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VideoLogic SmartTools for Windows 95
====================================
& GrafixStar 700
================
14th June, 1996.
This ReadMe file contains late-breaking information and tips on using
VideoLogic's SmartTools for Microsoft Windows 95. For a detailed explanation
of the functions and operations of SmartTools please consult the on-line help.
The SmartTools are a new set of applications designed to allow you to get the
most out of the powerful capabilities of your GrafixStar graphics card. The
SmartTools give you more control over the appearance and behaviour of your
Windows desktop.
Contents
========
1. An overview of SmartTools
2. Installation / Deinstallation
3. Troubleshooting
4. GrafixStar 700 Drivers
1. An overview of SmartTools
============================
1.1. SmartTools
================
SmartTools lets you create toolbars to give you more control and quicker
access to your Windows applications and documents.
With SmartTools you can:
- Use toolbars for other Smart applications, and customize these toolbars
to suit your needs.
- Create toolbars for other applications, adding buttons for the
programs, documents and files you use most.
- Assign hotkeys for the commands that you use most often.
1.2. SmartDisplay
==================
SmartDisplay makes it easier and quicker for you to set up the display
properties for your monitor.
SmartDisplay gives you:
- A SmartDisplay Wizard, which guides you through a step by step
procedure that helps you find the ideal display properties for the
kind of work you are doing.
- A SmartDisplay setup procedure for advanced users, which allows you
to select the display size, color palette, refresh rate, desktop size,
connectivity, monitor alignment and properties for your display.
1.3. SmartDesktop
==================
SmartDesktop is an application which controls the appearance and behaviour
of your desktop.
With SmartDesktop you can:
- Use a virtual desktop, where the desktop size is larger than the
display size. SmartDesktop controls the way you move around the
desktop and reach the off-screen portion of your desktop.
- Change the display size at the touch of a button, allowing you to zoom
in and zoom out while you are working.
2. Installation / Deinstallation
================================
The GrafixStar 700 software for Windows 95 users is supplied on the VideoLogic
Software Library CD in the folder GS700\Win95. This contains two sub-folders,
Disk1 and Disk2, which contain the following:
Disk1 - SmartTools and GrafixStar 700 Driver
Disk2 - Disk 2 of the SmartTools installer
These folders can be copied to your hard disk, or to 3.5" disks, and intalled
in the same way as from the CD. If you are doing this, remember to use the
path to the files you are using, not the path to the files on the CD shown
below ([drive]:\GS700\Win95).
Before installing SmartTools, you must install the latest graphics drivers
for your GrafixStar card (found in [drive]:\GS700\Win95\Disk1 of the CD).
This is explained in detail below.
2.1. Installation
==================
2.1.1. Installing the GrafixStar 700 Drivers for the first time in Windows 95
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Switch on your computer and start Windows 95.
2. Windows 95 detects that you have a new graphics card and automatically
installs the default driver for this card. When prompted, restart your PC.
3. Insert the CD into your system.
4. Choose Browse and locate the folder [drive]:\GS700\Win95\Disk1 on the CD,
choose OK twice, select GrafixStar 700 PCI from the list and click OK.
5. When the GrafixStar files have been copied to your PC, a message will appear
asking you to restart Windows. Choose OK.
6. Windows 95 will restart with the new drivers loaded. If these have been
installed correctly you will find a new 'Advanced' tab in the Display
Properties panel.
7. Open the Display Properties control panel (the quickest way is to click the
right mouse button on the Windows desktop and select Properties).
8. Select the Settings tab and click on Change Display Type.
9. Make sure that the Monitor Type line contains the name of your monitor.
If not, choose Change Monitor Type, select your monitor from the list
and click OK.
2.1.2. Re-installing the GrafixStar drivers
--------------------------------------------
The easiest way to install the GrafixStar Windows 95 software is using the
Display Properties window:
1. Insert the CD into your computer.
2. Open the Control Panel window. To do this, click Start, point to
Settings and click Control Panel.
3. Double click on the Display icon to open the Display Properties Window.
Note: You can go directly to the Display Properties window by clicking
on the Windows 95 desktop with the right mouse button and choosing
Properties from the menu.
