Copyright: Copyright ©1994 Paragon Consultants, Inc.


Contents
Contents for  Help on WinTutor 95

WinTutor courses provide the best and fastest way to learn Windows, and Windows-based software products.

The following are the topics covered in WinTutor 95 Help:

Choosing a Course/Lesson

Parts of a Lesson

Navigating within a Lesson

Tips on taking a WinTutor 95 Course

Performance Issues

Trouble Shooting

About WinTutor 95


Starting a Lesson
Choosing a Course/Lesson

The procedure for choosing a course and lesson is described in detail in the WinTutor Basics course, and in Lesson 2 of the Computer Basics for the Technically Challenged course. Here is a brief description of the procedure:

The following are the steps that are required to choose a WinTutor 95 course and lesson:

Start the WinTutor 95 program.

Choose the desired course from the Curriculum Menu.

Choose the desired lesson from the Course Menu.


Parts of a Lesson

A typical WinTutor lesson consists of the following components:

Simulations

Practice Sessions

Lesson Review


Navigating within a Lesson

Often during a lesson, you will see and hear video, or hear audio, and the lesson will initially run by itself. All you need to do is watch the screen and listen to the audio. The WinTutor Status Bar, which is located at the bottom of the screen, will look like this.

Notice that there are six buttons, and the area to the right of the buttons is blank. Click any of the buttons to see what its purpose is.

Eventually, the lesson will ask you for input, either via the keyboard or mouse, and the lesson will stop and wait for your input. When this happens, the Status Bar will tell you what you are supposed to do. For example, the Status Bar might look like this:

 Notice that the area to the right of the buttons contains instructions on what you are supposed to do. After you perform the task, in this case click the Start button, the lesson will continue and the Status Bar will return to its previous state, which is displayed above. If you desire, you can click any part ot the Status Bar to see what it does, or what its purpose is.


Tips on taking anWinTutor Course
Tips on taking a WinTutor Course

Take lessons in order when learning the subject matter, such as Windows 95, for the first time.

The best way to learn how to use WinTutor is to either take the WinTutor Basics course, or take Lesson 2 of the Computer basics for the Technically Challenged course.

Use the Course Index to go to a specific topic anywhere within a course.

Use the Lesson Menu to go to a specific topic anywhere within the current lesson. This is especially useful to replay the current topic from the beginning, when you don't fully understand it. (The current topic is the subject that is being discussed at the present time.) You do this by selecting the current topic from the Lesson Menu. The current topic is always the one that is highlighted when you initially invoke the Lesson Menu.

When taking a lesson, if the currently displayed Status Bar Instruction Area contains instructions, then perform the requested instructions. Completing the requested instructions properly causes the lesson to continue. If there are no instructions within the Status Bar Instruction Area, then just watch the screen and listen to the audio, until the next time you are instructed to enter input.

Use the Backup Button to rewind the lesson a little bit. This is especially useful if you miss a point, and want to see and hear the point again.


Practice Window Next Command

Clicking this command displays the next set of instructions of the practice.


Program Manager Group

The following is what your Program Manager Group window might look like. Notice that the Softkey Group Icon is in the lower right corner of the Program Manager Group window.


Course Index

The Course Index allows you to go directly to the place in the course that discusses a specific topic.

Below is the. dialog box that is displayed when you click the.Index Button on the Course Menu. Click any component of this dialog box to see what its purpose is.


Simulations

Most WinTutor lessons consist primarily of simulations of sessions with the system you are learning about. For example, in the Windows 95 course, the lessons contain many simulations of sessions using Windows 95.

You interact with a simulation of Windows 95 in almost the same way that you interact with the "real" Windows 95. The main difference is that, during the simulation, we make sure that you don't go wrong. We monitor your keystrokes and mouse clicks, and let you know when you do the wrong thing.


Lesson Review

The Lesson Review appears near the end of all WinTutor lessons. It quickly reviews the important material covered within the lesson.

During the review, you will not be prompted to perform any tasks. Simply click the mouse to view the next screen in the Review.


Volume Control Button
The Volume Control Button

Clicking this button allow you to raise or lower the volume of the audio. A volume control slider appears when you click this button. To raise the volume, drag the slider up. To lower the volume, drag the slider down.


