DOCUMENT:Q150664 18-FEB-2002 [vbwin] TITLE :Mastering Visual Basic: README.WRI Content PRODUCT :Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows PROD/VER:: OPER/SYS: KEYWORDS:kbmm ====================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in this article applies to: - MSPRESS Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 ISBN 1-55615-913-7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY ======= The following article contains a copy of the information presented in the Readme.wri file on the Mastering Visual Basic compact disc. MORE INFORMATION ================ Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0: README File ------------------------------------------------- 9/21/95 Welcome to Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0. This file contains information about Mastering Visual Basic not included in the online Help. Multimedia technology, with its array of new hardware and software combinations, can present a variety of potential performance and configuration problems. This README file contains important and helpful information on the following topics: Section Description 1 Send Us Your Feedback 2 Problems During Setup 3 Removing Mastering Visual Basic 4 Potential Problems Running this Title 5 Labs and Sample Applications 6 Performance Issues 7 Hardware Problems 8 Audio Problems 9 CD-ROM Problems 10 Printing Problems 11 Running under Microsoft Windows NT 12 Running under Microsoft Windows 95 13 Generic Multimedia Information To read this file on-screen, use the PAGE DOWN and PAGE UP keys. You can also print the file by choosing the Print command from the File menu in virtually any Windows-based word processing program. 1 Send Us Your Feedback We welcome your feedback. Let us know how Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 has helped you gain expertise in creating solutions with Visual Basic 4.0. You can reach us via any of the following: Internet: devtrain@microsoft.com Mail: Mastering Series Products Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052-6399 Fax: (425) 936-7329 Attn: Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic Please note that we receive a number of suggestions and comments regarding Microsoft products and are unable to respond directly to each one. However, be assured that your recommendations, ideas, and remarks are recorded and will help shape future versions of our Mastering Series products. 2 Problems During Setup The Setup program's default settings will load the Mastering Visual Basic title to your C: drive. You may assign application files to a different drive; however, Setup will copy 3 MB of system files to your WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory. If you choose to have the Labs and Demos installed during Setup, approximately 3.5 MB of files will be copied to a set of directories under the \VB4PRG directory on your C: drive. It is important that these files remain in this directory structure when you run the labs. Setup will not complete properly if you remove the Mastering Visual Basic CD-ROM during Setup, or attempt to start the application before Setup is complete. Because Mastering Visual Basic installs system files that may be shared with other applications, you must shut down other applications, including Microsoft Office, before running Setup. If you have closed all other open applications and you encounter problems during Setup, make sure your system meets the minimum requirements necessary to install Mastering Visual Basic. System Requirements Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 will run on the following minimal system; however, performance will improve with more RAM or a faster CD-ROM drive. * Personal computer with a 486DX or higher processor running Windows 95, or Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51 or later. * 10 MB of memory (16 MB or more recommended). * 8 MB of available hard-disk space. * MPC2-compatible CD-ROM drive. * Super VGA or higher-resolution video adapter capable of displaying 256 colors or greater. * Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device. * MPC2-compatible audio board for audio and video instruction. * Microsoft Visual Basic, Professional Edition or Enterprise Edition, version 4.0 is required to work the lab exercises. 3 Removing Mastering Visual Basic To remove Mastering Visual Basic from your computer, run Setup again and choose the Remove All option. (This removes only files specific to Mastering Visual Basic. Shared files installed in the Windows System directory, such as DLLs, VBXs, OCXs, and DRVs, are not removed.) You may also need to do the following: * Delete the Mastering Visual Basic icon. If you moved the icon to a different program group since installing the application, Setup will not be able to detect the new location of the icon and cannot delete it. After running Setup (with Remove All selected), go to Program Manager and delete the icon(s). * Delete the MVB directory. The MVB directory (or the directory you specified as the destination directory during Setup) will not be removed. If this directory is not being used for other files, you can delete it by going to File Manager or Explorer, selecting the directory, and then pressing Delete. * Delete the Lab and Demo directory structure. If you had Setup install the Labs and Demos, Remove All removes all the files but leaves the directory structure. If you haven't added any files to this structure, you can delete C:\VB4PRG to remove the entire structure. 