4. Choose the Settings page by clicking on the Settings tab.
5. Choose the Change Display Type button.
6. Make sure that the Monitor Type line contains the name of your monitor.
If not, click the Change button and select the name of your monitor
from the list.
7. Click on the Change button for the Adapter Type.
8. Insert the GrafixStar CD into your computer and choose Have Disk from
the Select Device menu. Browse to the folder
[drive]:\GS700\win95\disk1.
9. Select your GrafixStar card from the list and choose OK.
10. When the GrafixStar files have been copied to your PC, the Change
Display Type window is displayed again. Choose Close.
11. A message appears telling you that you will have to restart Windows 95
for the new display type to take effect. Choose OK.
12. Windows 95 restarts with the new GrafixStar Windows 95 drivers.
If the GrafixStar drivers have installed correctly you will find an
additional 'Advanced' page in the Display Properties Window.
You are now ready to install the SmartTools for Windows 95.
2.1.3. Installing the SmartTools
---------------------------------
1. Choose Run from the Start menu.
2. Insert the GrafixStar CD into your computer and browse to the folder
[drive]:\GS700\win95\disk1.
3. Type setup and choose OK.
4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
When SmartTools is installed, the Advanced page within the Display
Properties Window is replaced by two new pages entitled 'SmartDisplay'
and 'SmartDesktop'.
2.2. Deinstalling the SmartTools
=================================
To deinstall the SmartTools from your system, rerun the SmartTools SetUp
from the VideoLogic SmartTools program group and select Remove.
Note that removing SmartTools involves restarting Windows 95, so save
any open documents before you start.
Once the SmartTools have been deinstalled, you will have to reinstall the
GrafixStar drivers so the Advanced page reappears in the Display Properties
Window.
3. Troubleshooting
==================
3.1 Display Properties - Settings Tab Corruption
-------------------------------------------------
As part of the SmartTools installation the Settings Tab in the Display Properties
page is modified. It has been found that some other applications may also modify
the Settings Tab, e.g. Direct X version 2. This can result in corruption of the
Settings Tab.
To disable the SmartTools modifications to the Settings Tab use the patch file
(msstnpg.reg) included on disk 2 of the SmartTools install. To do this run the
file MSSTNGPG.REG once from within Windows 95 by double clicking on its
icon. To re-enable the SmartTools modifications to the Settings Tab, SmartTools
must first be deinstalled and then reinstalled.
3.2 Errors when running Virtual Desktops and/or changing Modes
---------------------------------------------------------------
Some applications, especially those that display video, report errors when running
a Virtual Desktop or changing modes. Every effort is made to prevent such
problems but if they do occur we recommend that you close the problematic
application before changing mode.
3.3. Modes
===========
3.3.1. 16-color modes
----------------------
SmartTools is not designed to work with a 16-color palette (4-bits per pixel).
3.3.2. Monitors
----------------
Windows 95 does not restrict the generic SVGA monitor settings to a given
set of display sizes, so SmartTools allows any display size to be selected.
Therefore if you have 'Standard monitor types' selected as you monitor,
SmartTools will not restrict your display size. There is therefore a
possibility that you could zoom out to a display size that your monitor does
not support.
3.4. Toolbars
==============
3.4.1. Disappearing Toolbars
-----------------------------
When using SmartDesktop to zoom into the desktop, it is possible from time
to time to lose sight of the SmartTools toolbars. You can relocate a toolbar
within your current display using the 'Find Now' feature. To reach the
'Find Now' button, select the Properties button of the toolbar on the
Toolbar Properties page of SmartTools.
3.4.2. Maximize in Display
---------------------------
The SmartDesktop feature 'Maximize on Display' maximizes your applications
to the full size of your display. This feature ignores the Windows 95
Taskbar, so part of your application window disappears below it. If you use
this feature, we recommended that you set the Taskbar to 'auto-hide'.
3.4.3. Moving & Deleting Buttons from Toolbars
-----------------------------------------------
You can move buttons around on the toolbars by holding down the shift key
and dragging them to the desired location. To remove a button, drag it off
the toolbar while holding down the shift key.