About Button
The About Button

Clicking this button displays a photograph of the people who developed the WinTutor 95 CD.


Trouble Shooting

There is a problem with the final beta version of Windows 95. On most computers, the Windows 95 Task Bar interferes with WinTutor 95, when the Task Bar has the property Always on Top. The following is the procedure for turning off this property:

1. Press your <Ctrl> key, and while holding it down, press the <Esc> key. The Task Bar, along with the Start Menu, should appear.

2. Press your <Esc> key. The Start Menu should disappear, leaving the Task Bar.

3. Click an empty part of the Task Bar with your RIGHT mouse button. A menu should appear.

4. Click the Properties... item on the menu. Another menu should appear

5. If the Always on top box is checked, click the checkmark, with your left mouse button,  to uncheck it

6. Click the OK button with your left mouse button.

That's it! You can now continue with WinTutor 95. Please remember to disable the Always on top property on the Task Bar whenever you run WinTutor 95. (This property will stay disabled unless you re-enable it.)

The SoftKey Technical Support number for WinTutor 95 is: 404-428-0008.


Start the WinTutor 95 program

The procedure for starting WinTutor 95 is different for Windows 95 users than it is for Windows 3.1 and Windows NT users. The following is the prodcedure for Windows 95 users:

The first step is to click the Start button, which is located on the lower left portion of your screen. A menu should appear. Next, click the Programs entry in the menu. The lower left part of your screen should now look something like this:

Finally, click the WinTutor 95 entry in the Programs menu. The WinTutor 95 Curriculum Menu should now appear.

Here is the procedure for starting WinTutor 95 for Windows 3.1 and Windows NT users:

The first step required to take a lesson is to open the Softkey group. This is done by double-clicking the Softkey group icon, which is found in the Program Manager Group Window.

       Click here to see what your Program Manager might look like.

The next step is to execute the WinTutor 95 course by double-clicking its course icon in the Softkey group.

       Click here to see what the Softkey Group might look like.

The WinTutor 95 Curriculum Menu should now appear.


Curriculum Menu
The Curriculum Menu

When the Curriculum Menu is first displayed, a video appears, which explains the purpose of each of the five courses in the WinTutor 95 curriculum.

To choose a course, click the icon to the left of the course's title. You can click an icon at any time; you don't have to wait for the video to finish before clicking.

In addition, you can click any of the buttons on the lower left part of the Curriculum Menu. Here are these buttons:

Click any of these buttons to see what its purpose is.


Softkey Group

This is what your Softkey Goup might look like:


About WinTutor 95

WinTutor 95 was developed by Paragon Consultants, Inc. (C) 1995 Paragon Consultants, Inc. All rights reserved.

The SoftKey technical support number for WinTutor 95 is: 404-428-0008.

Credits:

Producer: Paul Para

Curriculum Author: Jennifer Bircher

Graphics Artists: Dave Stirts, Jim Randazzo

Authoring System Developer: Alex Groenevelt

Screen Developer: Linda Buseman

Narrator: Jeremy McCaleb

You can reach Paul, Jennifer, and Linda via Paragon Consultants, Inc.: Voice: 303-442-1613 E-mail: paulpara@ix.netcom.com Fax: 303-939-0209

OR, visit our WWW Home Page at: www.pointcom.com/paragon

You can reach Dave or Jim via Digital Creators: 303-473-0807 E-mail:ou812@netcom.com

You can reach Jeremy at: voice: 303-666-4876  E-mail: jmccaleb@netcom.com

You can reach Alex via QSoft: voice: 303-466-4825  Fax: 303-460-0715  E-mail: groeneve@alumni.cs.colorado.edu

Other WinTutor Courses

We have developed several other multimedia products on topics such as the Internet, Lotus 1-2-3, and Microsoft Office. Contact Paragon Consultants for more information.

We Can Develop Custom Courses

We can build the same high quality multimedia training that you see on this CD for your Windows software product. Contact Paragon Consultants for details.


Curriculum Menu Help Button
The Curriculum Menu Help Button

Clicking this button displays help on how to use the Curriculum Menu.


Performance Issues

WinTutor 95 employes multimedia techniques, such as audio, full motion video, and animation. These techniques place a significantly more load on your computer system. Thus, you need a more powerful system to run multimedia applications, than you do to run most other types of applications.