4 Potential Problems Running this Title This section describes problems you may experience when running Mastering Visual Basic. * Content: Articles located in the product's Library and sample applications are based on pre-released versions of Visual Basic 4.0. There may be discrepancies between information referenced in these sources and in the released version of Visual Basic 4.0. Library articles included in this title are not edited by the Mastering Visual Basic team. You may encounter documentation errors, references to page numbers, and formatting problems. Addresses, phone numbers, and other contact information appearing in this title may have changed since the time of publication. * Files: Several of the applications in the Files section of the Library Technical Reference may behave differently on different platforms. In particular, graphics may not display in the application VB Tips and Tricks 1995, and VB Tip of the Day requires that VBRUN300.DLL is in the path. * Graphics: This title is designed to run on machines capable of displaying 256 colors or more. Though the title does run on systems displaying 16 colors, there is a noticeable drop in image quality. Some large graphics may display out of the window when running the title at 640 x 480 resolution. It is recommended that you run this application in 800 x 600 mode or greater. * Labs: The labs contain references and pointers to the C:\VB4PRG directory. To run the labs without modification, they must be in that directory structure. If you did not have Setup install them, you can run Setup again and select this option. Refer to the Labs and Sample Applications section for details. * Out of Memory Error: An Out of Memory error may occur if you re-size the application numerous times during a session. If this occurs, restart Mastering Visual Basic. * Palette Flash: You may experience a palette flash when running videos on particular hardware configurations. * Printing: The media represented by icons in the text area (graphics, sample code, tips, videos, demos, and answers) will not print when printing the current screen. To print this information, click the icon to display the media, then choose Print. If you experience problems printing over a network, consult your network administrator to make sure your printer settings are correct. Solutions for common printing problems are described in section 9, "Printing Problems." * Running under Microsoft Windows 3.1 or Windows for Workgroups: While the product will run under Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups, you will not be able to print. * Taskbar: Automatic hiding and display of the Windows 95 Taskbar may not work properly while this application is active. If you experience a problem with this, Alt+Tab to another application to display the Taskbar. * Text: If you have set your Windows color scheme to display white text on a colored background, you will have to change it in order to see anything in the Navigation pane, as the background there is forced to white. * Toolbar: The Content on Top icon on the Toolbar is referred to as the Small Size icon in the Tour. * Video: The Demonstration and Point of View files will run only if you have Microsoft Video for Windows installed on your system. Setup will notify you if it is not installed, and you can install it by running Setup from the VFW directory on the Mastering Visual Basic CD-ROM. Performance of video clips will vary, depending on the capabilities of your system. Switching applications (Alt+Tab) while running video files can cause the video to stop. The title is designed to run on systems conforming to MPC2 specifications. Even with appropriate hardware, you may experience long wait times while video files are being loaded, and you may have errors in video/audio synchronization during playback. 