Release Notes for PC Magazine Extra Volume 6, Number 2
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PC Magazine Extra System Requirements:
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PC Magazine Extra now requires Windows 95 as the base system. If you are running Win 3.x, you will still be able to view HTML pages, but you will not be able to run some of the multimedia elements included with PC Magazine Extra.
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PC Magazine Extra and Browser Settings:
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To see the CD's pages properly, set these browser display options:
In Internet Explorer's View menu, select Status Bar (View/Status Bar), then select Toolbar, and in that menu select Address Bar and Text Labels only (View/Toolbar/Address Bar and Text Labels).
For Netscape Navigator, under Options, make Show Locations the only active option.
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PC Magazine Extra Installation and CleanSweep:
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If you are running Quarterdeck's CleanSweep utility, you may encounter problems with the PC Magazine Extra Back-Issues Database installation.
If you choose to not monitor the installation with CleenSweep, the installation windows can get out of the proper order, leaving a dormant installation screen in front. In order to correct the problem, press the Alt-Tab key combination until you get to the Welcome installation screen.
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PC Magazine Extra and Helper Applications/Plug-ins:
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PC Magazine Extra uses the following helper applications/plug-ins to increase the functionality of the Internet Explorer or Netscape HTML browser:
1. Plug.exe, a customized helper application for launching
Windows applications
2. One custom plug-in, npsvp.dll, for video playback
3. Macromedia Shockwave, a plug-in for viewing multimedia files
These files are normally installed during the PC Magazine Extra installation, but may not be properly configured in some browsers. If this happens, you will see an error message. Please follow these procedures for re-installing the files.
Installing the Plug.exe helper application in Internet Explorer 4.0:
1. Copy the Plug.exe application from the plugins directory of the CD-ROM
(usually d:\plugins) to the directory where Internet Explorer is
located.
2. Launch Internet Explorer.
3. In the View menu, select Internet Options.
4. In the Options screen, select the Programs tab.
5. In the Viewers section, select File Types.
6. In the File Types screen, select New Type.
7. In the Add New File Type dialog use the following values:
Description of type: LDGFile
Associated Extension: LDG
Content Type (MIME): LDG
7. Under Actions, select New.
8. In the New Actions screen, under Actions, type "Open"
9. Select Browse.
10. Locate the Plug.exe application in the Internet Explorer folder.
11. Click Open.
12. Check to make sure the path is correct.
13. Click OK to close the New Actions screen.
14. Click Close to close the Add New File Types screen.
15. Click Close to close the File Types screen.
16. Click OK to close the Options screen.
Installing the Plug.exe helper application in Netscape Navigator:
1. Copy the Plug.exe application from the plugins directory of the CD-ROM
(usually d:\plugins) to the directory where Netscape is located.
2. Launch Netscape.
3. Open the Helpers Preference screen (Options, General Preferences,
Helpers).
4. Select Create New Type.
5. In the Configure New Type dialog use the following values:
Mime type: LDG SubType: LDG
6. Click OK.
7. In the File Extension field, type LDG.
8. Select Launch the Application.
9. Click the Browse button.
10. Locate the Plug.exe application in the Netscape folder.
11. Click OK.
12. Check to make sure the path is correct.
13. Click OK to close the Preferences screen.
Installing the Shockwave and video playback plug-ins:
1. Locate the plugins directory on the CD (usually d:\plugins)
2. Inside the plugins directory, there are two sub-directories,
16bit and 32bit
3. If you are using a 16-bit browser, launch the shockwav.exe executible
in the 16bit directory to install
4. If you are using a 32-bit browser, launch the shockwav.exe executible
in the 32bit directory to install
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PC Magazine Extra and Internet Access:
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PC Magazine Extra comes with the Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 browser. Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 contains many security enhancements that make opening and downloading pages from the Web safer than before. For more information on recent security issues, please see http://www.microsoft.com/ie/security/update.htm
If you already have an Internet Service Provider (ISP), you may continue to use your current provider with the Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 browser. If you do not have an ISP, and would like to subscribe to a service, you can connect using your modem to the Microsoft Referral Server.
