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READ ME ======== This is the README file for the Energizer Bunny (TM) Screen Saver. Trademark Acknowledgements: Energizer and Energizer Bunny are trademarks of the Eveready Battery Company, Inc., and are used with permission for the development of this product. Additional trademarks of the Eveready Battery Company include E.B. and Going, and Going, and Going... Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc. After Dark is a registered trademark of Berkeley Systems. (C) Copyright 1993 by PC Dynamics, Inc. and Eveready Battery Company, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Introduction ------------ Are you ready for the Energizer Bunny? Here he is, with exciting screen savers, new desktop designs, and of course, zany guest appearances. Just when you least expect it, this hare with a flair will walk, strut, parachute or swim across your screen, beating his drum for everyone to hear -- just like you've seen on the TV commercials. When you're not using your PC, amaze your friends with E.B.'s famous under- water screen saver, complete with fish, ocean plants and SHARKS! Or maybe you prefer E.B. parachuting through the clouds, or better yet, randomly cycle through the many-available scenes -- all with sound, of course. Are you tired of your plain Macintosh desktop? Then install one of the fresh new E.B. designer series desktops. No assembly or tools are required. Are you already using another screen saver such as After Dark. If you are, no problem! E.B. can be configured to make guest appearances without interfering with other screen saver products. We hope you enjoy this product as much as we enjoyed designing it. System Requirements: ------------------- This product requires a Macintosh Computer with a color monitor or gray scale monitor (with 16 or more colors or grays). Approximately 2.4 MB of hard disk space will be needed to store the program, sound and image files. The product will work on a machine with only 2 MegaBytes of memory, but 4 or more are recommended. Not all of the different animation selections will be available with 2 MegaBytes. The product will work with System 6.0.7 or later and 32 Bit QuickDraw, but due to the improved sound support and improved memory management available in System 7, the performance will be better with System 7 or later. Although this product is designed to run on all machines meeting the requirements above, certainly you can expect better performance on faster machines, or machines with accerlerated video boards. Even the slowest Macintoshes will work well with the less complicated screen saver modules and appearance modules included in the product. Installation ------------ Your Energizer Bunny Screen Saver is distributed on a 1.4 MB high-density diskette. If your Macintosh doesn't have a Superdrive, please refer to the next section for instructions on how to copy the installation files to 800K disks. Otherwise, please follow the steps below to perform the installation. Step 1. Start your Macintosh. Step 2. Place your original Energizer Bunny program diskette into your floppy drive and open its window. Step 3. Double Click on the icon named "Double Click to Install" and follow the on-screen instructions. The installation program will automatically add a Control Panel file named ENERGIZER BUNNY and a folder named ENERGIZER BUNNY PREFS. Step 4. Restart your Macintosh. To fine tune the Energizer Bunny Screen Saver, use the newly-installed Control Panel application. Copying the Installation Files to other Diskette(s) --------------------------------------------- If your Mac doesn't read 1.4MB diskettes, you may use the installer to install the Energizer Bunny Screen Saver onto another machine that does, and then copy all of the files to your machine using 800K diskettes. Alternatively, you may fill out and return the enclosed coupon with a check for $5 to receive a set of 800K diskettes by mail. Once you've created an alternate set of diskettes compatible with your Mac, you should put the files into the same places on your machine as the installer put them on the other machine. Sound Support ------------- The sound clips provided with the Energizer Bunny Screen Saver include excerpts from the most popular TV commercials as well as individual drumbeat sounds. If you're using System 7, you'll be able to play any or all of these sounds without a hitch. When using System 6, however, you'll find that you'll probably prefer to stick with the short drumbeats since the animation will stop while the sound is played. Using the Energizer Bunny Control Panel for the First Time ----------------------------------------------------- First, select Control Panels from the Apple Menu. Find the Energizer Bunny Icon and select it. You should now see a small window with a picture of the Energizer Bunny and two buttons. The Setup button will take you to a large window that has buttons for each of the three major functions of the product: Screen Saver, Desktops, and Appearances. There is also a button named Options which invokes a window for setting up system features. As you play with the screens in the Control Panel, notice that each of the program's primary features has an On/Off switch. These switches can be used to individually turn features on and off without affecting the performance of any other feature. Next, notice that there are pop-up menus for selecting which of the many displays you want to use for each function. In the Screen Savers and Appearances windows, there are also popup menus for selecting sounds to use. Each window includes a Sample button so that you may review the impact of your current settings before making them permanent. Finally, notice that the Screen Saver and Appearances windows haver slider controls for