5 Labs and Sample Applications Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 provides numerous Lab exercises that illustrate programming concepts and techniques. These Labs are listed at the end of each Chapter in the Table of Contents, as well as in the Library under Labs. There are project, solution, and demonstration files associated with each Lab. These are stored on the CD-ROM in the appropriate subdirectory of the MASTER\MEDIA\VB4PRG directory. If you chose to install the lab demo applications during Setup, they are also in a subdirectory of the C:\VB4PRG directory on your hard disk. If you did not install them during Setup, you can run Setup again to do so. To work without modification, the files must be in the C:\VB4PRG directory. For example, some of the labs assume the Northwind database (NWIND.MDB) is located in C:\VB4PRG. If you move the files to another directory, you will need to make minor modifications to the lab programs to specify the correct file locations. Note: The lab and demo applications provided with Mastering Visual Basic were tested with the 32-bit version of Visual Basic. Most of these labs should work with the 16-bit version, but they are not guaranteed to do so. Labs Each chapter has an associated lab. The instructions to complete the lab assignment are at the end of each chapter. The solution to each lab is included in the C:\VB4PRG\LABS directory. Some of the labs provide partial solutions. For example, the solution to Lab 5 is provided as a starting point to Lab 6. To start Lab 6, open the NWIND.VBP project in the C:\VB4PRG\LABS\LAB06 directory. To see the solution to Lab 6, open the NWIND.VBP project in the C:\VB4PRG\LABS\LAB06\SOLUTION directory. Sample Applications There are numerous sample applications that illustrate the concepts and techniques taught in this title. These files can be installed in the C:\VB4PRG\DEMOS directory during Setup, or by running Setup again. When working through the chapter, some of the online demonstrations refer to these sample applications. You can open the application in the C:\VB4PRG\DEMOS subdirectory and review the code yourself. 6 Performance Issues There are several ways to make Mastering Visual Basic run faster. Many of the methods described below are general tips that will improve the performance of any application under Windows. Consult your Windows manual for more details. Mastering Visual Basic uses your computer's random access memory (RAM) to display pictures and play video and audio. If Mastering Visual Basic runs slowly or you get error messages saying you are out of memory, you may not have enough RAM available. Here are some tips to make the best use of your available memory: * Close all applications that you are not using. * Set up a permanent Windows swap file. Windows works best when there is hard disk space allocated for swapping files into or out of your computer's memory. To set up a permanent Windows swap file on your hard disk, open the Windows Control Panel (usually in the Main program group in Program Manager), and click the Enhanced icon. Then click the Virtual Memory button to see if your current swap file is temporary or permanent, to check the size of the current swap file, and to make changes. Windows usually creates a temporary swap file by default, but if your disk is full or fragmented, this temporary file can become unavailable. If you can, make the size of the permanent swap file at least 6096 KB. Look at the Help menu of the Windows Control Panel or check your Windows documentation for more information. * Defragment or optimize your hard disk by running a defragmentation program. For example, MS-DOS 6.0 and later includes a utility called Microsoft Defrag. A disk defragmenter is also included in Microsoft Windows 95. Some other popular utilities are PC Tools, Norton Utilities, and Mace Utilities. * Add more RAM (memory) to your computer. You can determine how much memory is available by starting MS-DOS, typing mem and pressing ENTER. This starts a program that will tell you how much memory you have. You need at least 10 MB of RAM, and 16 MB is recommended. * Add a cache to your CD-ROM drive. SmartDrive in MS-DOS 6.2 and utilities such as Norton Speedcache+ can significantly improve the performance of CD-ROM products by helping eliminate unnecessary seeks and reads. If you have an older or slow CD-ROM drive, the performance difference can be very noticeable. For best performance, the CD-ROM drivers should be loaded before you load SmartDrive, otherwise SmartDrive won't cache the CD-ROM drive. * If you are using more than 256 colors in your video display, you may want to lower your video colors to 256. For instructions on how to change your Windows display, consult your Windows documentation. For more details on improving performance, consult your Windows and CD-ROM manuals. 7 Hardware Problems Mastering Visual Basic is designed to run at VGA (640 x 480) resolution or higher with 256 colors. Though Mastering Visual Basic will run in 16-color mode, there will be a noticeable drop in image quality. Mastering Visual Basic may encounter display problems when using accelerated video drivers, video drivers with more than 256 colors, or high-resolution video drivers. One example of these problems is a video display with garbled images. Another is a crash occurring when trying to play a video. There are several things you can do if you encounter such problems: 1. Most problems can be fixed by obtaining new drivers from your video card manufacturer. Contact the manufacturer of your video card to determine if newer versions are available. The manufacturer's phone number should be in the manuals that came with your video card or personal computer. Another option for obtaining updated drivers is the Microsoft Download service (MSDL), an electronic bulletin board that can be accessed by modem at (425) 936- MSDL (425-936-6735). Drivers provided on MSDL are compressed with the PKWare utilities and are in the form of executable files (.EXE extension). It is best to download the file or files you need into an empty directory on your hard disk or a blank formatted floppy. To decompress these drivers after downloading them, either: a) From Windows File Manager, double-click on the filename that you downloaded (e.g., the the appropriate file ending in .EXE). -or- b) From the DOS prompt, change to the directory the containing the downloaded file, type the filename, and then press ENTER. 