Connecting to the Microsoft Referral Server:
1. During the Internet Explorer 4.0 installation, the Internet Connection Wizard will be installed.
2. Make sure your modem is connected to your computer and is turned on.
3. In the "Setup Options" screen, select "Automatic".
4. In the "Location Information" screen, input your area code and first three digits of your phone number.
5. The Connection Wizard will detect your modem and dial into the Microsoft Referral Server. The modem number should be selected automatically. If it is not selected, input the telephone number 1-800-793-6675. This is the nationwide number for the Microsoft Referral Server.
6. When the modem connects to the server, it will access a list of ISPs for you to select from.
7. When you select an ISP, you will download the connection information and your service will be automatically set up.
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Running PC Magazine Back-Issue Database:
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Please note: You may run PC Magazine's Back-Issue Database either from PC Magazine Extra or directly from Windows Program Manager using the Back-Issue Database icon.
You may install the complete Back-Issue Database to your hard drive in order to create your own electronic library of past issues of PC Magazine. With each new release of PC Magazine Extra and its rolling back-issue data set, you can add to your library; the back-issues database installation will let you edit the library's data set to remove unwanted back issues. The database requires 50MB of hard disk space per year of archive. The initial installation takes 5-15 minutes depending on the speed of your CD-ROM drive. Updates require approximately 20-60 minutes, depending on the total size of the database on your hard drive.
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PC Magazine Extra and Memory Issues:
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The core functions of PC Magazine Extra will work on systems with 8MB of RAM. However, you may find that some functions, particularly ScreenDemos, video clips, and Director movies, require more memory to run. If you are working on an 8MB system, creating or increasing the size of your Windows Virtual Memory swap file (available under the Windows 386 Enhanced section of the Control Panel) to a minimum of 6MB should allow you to view these advanced functions. Increasing the size of your swap file to 10MB will significantly enhance performance.
You may also launch sub-applications from PC Magazine Extra directly to free additional memory. For example, to view the ScreenDemos from our reviews, open Windows' File Manager and change to your CD-ROM drive, open the directory named SDEMOS, and double-click on any executable file (*.EXE).
If your system has less than 475K of DOS-mode RAM, you may experience problems running the shell application, or the ScreenDemos. Unloading one or more drivers (network, TCP/IP, etc.) before loading Windows and launching PC Magazine Extra should fix this problem.
On machines running Windows 95, we suggest you close all other applications to get optimal performance from PC Magazine Extra.
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PC Magazine Extra ScreenDemos and Audio:
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PC Magazine Extra includes a number of ScreenDemos, which are product demonstrations that incorporate a series of screens from Windows applications along with an audio track. If your system does not have a Windows-compatible sound system, you will be able to play the ScreenDemos, but you will not hear the audio portion of the demonstration. In some instances, if you do not have a Windows-compatible sound system, you may see an error message the first
time you attempt to run a ScreenDemo. However, after the initial effort, ScreenDemos should run normally.
Some users have experienced problems with the audio portion of ScreenDemos when using systems equipped with Ensoniq sound boards. If you use an Ensoniq sound board and do not hear the audio track on when you play a ScreenDemo, the following procedure should help you get the sound to work:
1. Enter the Windows Control Panel and select Drivers.
2. In the drivers list, look for the SoundScape DVD midi, wave, aux driver. Select this driver and click on the Setup button.
3. The top of the setup window should contain settings for the Primary Wave With Port and Channel settings. Typically, the primary wave is set to DMA channel 1. The lower part of the window should be settings for the secondary wave. Typically, wave A and wave B are disabled.
4. Enable both wave A and wave B, and give them DMA channels 0 and 3 respectively. The primary wave and the secondary waves must have different DMA channel settings.
