TROUBLESHOOTING INSTALLATION If during installation an error message appears which indicates a problem with "SETUPKIT.DLL" (this is the Library Installation DLL which is used during the CD-Runner installation), then you may need to do the following: 1. Rename your existing "SETUPKIT.DLL" file which is stored in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory; this may be done using the Windows Explorer or a similar utility (you may rename the file to almost anything - e.g. "SETUPKIT.OLD") 2. Re-run the CD-Runner Setup program GENERAL ERROR MESSAGES If an error should occur while attempting to run CD-Runner or the Setup program which indicates something similar to "INVALID PROPERTY VALUE", you may have a problem with your video board or video driver. To verify that a video related problem is occuring, access the Windows Control Panel and set the Video driver to "VGA" (vanilla Windows VGA video mode). Attempt to re-run CD-Runner, and if the problem goes away you may have to obtain an updated video driver or video BIOS depending on the problem. INSTALLATION / SETUP PROBLEM WITH CD-ROM DRIVE If you experience an error attempting to specify a CD-ROM drive in the Setup Section, then exit CD-Runner and place a CD-ROM into the primary CD-ROM drive (NOT AN AUDIO CD). If you are using multiple CD-ROM drives, the primary drive may be set to any valid CD-ROM drive letter. Repeat the setup procedure with the CD-ROM in the primary drive. AUDIO CD NOT RECOGNIZED AFTER IT IS ENTERED If after entering an Audio CD into the CD-Runner library it is not recognized, then try closing all Windows applications including CD-Runner and reboot your computer. Some computers require a reboot only after the initial CD-Runner setup for Audio CDs to be correctly identified. If the above still does not solve your problem, then you may have to disable the Windows "Auto-Play" feature which can conflict with CD-Runner on some systems. Follow the directions below in the WINDOWS 95 AUTOPLAY PROBLEMS section. AUTO-IDENTIFY / MULTIPLE CD-ROM DRIVE ERRORS If you have more than one CD-ROM drive, then an Audio CD must be loaded into the primary or first drive found (e.g. for multiple SCSI CD-ROM drives, the drive with the lowest SCSI ID number). This is because if you are not using a CD-ROM changer, the CD audio signal is usually fed from the primary drive to the single CD Audio input on your sound board. Also, when switching between different disc types (CD-ROMs and Audio CDs) you may have to use the "Search" option at least once to scan all of the available CD-ROM drives/discs. This only applies to some systems with multiple CD-ROM drives and depends on the CD Audio driver ("old DOS MSCDEX" or "new Windows 95 CDFS") and hardware BIOS and settings. TRACK TITLE & TIME DISPLAY WRONG WHEN CD PLAYER MINIMIZED/RESTORED When CD-Runner is playing an audio CD and the CD player faceplate is minimized, depending on the other Windows applications which are run while music is playing in the background, upon returning to CD-Runner the track & time display may be off. This is usually caused when other applications use the same Windows timers as are being used by CD-Runner. Many communications applications fall into this category. Should this happen, after you return to CD-Runner simply select the track that is actually playing (or any other desired track) using the keypad or song title box. This will re-synchronize the CD-Runner display. Note that if you wish to return to the same place in the track that was previously playing, simply click on the status bar display to move to the desired time in the track. SLUGGISH COMMAND BUTTONS, CONTROLS & SCREEN REDRAWS If you experience sluggish performance while new screens are being displayed or when pressing a command button or control (e.g. after pressing the play button having to wait several seconds before anything happens), then try closing any active applications which are not required. When Windows runs out of "electronic memory" or "RAM" to run the applications which you have opened, then it will usually use your hard drive as source of "virtual memory". When this occurs, usually performance suffers (sometimes severely). If closing applications does not work, then you may need to invest in additional RAM (memory) for your computer. We have found that 32 MB of RAM (or more) works well for Windows 95. CD-RUNNER SETUP CHANGES DO NOT ALWAYS WORK Depending on your hardware and CD-Runner setup options, some changes will not take effect until the next time CD-Runner is run. This is similar to making changing in your Windows setup, where a reboot may be required to allow changes to take effect. If for example changes to the default volume control method are made in the CD-Runner setup section, then depending on your system you may have to exit CD-Runner and re-run it to show the new default settings. Note that for the volume control example above, you may right mouse click directly on the volume control or "mixer command button" to toggle between the different possible volume control modes. WINDOWS 3.x AUDIO CD FILES NOT RECOGNIZED BY WINDOWS 95 Windows 3.x used a DOS-based MSCDEX driver, version 2.23 or earlier to allow Audio CDs to be played. Windows 95 either uses MSCDEX version 2.25 (or later) or the new 32-bit Windows-based "CDFS" (CD File System). Changes made to accomodate future "CD-plus" or "Enhanced CD" discs mean that Audio CD files stored using CD-Runner and the older MSCDEX driver will no longer be properly identified using the new CD drivers. If you wish to translate your "old" CD-Runner Audio CD files into the "new" Windows 95 compatible format, you may do so by using the Audio CD Library advanced options (see Audio CD Library Help for further information). This will avoid the need to re-enter Audio CD track, title, artist, and other information. WINDOWS 95 AUTOPLAY PROBLEMS If you are using Windows 95 and plan to play Audio CDs using CD-Runner, then you may have to disable the Windows Audio CD "Autoplay" feature. To disable the Autoplay, select "My Computer", "View", "Options", "File Types", and "Audio CD"; click on "Play" (in the Actions box) and