2. An alternative to obtaining a new or updated display driver is to change your video mode to a standard video mode, such as 640 x 480 resolution with 256 colors. To find out what video driver you are using, go to the Main group in Program Manager and double-click the Windows Setup icon. To the right of "Display" you will see the name of the video driver currently in use. For instructions on how to install or change drivers, click Help (in Windows Setup). Cirrus Logic Driver Cirrus Logic video drivers, v1.32, are incompatible with Video for Windows 1.1. As a result, you may experience difficulties playing videos. To update your Cirrus Logic video drivers, contact Cirrus Logic product support at: Cirrus Logic 3100 W. Warren Ave. Freemont, CA 94538 (510) 623-8300 Using the Cirrus Logic driver v1.43, running 640 x 480 resolution at 16.8 million colors will cause the initial images of the Demonstrations in Mastering Visual Basic to have a white background with horizontal lines running through them. However, once a Demonstration starts playing, the video plays correctly. To correct this initial image problem, change your color setting to 256 colors or change your resolution to something other than 640 x 480. The Cirrus Logic driver products referenced here are manufactured by Cirrus Logic, a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability. Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16/16 ASP Compressed audio clips may fail to play if you are using a Sound Blaster 16 or Sound Blaster 16 ASP sound card. This problem occurs because some computers are unable to use the 16-bit DMA (direct memory access) channel on the Sound Blaster cards. To correct this problem, switch the HDMA channel to use DMA or 8-bit DMA. You must change this setting in the following two places: 1. The Drivers dialog box in the Windows Control Panel. 2. The SBCONFIG.EXE configuration program included with Sound Blaster cards. To change the settings, follow these steps: 1. Open the Windows Control Panel. 2. Double-click the Drivers icon. 3. Select the Sound Blaster 16 Wave/MIDI driver, and then click Setup. 4. Under the HDMA setting, set the selection to DMA. 5. Click OK, and then click Do Not Restart Now. 6. Exit Windows. 7. At the MS-DOS prompt, change to the SB16 directory and run SBCONFIG.EXE. Follow the instructions provided by this configuration program. It assists you in selecting and testing the following variables: To test this variable . . . Select this Base I/O port Autoscan MidiPort address Autoscan DMA interrupt Current 8-bit DMA Current 16-bit DMA Use 8-bit DMA After you have finished making these selections, the SBCONFIG program will restart your computer. 8. Restart Windows. Compressed audio clips should now play correctly. For more information about Sound Blaster cards and about this problem, contact Creative Labs technical support at (405) 742-6622. Sound Blaster is manufactured by Creative Technology Ltd., a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability. Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum Audio clips may sound "scratchy" or distorted when played from the Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum. To correct this problem, change the Media Vision driver DMA setting to 7. To change the driver settings: 1. Open the Drivers icon in the Windows Control Panel. 2. Double-click the Drivers icon. 3. Select the Media Vision Wave/MIDI/Aux driver, and then click Setup. 4. Under the DMA setting, set the selection to 7. 5. Click OK, and then click Restart Now. Audio clips should now play correctly. For more information, call Media Vision, Inc. technical support at (800) 638-2807 or (510) 770-9905. On CompuServe, Media Vision can be reached by typing GO MEDIAVISION at any prompt. The Pro Audio Spectrum driver products included here are manufactured by Media Vision, Inc., a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability. Turtle Beach Monte Carlo When using the Turtle Beach Monte Carlo sound card, sounds may play correctly the first time then fail on subsequent attempts. To correct this problem, run the Monte Carlo driver utility and change the Setup to use the Standard drivers and not the V-synth driver. Audio clips should then play correctly. For additional information about using the Monte Carlo or Turtle Beach