DOCUMENT:Q137127 30-DEC-2000 [homemm] TITLE :Encarta 96 for Windows: Readme.wri Contents (Part 1 of 2) PRODUCT :Microsoft Home Multimedia Titles PROD/VER:96 OPER/SYS: KEYWORDS: ====================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in this article applies to: - Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopedia for Windows ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY ======= The following information is a copy of the README.WRI file from the Encarta CD-ROM. This article is part 1 of 2. For part 2, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q137128 Encarta 96 for Windows: Readme.wri Contents (Part 2 of 2) NOTE: This Readme document refers to the Microsoft Download Service (MSDL). As of 12/31/1998, the MSDL service is no longer available. To download support files, visit one of the following Microsoft Internet sites: http://www.microsoft.com/support ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles MORE INFORMATION ================ Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopedia Tips This document contains information that will help you get the most out of Encarta 96 Encyclopedia and your system. To read this file online, use the Page Down and Page Up keys on your keyboard. You can print the file by choosing the Print command from the File menu. Sending Suggestions, Content Enhancements, and Errors ------------------------------------------------------ If you have suggestions for features you would like to see in future editions of the encyclopedia or comments about the current version, please send them to: Encarta Encyclopedia Program Manager Consumer Division Microsoft Corporation 1 Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052-6399 FAX: (206) 936-7329 Internet: mswish@microsoft.com Comments about errors, comprehensiveness, or validity of information presented are welcome. Please send these comments by FAX, U.S. mail, or e-mail. MORE INFORMATION ================ Table of Contents ----------------- 1. Encarta 96 Encyclopedia System Requirements 2. Problems During Setup 3. Encarta 96 Encyclopedia and Windows Performance Issues 4. Video Cards and Display Problems 5. Audio Problems 6. CD-ROM Problems 7. Word Processors and Encarta 96 Encyclopedia 8. Mouse Cursor Problem 9. General Multimedia Information ----------------------------------------------------------- 1. Encarta 96 Encyclopedia System Requirements Multimedia PC: - 486SX or higher microprocessor (386DX minimum) - 8 MB of memory (6 MB minimum) - CD-ROM drive (double speed CD-ROM drive recommended) - Sound Card - SVGA 256-color monitor - Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device - Headphones or speakers Hard-Disk Space: - For Windows 95, 9 MB (2 MB minimum) - For Windows 3.1x, 11 MB (4.5 MB minimum) Operating Systems: - MS-DOS 3.1 or later with Microsoft Windows operating system version 3.1 or later, OR - Windows 95, OR - Windows NT Workstation operating system version 3.51 or later NOTE: Encarta 96 Encyclopedia is not intended for use on non-Intel based CPU's To use Encarta Yearbook Builder you need: - A modem - Access to the Microsoft World Wide Web page on the Internet, OR - A user account on The Microsoft Network - 7.5 MB of hard-disk space for a year's worth of Yearbook Builder files 2. Problems During Setup Because Setup installs system files that may be shared with other applications, it is best to shut down other applications before setting up. If the online registration for the encyclopedia does not work for some reason, the only way to try again is to run the setup program once more. If the problem continues, please use the registration card included in the encyclopedia box. Because the encyclopedia requires some changes to the system, it may not install correctly on a Windows NT system while you're logged on as a user. To work around this, you should log in as an administrator to run Setup. In Windows 3.1, Setup may have problems on a system with the Diamond Stealth VRAM v.2.31 800x600 video driver. If problems occur using this driver, please contact Diamond and get an updated version of this video driver. The encyclopedia no longer supports the /a and /n switches for administrative setups on a network. If you use the /n switch you will get the following messages: "The command line user name option /n must provide a double quoted string of no more than 52 characters." "Note that the /n option does not specify an installation of a shared version of a product to be run from a network location. To install a shared version of this product, run setup without the /n option and follow the instructions on the screen." "Usage: setup /a Use the /a switch to run setup in administrator mode." Refer to your Encarta Encyclopedia User's Guide for minimum system requirements for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. 