These instructions assume you are familiar with basic Macintosh operations such as creating folders and copying files. If you are unfamiliar with these things, consult your documentation or ask a friend for help.
Using the Macintosh Installer
1. Double-click the Installer on the CD labeled TNG Installer.
2. You are then given the option of updating to the original Omnipedia or to install the stand-alone version. You may also choose do to both.
You may choose either the Recommended (optimal) or the Minimal install, depending on how many megabytes of hard drive space are free on your internal hard drive. Choosing Recommended will install all TNG Episode Guide files and extensions.
3. Choose where you would like to have TNG Episodes installed.
4. After the installation is complete a folder named TNG Episode Guide will reside on your hard drive.
5. To run the TNG Episode Guide stand-alone version click on the icon labeled "TNG Episode Guide" in folder with same name. Leave the CD-ROM mounted, since it contains all the photographs and video clips which are linked to various entries in the program.
6. You will also find a folder called "Old Extensions" which may contain copies of Quicktime™, Quicktime™ PowerPlug and Sound and Sound Manager which the installer found on your hard drive if they were replaced during the installation.
7. If you have chosen to update to the Omnipedia 2, double click on the Omni 2 projector. You will be notified at program startup that an update has been performed. You will be prompted within the program when you need to switch CD's. You will need the Omni 2 CD in your CD-ROM drive for all of its media and the TNG Episode Guide in for video clips specific to TNG.
While you are running the TNG Episode Guide...
Running other applications, especially networking software, while the TNG Episode Guide is open can cause poor performance. We highly recommend quitting any other program, turning off file sharing and AppleTalk, and disabling any kind of memory manager or doubler (including virtual memory), before opening the TNG Episode Guide. In our testing, RamDoubler 1.6.1 seemed to be compatible with the installer and the TNG Episode Guide itself, but earlier versions occasionally caused errors or lock-ups. Also we do not recommend using Super Boomerang dialog box controls with our installer; use the regular Mac buttons.
In general, the cleaner and simpler your operating environment, the smoother any multimedia product will run.
Adjusting Your System
You may pre-set your monitor to any color setting from 256 to Millions, although Thousands is perfectly fine for the video clips. (All the photos are in 256 colors.) If you have more than one monitor, set all of them to the same color depth before starting the TNG Episode Guide. The fixed image size of the TNG Episode Guide is 640x480, although the photo and video windows which appear can be dragged anywhere.
There is no benefit to running the TNG Episode Guide in Millions of colors, and in fact you will be advised of that fact on the startup of the program if your monitor is set to Millions. (The only "harm" is a slight decrease in animation speed, and the additonal memory required to run the program.)
The TNG Episode Guide's Preferred memory size comes preset for operation in 256 colors. If you choose to run the TNG Episode Guide in Thousands of colors, we suggest that more memory be added to the application.
To add memory to the TNG Episode Guide...
1. Highlight the TNG Episode Guide icon on your hard drive.
2. Select File, then select Get Info.
3. The info window will appear.
4. If you have the available ram, change the size to 6600 in the Preferred Size box. (This box may be labelled “Current Size” in earlier versions of the Macintosh system.)
When adjusting the TNG Episode Guide's memory use this way, be careful not to set the Preferred size too high. In general, the guideline is that the Preferred Size should be set for AT LEAST 500K LESS than your "Largest Unused Block" of available memory space. In some cases, trying to open the TNG Episode Guide with a size larger than the RAM available will lock-up your computer.
If you don't know what your "Largest Unused Block" is, here's how to find out:
1. Quit any open applications. Turn off File Sharing if you use it.
2. In the Finder, in the Apple menu, open "About this Macintosh...".
3. Look at the number after "Largest Unused Block".
That's how much unused RAM you have available.
Your total amount of installed RAM appears in the "about this Macintosh" box as "Total Memory". (1,000K equals 1 mb, so if you have 8 mb of installed RAM, this number will be 8,000K.)
Certain symptoms of low memory conditions include missing pieces of the interface, loss of sound or digital noise instead of sound, or very choppy video. If you experience these symptoms, try keeping your monitor set to 256 colors or try increasing TNG Episode Guide's Preferred Memory as described above.
About Virtual Memory
Although you may experiment with turning on this feature, we have generally found that performance degrades with Virtual Memory on.