select the "Set Default". "Play" will appear in bold if Autoplay is enabled, or in regular (non-bold) text if it is disabled. UNABLE TO USE AUDIO CD PLAYER and/or CD-ROM RUNNER To use the CD-ROM Runner and/or Audio CD Player, you must have a properly installed CD-ROM drive, an "MCI CD player" driver loaded, and the proper connection between your CD-ROM drive and sound board. To verify that your CD-ROM drive is installed properly, place a CD-ROM (NOT an Audio CD) into the drive and attempt to view the files using the Windows Explorer or a similar utility. If you are able to view the files, then your CD-ROM drive is properly installed. If you cannot view files, then you must obtain and setup the proper drivers ( SCSI, MSCDEX, etc.) and/or fix whatever hardware problem might exist. Next, try to verify that the CD Audio driver is enabled; access the Control Panel - Multimedia option, and click the Advanced tab. In the Multimedia devices list, click the plus (+) sign next to the Media Control Devices. If the CD Audio Device does not appear in the list, then the driver is not installed (see below). If it does appear, then click the CD Audio Device followed by the Properties button. In the properties dialog box, click "Use This Media Control Device". If the CD Audio driver is not currently installed, access the Control Panel and click the Add New Hardware option. When prompted if you wish to have Windows 95 search for your hardware, click No, then click Next. In the Hardware Types list, click Sound, Video and Game Controllers, then click Next. Click Microsoft MCI in the Manufacturers list, then click CD Audio Device in the Models list, followed by Next. Click Finish when done. EJECTING CD-ROM OR AUDIO CD HANGS SYSTEM If you are using Windows 95 and a Gateway-2000 PC with a Wearnes 6X CD-ROM drive, then you may have to download a CD-ROM driver fix from the Gateway BBS (filename "CD.SYS"). Follow the instructions included with the driver file to enter the driver into your "CONFIG.SYS" file (e.g. "device=C:\CD.SYS"). RESOLUTION WRONG USING ENHANCED AUDIO CD When using an enhanced audio CD ("Enh-CD" or ECD), if you attempt to run a "QuickTime" Movie file off of the CD, you may see a message indicating that your color depth (or number of colors used by your video board) is not set correctly to display the movie file. Due to space limitations, QuickTime movie files are usually limited to 256 colors. If your current video settings are set for greater than this (e.g. 16-bit HiColor or 24-bit & 32-bit TrueColor modes), then you must change to 256-color mode to display the movie. Fortunately, Microsoft has a new utility available free which allows you to quickly change video modes named "QuickRes". This extremely useful utility may be downloaded from the Microsoft BBS (206-936-6735), or from the Microsoft Web page on the internet (WWW.MICROSOFT.COM). MOUSE POINTER - INTERMITTENT FLASHING If you are using Windows 95, Microsoft Plus! and a Matrox Millenium MGA video board, and if you experience an intermittent flashing mouse pointer when CD-Runner animation effects are running on screen, then you may have to either: 1. obtain an updated video driver, 2. change the mouse pointer type to "Windows Default" (and not use the optional Plus! mouse pointers). MINIMIZED CD-PLAYER TIME/TRACK NOT UPDATED While the CD-Runner audio CD faceplate is minimized, you will be able to play music while working in other Windows applications. If another application uses the same Windows timers which CD-Runner uses, you may experience an inaccurate time and track display when returning to CD-Runner. Although this is a rare situation, it has been found to occur when using some communications applications. To reset the time and track to the proper display, simply press the track which is currently playing and if desired click on the time status bar to move to a different track position. COMPATIBILITY WITH WINDOWS AND OS/2 WARP OPERATING ENVIRONMENTS This 32-bit version of CD-Runner has been primarily designed to run on Windows 95. Support for long filenames, Windows Registry compatibility, and 32-bit Windows 95 API compatibility among other enhancements have been built into this version. Because this is a true 32-bit application, it will not run on other operating 16-bit environments (e.g. Windows 3.11). Also, the 32-bit version of CD-Runner has been reported to run on the Windows NT (3.51 and 4.0), but it is not guaranteed to do so (use at your own risk). VIDEO MODES CD-Runner has been designed to work with VGA (640x480), 800x600, 1024x768 and 1280x1024 video resolutions, using both small and large fonts. Adjustments for resolutions and font sizes are made automatically by CD-Runner and are transparent to the user. In addition, CD-Runner will work with a variety of available colors, including 16, 256, 65K and 16.7M. Note that when using 16 or 256 color modes, graphic redraws of bitmapped (BMP) files may appear "ghosted" due to color interpolation and limitations with these modes. The recommended video mode is 1024x768 with 65K (or more) colors, using large fonts and either a 15 or 17-inch monitor. For foreign users (non-english), the recommended video mode is VGA (640x480) with 65K (or more) colors, using small fonts and at least a 14-inch monitor. PROBLEM WITH CD-RUNNER VOLUME CONTROL AND MIDI FILES Some sound boards have been found to have problems accepting CD-Runner Volume input; these include the old Sound Blaster 16 and the first generation Sound Blaster AWE-32 PnP. If your sound board does not correctly change volume when using MIDI files and the built-in CD-Runner Volume Control, then you may set the "MIDI Volume Control" option in the setup section to use the Windows Volume Control (or your favorite mixer application) instead. EQUIPMENT COMPATIBILITY A 386-class IBM PS/2 or IBM-compatible computer is the minimum required to run CD-Runner; if you plan to use bitmapped wallpapers & Audio CD images, a Pentium (or better) IBM-compatible computer with fast local-bus video and a video driver with 65K colors or more is highly recommended. See the System Requirements help message for further information.