3. Encarta 96 Encyclopedia and Windows Performance Issues There are several ways to make Encarta Encyclopedia run faster. Many of the methods described below are general tips to improve the performance of any Windows application. Consult your Windows manual for more details. Improving Performance in Windows 3.1 or Windows for Workgroups 3.11 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia uses your computer's memory (RAM) to display pictures and play animations and sound. If the encyclopedia runs slowly or you see out-of-memory errors, the encyclopedia may not have enough memory. Below 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 a file into or out of your computer's memory. To set up a permanent Windows swap file on your hard disk, open the Control Panel (usually in the "Main" program group of Program Manager), and click the icon "386 Enhanced." Then use 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 4096 KB. Look at the Help menu of the Windows Control Panel or in your Windows documentation for more information. - Defragment or optimize your hard disk by running a defragmentation program. For example, MS-DOS 6.0 includes a utility called Microsoft Defrag. 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 tells you how much memory you have. You need at least 6 megabytes (sometimes listed as 6144 kilobytes or KB) of RAM, and 8 megabytes is highly recommended. - Add a cache to your CD-ROM drive. SmartDrive in MS-DOS 6.2 and utilities like 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 is very noticeable. For more details on improving performance, consult your Windows and CD-ROM manuals or see the tips in your Encarta Encyclopedia User's Guide. Improving Performance in Windows 95 ----------------------------------- Make sure that Windows 95 is optimized to run your type of CD drive. Windows 95 provides settings for CD caching and for accessing various CD drive speeds. To review and modify these settings: 1. Select the 'My Computer' Icon and click it with the right mouse- button to view the secondary click menu. 2. Choose Properties. 3. Choose the Performance tab. 4. Choose the File System button. 5. Select the CD-ROM tab. In this box, make sure that the Supplemental Cache size is set to 'Large'. Also, verify that the Optimize access pattern is correctly set for the type of CD-ROM drive that is installed on your system. 4. Video Cards and Display Problems Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 ------------------------- Encarta 96 Encyclopedia will not run in 16-color mode. The standard VGA driver that comes with Windows 3.1 and almost all video cards can show only 16 colors. However, unless you have a VGA-only video card or monitor, you can change to a higher color mode. For example, you can change to a driver that will display 256 colors. Your system may already have a driver installed that displays 256 colors or more. For instructions on how to determine what video driver you have installed, and on how to install or change drivers, refer to your Windows documentation. In some situations, the encyclopedia may encounter video display problems when using high resolution video drivers from various video card manufacturers. The problems include maps or illustrations in the article text appearing grainy or flawed, animations breaking up or not displaying at all, and videos displaying garbled images or crashing the encyclopedia. There are several things you can do if you encounter problems like this: - Obtain updated drivers from your video card manufacturer. Most problems can be fixed by obtaining new drivers; contact the manufacturer of your video card to determine if there are newer versions available. The 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, an electronic bulletin board that can be accessed via a modem at (206) 936-MSDL (206-936-6735). - Change to a different display mode. 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. Windows 3.1 =========== Using Encarta Encyclopedia with ATI video Cards ----------------------------------------------- If you are using an ATI Ultra driver, specifically the drivers ULTRA.DRV or ULTRABG.DRV, the encyclopedia may "freeze" while running. If this happens, you will get no error message and will have to use the Ctrl-Alt-Delete keystroke to close the encyclopedia and return to Windows. The solution to this problem is to get a newer driver from ATI (see below for how to contact ATI). A temporary work-around is to add the following line to your ENCARTA.INI file: NoWatermark=1 To add this line, use Notepad to edit your ENCARTA.INI file. Add the line under [96Options]. ENCARTA.INI, found in your windows directory. This line will prevent the encyclopedia's "Watermarks" from being drawn, which will remove the source of the failure. Once you install new drivers, you can remove this line from the .INI file. Using ATI Mach Drivers ---------------------- 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". This enables the animations in the encyclopedia to run properly. To check/change this setting: 1. Launch the Mach FlexDesk Control Panel by double-clicking 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 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 below on changing 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 will have to make the change by altering your WIN.INI file. You can do this by running Notepad, which is normally located in the Accessories group in Program Manager. Open the file WIN.INI, which can be found in your windows subdirectory. With the cursor placed at the top of the file, search for the word "devicebitmap" (do not enter the quotation marks, do not use any spaces). 