choosing time delays between 30 seconds and 60 minutes. The delay period specified for screen savers is the amount of time that must pass during which you haven't pressed a key or moved your mouse. Once this period has elapsed, the selected screen saver will automatically be displayed. The timer value for appearances, on the other hand, is a little different. The delay period you specify for guest appearances is the approximate amount of time you wish to pass between surprise bunny appearances. If you set the appearance delay to 30 minutes, then you'll see the Energizer Bunny dash across your screen once every half hour. Configuration Options Available through the Options Dialog Box ------------------------------------------------------------ Detailed below are several configuration options that are available through the Options dialog box which is accessible by selection Options from the main window. As with the other windows in the Energizer Bunny Control Panel, if you click the OK button to exit the options window, the changes you made in the window will go into effect immediately. If you click Cancel to leave the window, your changes will be ignored. Installing a Setup Password A setup password is used to control access to this dialog box. When a setup password is installed, each time you or anyone else attempts to display this dialog, a password will be required. To install a setup password, you must: 1. Select the Password button to display the password input dialog box and enter a password. 2. Check the "Password required for setup access" option. If you have a pasword set for options access and you forget the password, you can get out of it by holding down a key during startup to avoid loading the Energizer Bunny, the password is then not needed to enter the options dialog. You can then disable the password or set a new one and restart your machine. Installing a Screen Saver Password By default, no password is required to restore your screen when returning from screen saver mode. If you prefer to require a password, the machine returns to normal only if the user is able to correctly enter the current password. You must use the Password button to enter a new password before you can check the check box for a screen saver password. Installing a Screen Saver Hot Key To manually activate your screen saver when you are going to leave your Mac unattended, you can install a hot key. By default, this hot key is COMMAND+SHIFT+B. This means that you must hold the Command (Apple) and Shift keys down and press B. The Command and Shift keys are always required as part of the hot key sequence; however, the letter key to be used is user selectable. To install a screen saver hot key, you must: 1. Check the "Saver hot key" option to enable the use of hot keys. 2. Set the alpha letter to be used along with COMMAND+SHIFT to manually activate the screen saver. Improving Performance on Slow Machines: A checkbox named "Use only simple E.B. animation" is available in the Options dialog box to help improve the performance of this product when memory is low or on slow processors. When checked, E.B. will appear using only a subset of his normal movements (no head turns and spins, etc.). Also, some of the screen savers will cut back on the number of objects they attempt to animate to the screen at the same time. Selecting one of the less complicated screen saver modules will of course help even more. Redecorating with Energizer Bunny Desktops ------------------------------------------- A pushbutton is available on the main program window to display the Energizer Bunny Desktops dialog box. This dialog box is used to sample and install new "wallpaper" for your Macintosh desktop. This product includes both 16 and 256-color desktop designs; therefore, not all desktops will display correctly on 16-color monitors. Each wall- paper design is identified with (16) or (256) after its name to help you determine which ones are compatible with your video hardware. Dialog Box Options ------------------ Name: List of available images. Select one you're interested in and try it out using the Sample button. [Sample] Displays a full-screen sample of the wallpaper currently selected in the "Name" list box. Pressing any key or moving your mouse restores the display. [OK] Installs the currently-selected wallpaper as your new Macintosh desktop and returns to the main program window. [Cancel] Cancels all changes made in this dialog box and returns to the main window. [Help] Displays a window with more info about desktops. Enabling the Energizer Bunny Screen Savers ------------------------------------------ NOTE: It is recommended that you leave this feature OFF if you have another screen saver product (such as After Dark) installed. Otherwise, you may encounter some unexpected behavior. To enable an Energizer Bunny screen saver, you must: 1. Choose one of the available displays. 2. Make sure the On/Off switch in the screen saver dialog box is set to ON. 3. Adjust the slider bar to the desired delay period. 