WELCOME TO THE MASTERCLIPS BROWSER ! This Readme.txt file contains some last-minute information that was not available at the time the User Guide was printed. We highly recommend that you read the contents of this file, as it may affect some program fuctions. MasterClips Browser is an "image-based" database that allows you to easily collect and organize various types of media into an easily accessible thumbnail referenced Library Highlights of the MasterClips Browser include: - SpeedBar Locator - Background Image Compression - Supports Raster (bitmapped) Graphics. - Support for PCX, BMP, GIF, TIF, Targa, DCX, WPG...and many more! - Batch Import of Files. - Drag-n-Drop Support to Other Windows Applications. - Import "Preview" of Graphic Files. - Thumbnail Catalog Printing. - Enhanced JPEG Support (8 and 24-bit color). - Support for Microsoft Video for Windows (.AVI) files. - Allows Sound (.WAV) files to be Attached to Each Image - Support for Object Linking and Embedding (OLE; as a client) - File Manager Extension support. TROUBLESHOOTING MASTERCLIPS Installation Problems In Windows 95: Closing Other Applications To see other applications are running on your computer and to shut them down, follow the instructions below: 1. Use ++ to open the Task List dialog. Only Explorer and Systray should be running. 2. Highlight the running application (except Explorer and Systray) and click [End Task] in the Task List to shut down the selected program. Warning: If you click [Shutdown], your computer will automatically reboot. 3. It is important to select each program, press [End Task], and confirm the [End Task] for all programs except Explorer and Systray. Deleting Previous Versions 1. Choose Start|Settings|Control Panel to view the Control Panel window. 2. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon and follow the instructions on screen to delete any previous versions of MasterClips from your system. 3. Next, choose Start|Find|Files or Folders. The Find: All Files dialog appears. 4. Type mediapaq.ini in the Named field, select the drive letter where you installed the MasterClips program, and then click [Find Now]. 5. Your computer searches the entire drive for the file. When the Mediapaq.ini file appears at the bottom of the Find: All Files dialog, select and delete it. 6. Now reinstall the MasterClips browser. If you still have problems installing your applications, it may be necessary to edit some system files that may be loading programs at the time your computer is started. In Windows 3.x 1. Press + to see your Task List dialog. Only Program Manager should be running. 2. Bring up the Task List for each running application, and click [End Task], until all running programs (except Program Manager) are shut down. 3. Once everything is shut down, delete any previous versions of MasterClips from your system by selecting Uninstall MasterClips from the MasterClips Program Manager Group. 4. Go to File|Run|Browse from Program Manager and select the drive letter where you installed the MasterClips program. 5. In the File Name field, type mediapaq.ini and press [Enter]; when the file appears, delete it. Now reinstall the MasterClips browser. Problems Opening MasterClips CDs If you encounter problems opening MasterClips CDs, it may be due to the assigned drive path (the D drive path) the MasterClips Browser uses. Your assigned CD-ROM drive letter may differ. If you search for a MasterClips CD and receive the System Error dialog, use the following steps: 1. Click [Cancel] or press several times to exit the System Error dialog and to reach the Directory Selection dialog. Note: If you are using other removable media (e.g., Zip or Jaz drives), you must always insert a disk or cartridge into the drive to allow the MasterClips Browser to properly scan the correct CD-ROM drive letter. 2. When the Directory Selection dialog appears, find the drive letter that represents your CD-ROM drive and double-click on it. To browse the Directory Listings window, use the scroll bar or click [..] to go back one directory. 3. The contents of the CD will appear. You can now choose the MasterClips contents you are searching for. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Q: Why won't the browser print my image(s)? A: If you experience problems printing from the MasterClips MediaPaq Browser, try copying the image into another application and printing it from there. Q: When I double-click a thumbnail, why is the image Zoomed in so close? A: This is due to the high resolution of these images. In the viewing window, select Edit|Resize and then click on the Fit to Window button. This resizes the entire image to fit inside the viewing window. Q: I have the browser installed, but why won't it run? A: Try installing Microsoft Video for Windows. To install Microsoft Video, please follow the instructions below carefully: 1. Insert CD #1 in to your CD ROM Drive 2. Choose Start|Run (Windows 95) or File|Run (Windows 3.1). 