In general, to run WinTutor 95 most effectively, we recommend that you use a system containing a 486DX66 or faster CPU, at least 8MB of RAM, at least 10 MB free disk space, a double-speed or better CDROM drive, and an 8 bit or better audio card.

WinTutor 95 is delivered with two versions: a 16 bit version and a 32 bit version. If you are running Windows 95 or Windows NT, make sure you have installed the 32 bit version. If your are running Windows 3.1, make sure you have installed the 16 bit version. If you installed WinTutor 95 by executing setup.exe in the root directory of the WinTutor 95 CD, then you installed the 32 bit version. If you installed WinTutor 95 by executing setup.exe in the \setup16 directory of the WinTutor 95 CD, then you installed the 16 bit version.

WinTutor Audio

WinTutor uses standard Windows audio. This means that you must have an audio board installed, and the correct Windows audio drivers installed on your system. If you have speakers connected to your audio board, and you hear "TA-DA" when you first run Windows, then your audio board is properly installed.

WinTutor Motion Video

WinTutor 95 employs video clips throughout the CD. To get the full benefits from these video clips, your system's video must be configured to support at least 256 colors, and you must have Video for Windows version 1.1 or greater installed. This means you need a Super VGA video card and a Super VGA monitor. In addition, you must have the correct video drivers installed, and your system must be running in a video mode that supports at least 256 colors.

If you are running Windows 95 or Windows NT, then you don't have to worry about Video for Windows - it comes with the system. If you are running Windows 3.1, then you need to install Video for Windows 1.1.

This CD contains the runtime version of Video for Windows 1.1. If you don't already have Video for Windows version 1.1 or greater installed, you should have let us install it when you installed this CD.  If you did not, re-install this CD and let us install Video for Windows for you!

Remember, to install the 16 bit version of WinTutor 95, execute \setup16\setup from our CD.

There is a wide range of video cards and monitors in the marketplace. Standard VGA supports a maximum of 640X480 resolution using 16 colors. Other video systems can support as high as 1024X768 resolution using 16 million colors.  You can also use different resolutions. Popular choices are:

    640X480 16 colors (Standard VGA)

    640X480 256 colors

    800X600 256 colors

    640X480 64,000 colors

    800X600 64,000 colors

    640X480 16 million colors

    800X600 16 million colors

    1024X768 256 colors

Video cards that contain 1M RAM typically support the first four modes.  Video cards with more RAM can support the other modes as well.

So, which mode should you choose?  This depends on your video card and monitor.

If you have a card and/or monitor that supports VGA only, then choose 640X480X16 colors.  Our courses will be able to effectively teach you Windows 95, but the videos, and a lot of the graphics won't look very good!

If you have a 512K or 1M RAM video card, choose 640X480X256 colors.  If you have a 1M card and a fast computer, such as a 486DX66, you may want to try 640X480X64,000 colors.  The video clips will look better in this mode. However, on some systems they may appear jerky, and the audio may not be quite in sync with the video.

If you have a 2M or better video card, choose 640X480X64,000 colors.  This course will run in higher screen resolutions, but it looks best at this video mode.

To change video modes in Windows 95, open the Display icon in the Control Panel. You can access the Control Panel from the My Computer icon. To change video modes in Windows 3.1 or Windows NT, use the Windows Setup program, which is located in your Windows Main Group.  Consult your video card manual to install the correct video drivers on your system.

If the Curriculum and Course Introduction Videos seem Jerky and Out-of-sync with the audio

You probably have a slow video card. If you plan to purchase and use other multimedia products, you should consider purchasing a video graphics accelerator card. This should solve your problem, especially if the smaller lesson videos are smooth, but the larger videos are jerky. Keep in mind that our videos are 15 frames a second, while normal TV and video tapes are closer to 30 frames a second. Thus, some amount of jerkiness is expected.

Some video cards are more effiicient in video modes that use 256 colors, than modes that use either 64K or 16M colors. So, if you are in a video mode that uses more than 256 colors and the videos seem jerky, try changing your video mode to 640X480X256 colors.


Practice Window Previous Command

Clicking this command displays the previous set of instructions of this practice.