drivers, consult the documentation from the hardware vendor. For more information, contact Turtle Beach technical support at (717) 767-0200. The Turtle Beach driver products included here are manufactured by Turtle Beach, Inc., a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability. S3 V.1.1 Video Drivers Problems such as random GP faults or crashes may occur on a system with the S3 video driver version 1.1. To correct these, update to the most recent S3 driver (V.2.41). The S3 driver products are manufactured by S3 Inc., a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability. Roland Rap-10 When using the Roland Rap-10 sound card you may experience problems playing compressed audio. To correct this problem, make sure that you are using Roland Toolworks software version 3.7 or later. For more information, contact Roland technical support: (213) 685-5141. The Roland driver products included here are manufactured by Roland, Inc., a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability. Reveal MM Pro 16 Audio pronunciations may fail to play if you are using a Reveal MM Pro 16 sound card. To avoid this problem, disable 16-bit audio by setting the Reveal MM Pro 16 16-bit DMA channel to None, as follows: 1. Open the Windows Control Panel. 2. Double-click the Drivers icon. 3. Select the MMPRO16 Wave/Midi/Aux driver, and then click the Setup button. 4. Set 16-bit DMA channel to None. The Reveal driver products referenced here are manufactured by Reveal, a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability. Aztech Labs (AZI) You may experience problems playing compressed wave audio when using any of the following Aztech Labs (AZI) sound cards: * Multimedia Pro * NX Pro 16 * Sound Galaxy Basic 16 * Sound Galaxy Pro 16 To resolve this problem try the following: 1. Add a D=64 parameter at the end of the Device=EMM386 line in the CONFIG.SYS file. For example, if your EMM386.EXE file is in the DOS directory on drive C, you would use the following line: Device=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE D=64. 2. Change the DMABufferSize setting in the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file to "DMABufferSize=064" (without the quotation marks). If the line does not exist, add it. 3. Do the following: a) Note the driver listed in the Wave= line in the [drivers] section of the SYSTEM.INI file. b) Find the section by that name in the SYSTEM.INI file. For example, if Wave=mm16.drv, find the [mm16.drv] section. c) Add a "SingleModeDMA=True" line (without the quotation marks) to this section. d) If the driver in the Control Panel for the particular AZI card has separate 8-bit and 16-bit DMA settings, try setting the 16-bit to None. Some 16-bit AZI sound card drivers do not have separate 8-bit and 16-bit DMA settings. If the problem still persists, you may need a sound driver update. For more information, contact Aztech Labs technical support at (800) 886-8879 or Sound Galaxy Support at (510) 623-8988. The Aztech products discussed here are manufactured by Aztech, a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability. Special Note: Using ATI Video Cards If you are using an ATI video card and a "mach" video driver (mach8 or mach32) as your Windows display driver, the Device Bitmaps setting for the video card must be set to Off. To check/change this setting, do the following: 1. Double-click the mach FlexDesk Control Panel icon (usually found in the mach Utilities program group in Program Manager). The mach Utilities group is created when you run the ATI mach video driver Setup program. 2. Click the Advanced Settings button. 3. Make sure Device Bitmaps is set to Off, or set it to Off if it is not. (If the Advanced dialog box has no Device Bitmaps setting, read the information below to change the setting through your WIN.INI file.) 4. Click OK to close the FlexDesk Advanced Settings. 5. Click OK to close the FlexDesk Control Panel. You will need to restart Windows for the changes to take effect. If the Advanced dialog box has no Device Bitmaps setting, you need to alter your WIN.INI file (located in your Windows subdirectory). You can do this by opening the WIN.INI file in Notepad, which is normally located in the Accessories group in Program Manager. Place the cursor at the top of the file and search for "devicebitmap" (without quotation marks). To search, select Search then Find. You should find a line that reads "devicebitmap=on". Change it to "devicebitmap=off" and save the file. You will need to restart Windows for the change to take effect. * You can verify the Windows Display driver selection by double-clicking the Windows Setup icon found in the Main program group of the Windows Program Manager. * Also, if the ATI Crystal Fonts option is turned on, Mastering Visual Basic may not display the correct colors. We suggest turning this option off if you are running in 256 color mode and are experiencing color problems. For information about ATI video cards or the ATI installation utility referred to above, contact ATI technical support at (905) 882-2626. The ATI products discussed here are manufactured by ATI, a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability. 