3.5. HotKeys
=============
3.5.1. DOSBox
--------------
The SmartDesktop hotkeys will not function when a DOSBox is open and its
window has the focus.
3.6. Connectivity - Feature Connector
======================================
3.6.1 Feature Connector
------------------------
If you select 'Feature Connector' from the Connectivity page of SmartDisplay,
your CONFIG.SYS file is modified to include the TSR VLENABLE.SYS. VLENABLE
is a small utility that enables DAC snooping at start up.
If your system does not have a CONFIG.SYS file, or it has one that is zero
bytes in size, you must create a file called CONFIG.SYS at the root of your
hard disk and make sure that it contains some data (a 'rem' line is
sufficient), before you select 'Feature Connector'.
When you have selected Feature Connector you must restart your system to run
VLENABLE.
If you uncheck the Feature Connector option, the VLENABLE.SYS line in the
CONFIG.SYS file will be disabled by changing it to a 'rem' line.
4. The GrafixStar 700 Drivers
=============================
For information on installing the drivers see section 2.1
Contents
========
4.1. Display modes with video acceleration
4.2. Using games with DirectDraw
4.3. Troubleshooting
4.1. Display modes with video acceleration
==========================================
The modes below support video acceleration:
Display size Colors Refresh rate (Hz)
640x480 256 60, 72, 75, 85
800x600 256 56, 60, 72, 75, 85
1024x768 256 43, 60, 70, 72, 75, 80, 85
640x480 65,536 60, 72, 75, 85
800x600 65,536 56, 60, 72, 75, 85
1024x768 65,536 43, 60, 70, 72, 75, 80, 85
640x480 16.7m 60, 72, 75, 85
All other modes display AVI files using software only, which gives poorer
quality playback. If you want to playback MPEG files without special
hardware, you can obtain a FREE copy of Xing MPEG Player when you return
your GrafixStar 700 registration card.
4.2. Using games with DirectDraw
================================
GrafixStar 700 display drivers for Windows 95 are compatible with
DirectDraw.
SmartTools automatically installs DirectDraw. To manually install
DirectDraw, find the directory REDIST.IHV on disk 2 and run SETUP.EXE,
after which Windows 95 needs to be restarted. To deinstall DirectDraw
simply delete the following files:
file location
Ddhelp.exe [drive]:\windows\system
Ddraw.dll [drive]:\windows\system
Ddraw16.dll [drive]:\windows\system
Dvideo.dll [drive]:\windows\system
Iccvid.dll [drive]:\windows\system
4.3. Troubleshooting
====================
QuickTime for Windows Version 2.XX.XX
-------------------------------------
If you experience problems when viewing QuickTime movies, run the QuickTime
Control Panel from the Windows 95 Control Panel, and follow the steps below:
- Run the QuickTime Control Panel, click the more button and select the
Video tab.
- From within the Optimization section, the Draw Method setting will
be set to Video Hardware. Change this to Video Driver.
- close the QuickTime Control Panel.
Play AVI with MS PLUS! pack
---------------------------
If you are using a display mode which is capable of video acceleration
(see section 4.1) and have the option 'Show Window contents while dragging'
enabled, you will see the accelerated video displaced from the video window
whilst dragging the video window around the desktop. Disable the
'Show Window contents while dragging' on the PLUS page in the display
properties.
Monitor screen centering
------------------------
Some advanced monitors which utilize a user display setting by detecting the
horizontal line frequency, may appear to change the size and positioning of the
returned Window 95 screen when task switching from a DOS fullscreen session to a
Windows 95 session. This problem occurs when the monitor is at the borderline
between two settings. To remedy, use the monitor screen controls to adjust the
screen to the desired settings.
Quickres
--------
Quickres is part of a series of unsupported utilities provided by Microsoft.
The mechanism used by Quickres to achieve color-depth switching on the fly can
seriously impact GrafixStar 700 performance, and can make Windows 95 unstable.
We do not recommend the use of this utility.
Xing 2.X
---------
MPEG clips replayed in modes other than the video accelerated modes listed
in section 4.1. above, may cause Windows to become unstable. If this problem
occurs, change the Display Mode to one that supports video acceleration.