Backup Button

This button is used to move back in the lesson a little bit. It is especially useful in those instances where you didn't quite understand a point made in the lesson, and you want to see and hear that point again.

The following is an example of what happens when you click the Backup Button.

Note that there are four choices. If, for example, you click "32 sec", the lesson will execute 32 seconds back from the current position in the lesson. It's like pressing the Rewind Button on your video tape player for a few seconds.


Pause Button

Clicking this button suspends the execution of the lesson. The Pause Button changes to a Resume Button. Clicking the Resume Button causes the lesson to continue. This button is useful to temporarily suspend a lesson, for example to answer your phone.


Lesson Menu
The Lesson Menu

Clicking the Menu button on the Status Bar brings up the Lesson Menu. The following is a sample Lesson Menu. Click any part of the menu to learn what it does, or what its purpose is.


Lesson Menu Title Bar

This Title Bar indicates that this is the Lesson Menu.


Lesson Topics

This section lists all the topics covered in this lesson. The initially highlighted topic is the one you were in when you clicked the Menu Button.You can go directly to any listed topic by either double-clicking the topic, or clicking the topic and then clicking the OK Button.


Lesson Menu OK Button

Clicking this button takes you to the beginning of the highlighted topic.


Lesson Menu Cancel Button

Clicking this button returns you to the lesson, at the place you were when you clicked the Menu Button.


Practice Window Instructions

This is a set of tasks that you are to perform during the practice. The practice consists of many sets of task, with each set being displayed, one set at a time. To display the next set of tasks, click the Next command. To display the previous set of tasks, click the Previous command.


Course Index Title Bar

The Title Bar identifies this window as the Course Index.


Course Menu Pause Button
The Course Menu Pause Button

Clicking this button pauses the Course Menu video. The Pause button then changes to a Resume button. Clicking this button resumes the video.This button is useful to temporarily suspend a lesson, for example to answer your phone.


Practice Window Exit Command

Clicking this command terminates the Practice Session, and returns you to the lesson.


Course Menu Back Button
The Course Menu Back Button

Clicking this button returns you to the Curriculum Menu


Course Menu Help Button

Clicking this button gives you help on how to use the Course Menu.


Course Menu Exit Button

Clicking this button allows you to exit WinTutor 95.


Course Menu

When a Course Menu is first displayed, a video appears, which explains the purpose of each of the lessons in the course.

To choose a lesson, click the numbered button to the left of the lesson's title. You can click an icon at any time; you don't have to wait for the video to finish before clicking.

In addition, you can click any of the buttons on the lower left part of the Course Menu. Here are these buttons:

Click any of these buttons to see what its purpose is.


Topic List

This area contains a list of all the topics that you can access. You can use the Scroll Bar to display the other topics in the list. To jump to a particular topic, you can either highlight the desired topic by clicking it, and then clicking the OK Button, or you can double-click the desired topic.


Course Index Scroll Bar

Use this Scroll bar to display other topics in the list.


Course Index OK Button

Clicking this button jumps to the highlighted topic.


Course Index Cancel Button

Clicking this button returns you to the Course Menu.


Curriculum Menu Exit Button

Clicking this button causes WinTutor 95 to exit.


Practice Window Title Bar

The Title Bar identifies this window as a Practice Window, and displays the lesson number that this practice is for.


Curriculum Menu Pause Button
The Curriculum Menu Pause Button

Clicking this button pauses the Curriculum Menu video. The Pause button then changes to a Resume button. Clicking this button resumes the video.This button is useful to temporarily suspend a lesson, for example to answer your phone.


Status Bar Exit Button

Clicking this button allows you to exit the lesson and return to the Course Menu.


Status Bar Help Button
Help Button

Clicking this button gives you help on how to navigate within a lesson.


Practice Sessions

Practice Sessions allow you to try out the things that you learned during your lesson using the "real" program, such as Windows 95. During the Practice, you perform tasks, step-by-step, with the help of the Practice Window.

This is the Practice Window. Click on any component of the window to learn what it does, or what its purpose is.


Status Bar Instruction Area

This area displays instructions for actions that you are now supposed to take, such as entering characters from the keyboard, or clicking an object on the screen with your mouse. If this area is blank, then there is no action for you to perform at this time.