4. Select OK to save your settings and exit back to the main program window. Dialog Box Options ------------------ On/Off Master switch used to enable or disable the screen saver without affecting any of your other settings. This switch should be set to ON for normal operation. Screen Choose one of the available screen saver displays. Saver Select [Randomize] to invoke a different one each time Name: the product activates. Sound: Choose one of the available sound tracks or drumbeats for the screen saver selected above. Select NONE if you don't want sound to accompany the screen saver operation. Delay: Set the time (in minutes) after which the screen saver will activate if no input is received from your keyboard or mouse. [Sample] Temporarily invoke the currently-selected screen saver so that you may sample the available displays. Press any key or move your mouse to restore your screen. [OK] Saves and puts into effect the current screen saver configuration and returns to the main program window. [Cancel] Cancels all configuration changes made in this window and returns to the main program window. [Help] Displays a help window. Enabling Energizer Bunny Guest Appearances ------------------------------------------ Guest appearances are when the Energizer Bunny suddenly decides to interrupt whatever you are doing and parade across your screen -- just like on the TV commercials. To add variety to your guest appearances, each of the available appearance types has several sets of choreagraphy associated it. This way, E.B. will perform differently on each pass. To add a higher level of randomization, select the [Randomize] option. This will cause the program to cycle through the various styles of appearances as well as the different choreography. During an appearance, your keyboard, mouse and screen are taken over by the Energizer Bunny. Afterwards, everything is restored back to normal. If you move the mouse or hit a key during an appearance, the appearance is immediately terminated. Dialog Box Options ------------------ On/Off Master switch used to enable or disable guest appearances without affecting any of your other settings. This switch should be set to ON for normal operation. Guest Choose one of the available guest appearance displays. Appearance You may select [Randomize] to invoke a different one Name: each time the product activates. Sound: Choose one of the available sound tracks or drumbeats for the guest appearance selected above. Delay: Set the time (in minutes) after which the Energizer Bunny will make a guest appearance. Unlike the delay period used for screen saver mode, this delay doesn't wait for your keyboard or mouse to become inactive. For example, setting the delay to 5 minutes will trigger an appearance every 5 minutes, regardless of your keyboard usage. Please note; however, that when it's time for an appearance, the program will wait for a convenient opportunity when you haven't pressed a key or moved the mouse for a few seconds. [Sample] Manually trigger the currently-selected guest appearance so that you may sample the available displays. [OK] Saves the current settings for E.B. guest appearances and returns to the main program window. [Cancel] Cancels all configuration changes made in this dialog box and returns to the main window. [Help] Displays a help window. Tips and Tricks --------------- Listed below are various tips and tricks we've found helpful toward making this product more enjoyable: 1. If the bunny cannot grab enough memory for itself when it's time to make a guest appearance, then the appearance is simply skipped. The Bunny will try to make use of any available memory, but may only have enough to do a simple walk accross the screen. The sound (if one is selected) is the last thing to get loaded, so it will be skipped if there is not enough memory available. 2. If this program cannot grab enough memory for itself when it is time to save your screen, then it will try dropping some of the more complex animation components in hope of fitting into available memory. When you see this happening, you might try setting the "Use only simple animation" checkbox on the Setup dialog box to help this program better adjust to low memory situations. Choosing a smaller or simpler module will also help in these situations. 3. If you have another screen saver installed at the same time the Energizer Bunny screen saver is installed and turned on, you will probably only see the one that is set to the shorter delay. It is possible that some screen savers might conflict with the Bunny. If so, turn the other one off, or turn off the screen saver function in Energizer Bunny. There should not be any problem using the guest Appearances part of the Energizer Bunny along with some other screen saver product. 4. If you have another program used to change the desktop pattern installed, you should turn off the Desktop function in Energizer Bunny or de-install the other program. 5. If something goes wrong during startup (i.e. the dredded software conflict with some other product you have installed), you can temporarily prevent the Energizer Bunny from loading by holding down ANY key on the keyboard during the startup procedure. This includes the CAPS LOCK key. 6. If you do discover that there is some type of conflict between this product and some other Control Panel or Extension you have loaded, this will sometimes be remedied by changing the order in which the two warring parties are loaded at startup. Since all Control Panels are loaded alphabetically at startup time, you can change the order by putting an 'a' or 'z' in front of the name of one of the products to make it load earlier or later. It is usually just a game of trial and error to find out which other piece of software is conflicting with the Bunny. Removing this Product from Your Mac ----------------------------------- In the event that you find it necessary to remove the Energizer Bunny Screen Saver from your Mac, please follow the steps below. Step 1. Start your Macintosh. Step 2. Remove the Energizer Bunny Control Panel from the System Folder. (Removal of the Energizer Bunny Folder is optional). Step 3. Remove the Energizer Bunny Prefs folder. Step 4. Restart the machine. Technical Support ----------------- Technical support for this product is provided by PC Dynamics during normal business hours, Pacific Standard Time (PST). For assistance, please call our support hotline at (818)889-1742, or write to: PC Dynamics, Incorporated Technical Support Department 31332 Via Colinas, Suite 102 Westlake Village, CA 91362 