8 Audio Problems This section offers solutions to common problems that may occur when playing audio in Mastering Visual Basic. Sound does not play at all If you hear no audio when running the introductions, demonstrations, and expert point of view videos on Mastering Visual Basic, follow these steps to locate the problem. 1. Check the volume setting on the speakers and in your audio software. 2. If the volume is turned up and you still hear no sound, something may be wrong with your audio card installation. Check to see that the audio card software is installed correctly and reinstall it if necessary. For further details, see the section below, Making Sure the Sound Card Is Installed Properly. 3. If the software is installed correctly, the audio card may need to be pressed more securely into its slot or you may need to change a jumper setting on the audio card. 4. If you have both an audio card and special software that bypasses the audio card to play sounds through the PC speaker, we suggest you remove or disable the special software (the PC speaker driver). Mastering Visual Basic requires an MPC2-compatible audio card; it is not meant to run with the PC internal speaker or any combination of that speaker and special software. Note Some speakers come with built-in amplifiers. If the speakers do not have power (by batteries or adapter) and the amplifier is turned on, you won't hear anything. Sound plays but is distorted or "fuzzy" Sound distortion is often caused by sending a higher volume or amplitude of sound than the speakers are able to handle. Also, if the volume control on your audio card is set too high, it may cause distortion from the amplifier on the audio card. Sometimes lower quality speakers will distort at a lower volume than better speakers will (compare a clock radio speaker to a big stereo system; the stereo speakers can play much louder with no distortion). For example, if the volume for your audio card or "WAVE file output" is set to near its maximum it will produce distortion just like a radio with the volume turned up too high. To learn how to change your audio card settings, check the manuals that came with your audio card. Changing the volume settings is normally done with either a volume dial on the back of your audio card (in the rear of your computer where the speakers plug in) or with a program (often called a mixer) that is usually installed in the Windows Control Panel of the Main program group. Some audio cards use both types of controls and they must both be adjusted. Another possible cause is that you are using a 16-bit sound card set to a lower Direct Memory Access (DMA) channel. Sounds that are scratchy while using a low DMA address will sound better using an upper DMA channel. In the case of the Media Vision Pro Audio 16 sound card, a DMA setting of 7 will correct any scratchy sounds. To change the DMA channel, go to the Windows Control Panel and select Drivers. In the Drivers section, select the sound card driver, and then choose Setup. You should be able to select a higher DMA setting here. If the driver will not allow you to change the DMA setting, you may need to refer to your sound card manual. Sound plays but skips Audio that breaks up or skips periodically is usually an indication that the CD-ROM drive does not fully meet the MPC (Multimedia PC) specification for the Data Transfer Rate. The MPC-2 specification states that the CD-ROM drive must be capable of transferring data at a rate of 300 KB per second while utilizing 60 percent or less of the CPU. You can continue to use your CD-ROM drive to run Mastering Visual Basic, but will continue to experience choppiness in audio clips. Sounds are cut off Most audio cards can play only one sound at a time; therefore, other sound-producing programs could interrupt the sounds from Mastering Visual Basic. Some sound- producing programs may take over the audio capability and prevent other Windows-based programs from being able to make sounds. If you suspect you have such a program, do not run it at the same time as Mastering Visual Basic. Making sure the sound card is installed properly 1. Verify Port and IRQ settings by looking at the sound card and comparing the way the Port and IRQ settings are set up with the way that the audio card software specifies they be set up. The audio card manual should explain how to configure the audio card settings. 