3. Type D:\AINSTALL\VFWRTL\SETUP.EXE (if the letter that represents your CD-ROM drive is different than D:, use that letter in the command line). Follow the instructions on screen. The Microsoft Video Setup will prompt you through installation. 4. After you are done installing you will need to restart your computer. If you still have problems running the MasterClips MediaPaq Browser after restarting, make sure all other programs are shut down and try reinstalling the MasterClips MediaPaq Browser. Q: Why can't I attach sounds to the video files? A: You need a program that can edit and re-compress AVI files. This is not a feature of the MasterClips MediaPaq Browser. Q: What does the message 'error adding font resources' mean? A: You are trying to add too many fonts to Windows. This is a limitation of Microsoft Windows. Please contact Microsoft for lists of software developers that make font installers that will overcome this limitation. Conflicts with Video Accelerator Cards MasterClips (and some other graphics applications) may have problems running on systems with certain types of video cards (64 bit cards in general). MasterClips may be having conflicts with your video card if you are getting any of the following error messages (or similar behavior): -Not a valid Win 32 application' -Clean the CD' (or any variation) -Can't read from CD-ROM Drive' -Device attached to System not functioning' -During installing, the browser locks up -Not enough memory (verify that you actually do have enough)' If you are experiencing any of these problems, first try updating your video card driver before calling The Learning Company Technical Support at 423-670-2020. This may resolve the problem(s). If you don't know which card you have, you can find out in Windows by selecting Start|Run or File|Run, and typing MSD to run Microsoft System Diagnostics. Look especially at the video information. If you own a machine which came pre-installed with Windows 95, you may not be able to run MSD because the OEM version of Windows 95 does not include the MSD program. Instead, you can get some of the information you need (such as the type of card and manufacturer) in the Windows Control Panel. To do this, follow the instructions below: 1. Select Start|Settings|Control Panel to open the control panel dialog. 2. Double-click on 'Display.' 3. Select the Settings tab, then click on 'Change Adapter Type' or 'Advanced Properties.' Here your video card will be listed, at which point you can write down the information and then cancel out of the dialog. Perhaps the most important information you need other than the manufacturer and model of your video card is the Video BIOS Date (shown in Microsoft Diagnostics). Most video card problems are related to video BIOS dates prior to December 1995. Even if your video card or computer system is new, you may have outdated video drivers. Please make sure your video card drivers are current before calling Technical Support. If you have access to the internet, you can use the following internet addresses to get the most current drivers for your video card. These addresses also contain troubleshooting information about crashes related to video cards and other major software products. Computer Companions-http://www.compcomp.com/hardware/video.htm Diamond-http://www.diamondmm.com; Phone: (408) 325-7100 Trident-http://www.tridentmicro.com/trident/drivers/drivers.htm S3-http://www.s3.com/support/enduser/customers.html ATI-http://www.atitech.ca/drivers/drivers.html; Phone: (905) 882-2626 Matrox-http://www.matrox.com/mgaweb/faqs.htm; Phone: (514) 685-0270 Orchid-http://www.orchid.com/support/graphics STB-http://www.stb.com/tech/; Phone: (972) 669-0989 Cirrus-http://www.cirrus.com/support/ ADDITIONAL NOTES Sound File Compression In the Full Resolution "Show" Window, the option to "Update Sound" under the File menu topic will compress/recompress the attached sound if it has been recorded and/or changed while viewing the image in that mode. The update is then permanently made to that file's entry in the Library. Saving Permanent Changes to an Image To save changes made to an image (i.e. Flip, Invert, etc.) into the Library, you should use "Insert as New" feature. Microsoft Word 7.0 and Drag-and-drop Placement Prior to the release, we found that Masterclips MediaPaq Browser was experiencing a technical difficulty dragging and dropping to Microsoft Word 7.0. If you experience any problems with the drag-and-drop feature, please do the following. Select the image you would lie and double-click on it. Go to the Edit menu and select Copy. Then go to the target application and select the Paste, or Paste from Clipboard feature usually found under the edit menu. For more information, consult the manual or help system of the application which you will be pasting in to.