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 launching 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, the encyclopedia 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. If you are using the Mach64 video card with the following driver MACX.DRV V3.0.33 Dated 12/13/94 Size 259,696 there may be some screen corruption in the Tours section that is fixed by running the SVGA driver on this disc. For information about ATI video cards or the ATI installation utility referred to above, contact ATI Technical Support at (905) 882-2626, or their bbs at 905-764-9404. Using Orchid Fahrenheit Cards ----------------------------- If you are running the orchid Fahrenheit 1280 in true color mode, Encarta Encyclopedia may lock up. You can try running in 256 color mode or obtaining an updated driver from Orchid. 5. Audio Problems The following are some suggested solutions for common problems with playing audio in Encarta Encyclopedia. Sound Does Not Play At All ========================== Windows 3.x ----------- If sound does not play at all 1. Check the volume. 2. If the volume is turned up and you still hear no sounds, 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 have a jumper setting changed 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). Encarta Encyclopedia requires an MPC-compatible audio; it is not meant to run with just the PC internal speaker or any combination of that speaker and special software. Windows 95 ---------- If the volume is turned up and you still hear no sounds, something may be wrong with your audio card installation. Check to see that the audio card drivers are installed correctly and reinstall them if necessary. For further details, see the section below "MAKING SURE THE SOUND CARD IS INSTALLED PROPERLY" Are the speakers plugged in to the computer and to the outlet? Is the volume turned up? - Check the volume control on the speaker itself. - Check the volume control in Windows as shown in the illustration. Do you hear sounds in other programs? If you don't hear anything in other programs, check the sound card manual or call the sound card manufacturer for help. Sound Plays But Is Distorted Or "Fuzzy" ======================================= Windows 3.x ----------- 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 that is often called a "mixer," which 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). Sounds that appear scratchy while using a low DMA will sound better using an upper DMA. In the case of the Media Vision Pro Audio 16 soundcard, a DMA setting of 7 will correct any scratchy sounds. To change the DMA channel you will have to go to the Windows Control Panel and select drivers. In the drivers section select the sound card driver and 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. Windows 95 ---------- In Windows 95, you can adjust the volume in one of two ways: - Turn the volume dial on the back of your sound card (in the rear of the computer where the speakers plug in). - Change the volume control in Windows using the volume control on the Task Bar. Sound Plays but Has Skips ========================= Windows 3.x and 95 ------------------ If audio breaks up or skips periodically, it 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 specification states that the CD-ROM drive needs to be capable of transferring data at a rate of 150 KB per second while using 40% or less of the CPU. In addition, Encarta Encyclopedia requires a doublespin CD drive (which is capable of transferring 300 KB/second). You can continue to use your CD-ROM drive to run the encyclopedia, but you will continue to experience this choppiness in audio and animation clips. Sounds Are Cut Off ================== Windows 3.x and Windows 95 -------------------------- Most audio cards can play only one sound at a time; therefore, other sound-producing programs could interrupt the sounds from the encyclopedia. Some sound-producing programs may take over the audio capability and prevent other Windows programs from being able to make sounds. If you suspect you have such a program, do not run it at the same time as the encyclopedia. Error Message: "No Wave Device That Can Play Files..." Windows 3.x ----------- If you get the error message "No wave device that can play files in the current format is installed. Use the drivers option to install the wave device." when trying to play some sound clips or dialogues, then the Microsoft audio compression manager and drivers may not be installed correctly. In order to verify that the necessary files are installed, open the Control Panel from the Main program group and then open the sound mapper. The sound mapper should have the following drivers listed as follows: Priority Driver 1. Microsoft PCM Converter 2. Microsoft ADPCM CODEC 3. Microsoft IMA ADPCM CODEC 4. Microsoft GSM 6.10 Audio CODEC If the priorities are out of order, select the driver, choose priority, and select the appropriate priority. If any of the drivers are missing from sound mapper, you can either contact product support or download article Q121132 "MSACM 2.0: Compressed Audio Will Not Play" from our Fast Tips line at (800)936- 4100. This article is also available on the Microsoft web site (http://www.microsoft.com), from the knowledge base page. Windows 95 ---------- If you get the error message in Windows 95, you should open the Control Panel, choose Add/Remove programs, select Windows setup, then choose Audio Compression from the Multimedia section. Anthem Volume Is Too Low Windows 3.x ----------- When playing anthems in the encyclopedia, you may hear softer sounds than when playing other audio. To increase the sound level, you need to adjust your mixer settings. To do this you must first locate your mixer. It should be in the group where your sound software is loaded. Refer to your audio card's software manual for the exact location. Once you find and run the mixer, you can independently raise and lower the levels of the different types of sound. For example you can turn up wav audio and turn down the CD-audio. To get the anthems to play louder, turn up the MIDI setting. Windows 95 ---------- When playing anthems in the encyclopedia you may hear softer sounds than when playing other audio. To increase the sound level, you need to adjust your mixer settings. To do this, from the start menu choose accessories, then multimedia. In the multimedia section you will see Volume Control. Select this and adjust the volume level(s) to the desired volume. Audio Does Not Play During Animations ===================================== Windows 3.x ----------- If you install the encyclopedia from a network using UNC path names, the animation audio may not play. An example of a UNC path name is "\\netloc\encarta". When you install from a network location, you should use File Manager to connect to the network drive and install using the drive letter assigned for that connection, rather than the UNC path name. For instructions on using a drive connection, see Help within the Connect Network Drive dialog box found under the Disk menu in File Manager. Error When You Play Audio You've Copied to Another Application ============================================================== Windows 3.x ----------- If you receive an error message when you try to play audio that you've copied to another application, you may have one of the following problems. 1. If you have run the software package called Sound Impressions since you copied the audio, you need to run Sound Recorder, which can usually be found in the Accessories group in Program Manager. Sound Impressions makes changes to your system that running Sound Recorder will repair. Simply start Sound Recorder and, once it is open, close it. 2. If you have removed the file SOUNDREC.EXE from your windows subdirectory, you need to replace it in order to hear the copied audio clips. If you do not have a copy of the file elsewhere, you will need to re-install Windows. Consult your Windows manual for more information. Making Sure The Sound Card Is Installed Properly ================================================ Windows 3.x ----------- To make sure that your sound card is properly installed 1. Check to see that you can play MIDI from MS-DOS. Most sound cards come with a test utility or an MS-DOS program for playing MIDI or testing the card configuration. If MIDI does not work with these, then the MIDI will not work in Windows either. 2. Verify Port and IRQ settings by looking at the sound card and comparing the way it is set up to the way that the audio card software thinks it is set up. The audio card manual should explain how to configure the audio card settings. 3. Make sure the sound card does not conflict with other hardware. This is done by comparing the setup of the audio card with the setups 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. 4. 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 programs 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. Windows 95 ---------- Do you have a sound card? If you don't have one there will be no sound. To find out if you have a sound card 1. Point to My Computer and click the right mouse button. 2. Click Properties and then click the Device Manager tab. If you have a sound card, you'll see its name in the Device Manager box. If you don't have one, there will be no mention of a sound card. Other Software Conflicts ------------------------ On a machine with a Reel Magic sound card and running Windows 95, the short button-click sounds hang the encyclopedia. This is a driver conflict that occurs in media player as well. Sigma Designs is looking into this. With Microsoft SoundBits installed and enabled, you will not hear any audio on the "Home" screen. To resolve this problem, select the Sound icon from the Control Panel and select "Your Old Scheme" from the Window Schemes list box. Click OK and this will disable SoundBits. Additional query words: kbhowto 1996 96 multi media multimedia multi- media mmtitles kbmm ====================================================================== Keywords : Technology : kbHomeProdSearch kbHomeMMsearch kbEncartaSearch kbEncartaEncycSearch kbEncartaEnCyc1996 Version : 96 ============================================================================= 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. 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