5. Quit and restart Windows.
6. The sound driver should now be set up properly, and you should be able to hear sound from the CD ScreenDemos.
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PC Magazine Extra and ScreenCam
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The following is a list of tested video drivers and the results Ziff-Davis Labs has produced using ScreenCam (please note: this list is not exhaustive; your results may vary). If you are having problems running ScreenCam, please make sure that your screen's bit depth is set for at least 8-bits (256 colors.)
Note: Some users have experienced pallette shifts when viewing ScreenCam demonstrations. If your system supports more than 256 colors, increasing the color bit depth should allieviate this problem.
Board Driver Name Driver Version Driver Date File Size
(bytes)
ATI Graphics Ultra Pro MACH.DRV 3.1 4/25/94 277,520
(Mach 32 ISA)
Comments:
With 256 color pallette on, ScreenDemos break up, sometimes hang. With 256 color pallette off, runs fine.
This driver offers the best video color fidelity but all three are acceptable
Matrox MGA MGAQCDP.DRV 1.32 12/17/93 169,152
Matrox MGA MGAMODES.DRV 1.32 1/10/94 203,472
Diamond SpeedStar 64 5434H.DRV 3.1 During install 128,928
(CL GD5434)
Comments:
OK
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Video Driver Compatibility Issues:
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PC Magazine Extra has been thoroughly tested with a variety of common video display systems and Windows video drivers. However, it is possible that you will experience incompatibilities with some Windows video drivers. Please be certain you have the latest version of the drivers for your system installed.
Known video incompatibilities:
Gateway-ATI Mach1 drivers:
Some early driver versions may cause problems with crashes
when running ScreenDemos.
Trident:
Some users have experienced problems using this driver. Changing the video setting to VGA or SVGA should correct this problem.
ET4Turbo:
Some users have experienced problems using this driver. Changing the video setting to VGA or SVGA should correct this problem.
When using the "Large Fonts" option on some high-resolution (1024x768) screen drivers, graphics may appear to partially "bleed" off the bottom of the screen. This will not affect the function of the program, but changing to "Small Fonts" or to a lower resolution screen driver (e.g., 640x480) improves the appearance.
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PC Magazine Extra and OS/2:
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When installing PC Magazine Extra to a system with OS/2 2.1 or OS/2 Warp, the SETUPCD program may display an error message when it attempts to install the program icon to the desktop. However, the icon is correctly installed, and PC Magazine CD should function normally.
Some Warp users have noted a problem with the PC Magazine Back-Issue Database crashing after repeated searches. Quitting and restarting the search engine appears to clear up this problem.
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PC Magazine Extra and 3x and 4x CD-ROM Drives:
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Some users have experienced problems running PC Magazine Extra on some 3x and 4x CD-ROM drives. Based on those experiences, Ziff-Davis Labs has conducted extensive testing. Those test have shown no problems with PC Magazine CD itself.
If your are experiencing problems running PC Magazine Extra on 3x and 4x drives, please try the following:
First, clean your disc thoroughly. Some drives are highly sensitive to smudged discs, and this may solve the problem.
Then, call the manufacturer and make sure you have the most current driver and that there are no hardware incompatibilities in your system setup.
Finally, our testing has shown variable drive performance, even by the same model drives, so that they sometimes don't read the outer sectors on a dense disc, like PC Magazine Extra. Call your manufacturer or return the drive for an alignment check.
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PC Magazine Extra and Shareware:
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PC Magazine Extra sometimes includes a large number of shareware and freeware programs. We cannot provide support for shareware. If you experience problems with any of these programs, please refer to the materials supplied with each program for information on contacting the author.
Please note that shareware is not freeware. Many of the shareware products included with PC Magazine Extra are offered only on a trial basis, and their continued use is governed by their respective license agreements. If you like a shareware package, please register, and support this unique method of developing and distributing software.
