound reproduced by DOS programs
- executing in DOS sessions).
-
- Total Recorder can record only one output and one input sound stream at
- a time. If a sound card allows simultaneous output of several
- wave-streams and can mix these streams itself, then Total Recorder can
- only record one of these streams.
-
- =======================================================================
- INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING
- =======================================================================
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- PACKAGE CONTENT
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Total Recorder is shipped via the Internet, as a self-extracting
- (totrec30.exe) or regular (totrec30.zip) archive, and consists of the
- files listed below. The following table indicates each file name, a
- description, and the environments in which each file is required.
-
- File Description Required on Required on
- ---- ----------- Windows 95/98/Me Windows 2000/NT 4
- TotalRecorder.exe - Total Recorder program Yes Yes
- DrvTR95M.drv - device driver Yes No
- DrvTRNTM.dll - device driver No Yes
- DrvTR95L.dll - device driver library Yes No
- DrvTRNTL.dll - device driver library No Yes
- DrvTR95.vxd - virtual device driver Yes No
- DrvTR95.inf - driver installation file Yes No
- OEMSETUP.inf - driver installation file No Yes
- TotalRecorder.hlp - help file Yes Yes
- TotalRecorder.cnt - help content file Yes Yes
- TRInst.exe - install/uninstall program Yes Yes
- DrInst.exe - driver install/uninstall Yes No
- program
- License.txt - license agreement file Yes Yes
- Readme.txt - read-me first file Yes Yes
- TotalRecorder.doc - documentation Yes Yes
- Registration.txt - registration form Yes Yes
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR WINDOWS NT
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- To install Total Recorder on Windows NT, you need the "Load and Unload
- Device Drivers" user right. Normally, only administrative users have
- this right.
-
- To use the Total Recorder program, you do not need any special rights.
- However, the Total Recorder setup program changes settings only for the
- user who installed the program. Any other user must manual set the
- Total Recorder driver as a preferred device (see
- "Installing/Uninstalling the Total Recorder Driver Manually").
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR WINDOWS 2000
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Windows 2000 is a member of the Windows NT product family. All of the
- information in the previous section ("Installing Total Recorder in a
- Windows NT Environment") applies to Windows 2000.
-
- If you are planning to upgrade your Windows 95/98 system to Windows
- 2000, you must take the following steps:
- 1. Before upgrading your Windows environment, uninstall Total Recorder.
- 2. After the upgrade is complete, reinstall Total Recorder.
- 3. Re-register Total Recorder. Have you registration information
- available.
-
- Note: Total Recorder will not work if you simply upgrade your Windows
- environment to Windows 2000 without taking the steps described above.
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- INSTALLATION NOTES
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Follow this procedure to install Total Recorder on your PC:
-
- 1. Download the self-extracting archive totre301.exe
- (http://www.highcriteria.com/download/totre301.exe) and run it.
-
- or
-
- Download the regular ZIP archive totre301.zip
- (http://www.highcriteria.com/download/totre301.zip). Unzip it and
- run TRInst.exe. Note that you must unzip the entire archive not
- just TRInst.exe.
-
- If you have a previous version installed, you are prompted to
- uninstall it. Press "OK" to continue with the installation. Press
- "Cancel" if you want to exit the installation program without
- installing the software.
-
- The installation program creates a directory for Total Recorder,
- copies all of the files to that directory, creates a Program Group
- called Total Recorder, installs a driver, and sets it as the default
- device for both playback and recording.
-
- 2. After installing Version 3.0.1 over a previous version you must
- restart Windows. Under Windows NT or Windows 2000 you must reboot
- your PC, even after the initial installation. In all cases you will
- receive a prompt.
-
- Tip:
- Create a shortcut to Total Recorder and place it on your desktop. This
- gives you single-click access to Total Recorder.
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- CONFIGURING TOTAL RECORDER
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
- The configuration program allows you to set the following:
- - suppression of system sounds
- - preferred playback and recording devices
- - priority of Total Recorder program
- - directory for temporary files
- - default directory
- - actions when a recording is about to be overwritten
- - resampling algorithm
- - external programs for MP3 encoding
- - default format (RIFF-WAVE or MP3) and ID3 tag for MP3 files
- - debug mode for driver.
-
- To configure Total Recorder, start the program and select "Options" û
- "Settings". You are presented with a property sheet with the tabs:
- "System", "Open/save", "Algorithm", "MP3 encoding" and "Debug".
-
- =======================================================================
- REGISTERING TOTAL RECORDER
- =======================================================================
- After installing and verifying the program works properly, you should
- obtain a registration key from High Criteria. If the program is
- unregistered then your recordings are limited to 40 seconds each and
- you can use the scheduler only as an alarm.
-
- Note: You cannot use your Version 1.x or 2.x registration key with
- Version 3.0.1. Version 3.0 beta and 3.0 keys are OK with version 3.0.1.
-
- To receive the registration key:
- 1. For registered users of versions 1.0 or 2.x. All registered users are
- entitled to a free registration key. It is sent by E-mail
- automatically unless you specified that you do not want to receive
- E-mails from High Criteria or you have not provided your E-mail
- address. If you are a registered user, want to upgrade, and didnÆt
- get your registration key for some reason, contact
- support@HighCriteria.com
-
- OR
-
- For new users: Follow the instructions given on High Criteria Inc.'s
- web site at the following address:
- http://www.highcriteria.com/products.htm.
-
- 2. Select "Help" from the main menu. Hit "Registration". Type in the
- same name you used to obtain the registration key and your
- registration key. Note that after registration this menu item is not
- accessible.
-
- =======================================================================
- UNINSTALLING TOTAL RECORDER
- =======================================================================
- To uninstall Total Recorder, use "Start", "Settings", "Control Panel",
- "Add/Remove Programs". The program remains in memory until you reboot.
-
- =======================================================================
- TECHNICAL SUPPORT
- =======================================================================
- If you experience problems with Total Recorder that you cannot resolve
- yourself, visit support area on our Web site:
- - http://www.highcriteria.com/faq_tr.htm - Frequently Asked Questions
- - http://www.highcriteria.com/support.htm - Support Area
-