2. Make sure the sound card does not conflict with other hardware. This is done by comparing the Setup of the audio card with the Setup of other cards in your computer. It is important that no two cards try to use the same port or IRQ. This is a common source of problems when you are getting no sound at all. 3. If you have a Sound Blaster 16 sound card, and you can't hear sounds play, you may have to disable the 16-bit audio by switching the High DMA channel to match the Low DMA channel. Sound Blaster has utilities to help you do this. If you need to do this manually, you must change the current settings in both the AUTOEXEC.BAT and the SYSTEM.INI. 9 CD-ROM Problems Mastering Visual Basic requires at least a double-speed CD-ROM drive to function properly. A CD-ROM drive that does not meet the MPC2 specifications will exhibit slow performance, audio blips, or interruptions when sound is played. Note Do not remove the Mastering Visual Basic compact disc from your CD-ROM drive while running Mastering Visual Basic. Removing the CD-ROM will cause errors and/or incorrect displays or functionality. If Mastering Visual Basic cannot find the data files it needs to run, you will see an error message prompting you to correct the problem. To find the source of the problem, do the following: * Make sure the Mastering Visual Basic compact disc is correctly inserted into the CD-ROM drive. * Make sure that the drive is connected to your computer correctly and that it is functioning in MS-DOS. If you have an external CD-ROM drive, make sure the power is turned on. You can test the functionality by viewing a directory of the drive in MS-DOS or Windows. * Make sure that the Mastering Visual Basic program is looking for the compact disc on the correct drive. If you still see an error message after checking the points above, consult the manuals that came with your CD-ROM drive for information on how a CD-ROM is to be set up, or contact the company that supplied the drive. 10 Printing Problems Screen resolution and printer resolution are often not the same, so the resulting printout may not match the quality you see on the screen. If you encounter a general protection fault when you print a topic, check your printer driver. Switch to a more current version of the driver, if one is available. Additionally, ensure that the printer is online and that you can print to it from another application. If the problem persists, one of the following procedures may solve the problem: * In Control Panel, double-click the Fonts icon. Click the TrueType button in the Fonts dialog box, and turn off the Enable TrueType Fonts option. * In Control Panel, choose Setup and Options for your printer. Turn off the Color option, and restart Windows. If you are using an HP LaserJet printer, make sure that you have the most current printer driver or try setting the printer resolution to 300 dpi (graphics may not print properly at 600 dpi). You should be able to print grayscale images from Mastering Visual Basic. If you have a black and white laser printer, you may need to upgrade your printer driver. Call the dealer from whom you bought the printer or call the printer manufacturer. Basic Screens in Color on a Color Printer It is not possible to print a frame from a video you are playing. If you attempt to do so, the text displayed in the Content pane will be printed. Because the text areas can be quite large, you may have difficulty copying or printing in low-memory conditions. In this case, close all unnecessary applications and try again. 11 Running under Microsoft Windows NT To run Mastering Visual Basic under Windows NT, Setup may need to copy some files to your system directory. In order for Setup to do this, you must be a member of the Administrator group when you log on. Otherwise, Setup will not be able to copy these files to your drive. You can check your user status from the User Manager. Mastering Visual Basic runs well on Windows NT with the following exceptions: * The videos in Mastering Visual Basic will not run on Windows NT version 3.5. You must have Windows NT version 3.51 or later. * Mastering Visual Basic will fail on exit if Run in Separate Memory Space is selected in the Properties dialog (in Program Manager, select the Mastering Visual Basic program icon, click File, and then click Properties). The default setting has this option turned off so that Mastering Visual Basic will run properly. * Mastering Visual Basic will not run on non-Intel machines running Windows NT. 12 Running under Microsoft Windows 95 If you want to change the display resolution, select Settings and then Control Panel from the Start button. In the Control Panel, click the Display icon. Change display attributes on the Settings tab. 13 Generic Multimedia Information For more information regarding Multimedia PCs (MPCs), MPC titles, and other general multimedia topics of interest, please contact the MPC Marketing Council: Multimedia PC Marketing Council, Inc. 1703 M Street, Suite 700 Washington DC 20036 (202) 452-1600 For information regarding a specific MPC product, contact the manufacturer of that product. Additional query words: 1.00 multi media multimedia multi-media mmtitles ====================================================================== Keywords : kbmm Technology : kbMSPressSearch kbZNotKeyword2 Version : : ============================================================================= THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY. Copyright Microsoft Corporation 2002.