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Night Owl 6
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Night Owl's Shareware - PDSI-006 - Night Owl Corp (1990).iso
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ss26.zip
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READ.ME
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1991-11-24
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Instructions for Desert Frog Screen Scenes v2.6
INTRODUCTION
Desert Frog Screen Scenes v2.6 (Screen Scenes) is a
sophisticated screen saver for your PC. Instead of just
blanking the screen after a period of no activity, Screen
Scenes does something fun. The program provides ten
different screen scenes and the ability to leave a
message on the screen and to lock the system.
Screen Scenes looks at the keyboard, mouse and printer
when it decides if it should pop up. This means that it
will not pop up when you are entering data (via keyboard
or mouse) or while you are printing. Screen Scenes can
pop up over the standard EGA and VGA COLOR graphics modes
as well as text modes using 25, 43 or 50 lines.
Even with all these features, the program only occupies
6.8K of your precious DOS RAM when it is not active. The
rest of the program is automatically stored in either
expanded memory or on your hard disk until it is needed.
Improvements over version 2.5 include support for the
newest version of Logitech and Microsoft mouse drivers,
the ability to go to sleep and wake up from the command
line (useful for Windows or telecommunication package
users) and the ability to pop up automatically on more
systems than ever before.
The following is a list of the screen scenes included in
Desert Frog Screen Scenes v2.6:
1) Lines - 2 QIX-like creatures dash around the screen,
changing colors as they go.
2) K - One large creature that uses 256 colors on VGA.
3) Triangles - Fills the screen with colorful triangles
in up to 640x480 resolution.
4) Circles - Like 3) above but more relaxing.
5) Boing! - A bouncing object with up to 256 colors.
6) Tapeworm - A repeating pattern in up to 640x480
mode.
7) Dissolve - Your text just randomly disappears.
8) Digital Clock - Moving display of current time.
9) Fission - Your text explodes character by character.
0) Melt Away - Your text melts down the screen and
away.
A new one of these scenes will appear each time Screen
Scenes detects no activity on the PC.
Additional features are the ability to leave a message on
the screen, lock the system and put a border around some
of the scenes for aesthetic appeal.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Desert Frog Screen Scenes v2.6 requires a hard disk and a
COLOR CGA, EGA or VGA video card attached to a COLOR
monitor. Expanded memory is recommended but not
required. The program works with DOS versions 2.0 to 5.0
and is compatible with Microsoft and Logitech mice.
Windows and OS/2 are NOT supported.
The VGA-specific version of Screen Scenes requires 380K
of available RAM during installation/removal and 850K of
free disk space or expanded memory. The non-VGA-specific
version requires 200K of available RAM during
installation/removal and 500K of free disk space or
expanded memory.
INSTALLING THE PROGRAM
Screen Scenes is very easy to install. Just log on to
the drive containing the Screen Scenes disk and type
INSTALL.
The install program guides you through the installation
process based on what type of video card you have.
ADDING THE PROGRAM TO YOUR AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE
If you want Screen Scenes to be loaded automatically
whenever you power up the computer, you should add it to
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Screen Scenes should be loaded
after any network drivers or communication programs but
before any DOS Shell or menu programs. As an example,
assume you have installed Screen Scenes in the C:\TOYS
directory. You would then add the following line to your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
C:\TOYS\SS26
The next time you reboot or power up the system, Screen
Scenes will be automatically loaded and ready to save
your screen.
RUNNING THE PROGRAM
Running Screen Scenes is easy even if you haven't added
it to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. For example, if you had
installed the program in the C:\TOYS directory, you would
type C:\TOYS\SS26 to run the program (see Command Line
switches below for details on how to set various options
when you start the program). When you run the program it
will display some information on the screen and return
you to the DOS prompt.
Screen Scenes will pop up after the number of minutes you
specified (the default is 2 minutes). You can pop up the
program at any time from within most any text or graphics
mode program by typing Alt-period <ALT><.>. This means
to hold down the ALT key while typing a period (.). This
will bring up the Desert Frog Screen Scenes v2.6 Main
Menu.
To select an option from the menu you just type the
number or letter associated with that option. For
example, to run Boing! you would type a 5. Selecting any
of the scenes numbered 0 through 9 will activate that
scene immediately. It will also tell the program that
you want that scene to appear each time Screen Scenes
pops up. You can type <ESC> (the Esc or Escape key) to
exit the Main Menu without making any changes.
When Screen Scenes is first activated, it is set to cycle
through scenes 0 to 9, displaying a different one each
time it pops up. You can force Screen Scenes to cycle
through the scenes by typing C at the Main Menu.
To lock the system select L at the Main Menu. You will
then be asked to enter and confirm a password. Once the
password is confirmed the system locked message will
appear and the system will be locked until you reenter
the password or shut off the computer.
To leave a message select M at the Main Menu. You can
enter five lines of 35 characters. When you have
finished typing your message just keep pressing ENTER
until all five lines have been entered. The message will
remain on the screen until you press a key or move the
mouse.
The user also has the option to put Screen Scenes to
sleep without uninstalling (see Command Line switches for
directions on uninstalling Screen Scenes) it. To put the
program to sleep, type Alt-Semicolon <ALT><;>. This will
prevent Screen Scenes from popping up until it is
awakened. You can still pop up Screen Scenes manually.
To wake the program type Alt-Single Quote <ALT><'>.
Waking the program allows it to pop up after no activity;
it does not bring up the Main Menu.
Allow Screen Scenes several seconds after you deactivate
it before trying to activate it again. The swapping
process takes a few seconds to complete and the program
will ignore the <ALT><.> hotkey until it is done.
COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
Screen Scenes can accept various commands when it is run
from the DOS prompt.
The following are command line options. The commands are
entered like this: SS26 /1 /R 4. This set of options
tells Screen Scenes to pop up after 1 minute of
inactivity and to run screen scene 4 when it does pop up
until told otherwise.
The command line options are:
/1..9 set delay time of 1 to 9 minutes. Screen
Scenes will pop up a scene after this number
of minutes with no typing at the keyboard, no
mouse movement and no printer activity.
/B adds borders around most scenes. Puts a one-
pixel wide blue border around the screen for
many of the screen scenes. This option is for
those users who are more concerned with how
the display looks than with the maximum in
screen burn-in protection.
/D force disk swapping. Allows you to prevent
Screen Scenes from using expanded memory. You
would only want to choose this option if you
need to reserve the expanded memory for
another program.
/G Go to sleep. Allows the user to prevent
Screen Scenes from popping up automatically.
This is useful to prevent the interruption of
activities that use the serial port (like
downloading files via modem). Also useful if
Screen Scenes causes problems when popping up
over a particular program. Use this command
in a batch file to disable Screen Scenes
before activating Windows.
/H hexkey specify TSR hot key in hex. Screen Scenes is
what is known as a Terminate-and-Stay-Resident
(TSR) program. That is why it can pop up even
though you are running another program. It is
possible that one of the program you use may
itself use <ALT><.>. If that is the case you
will want to change the hot key which
activates Screen Scenes to something other
than <ALT><.>. This option allows you to do
so. Two alternative hot keys are:
<ALT><LeftShift> <Z> (enter A2C as the hexkey)
and <ALT><TAB> (enter 80F as the hexkey).
/M squelch swapping messages. Screen Scenes
displays a message when swapping itself to and
from the hard disk. If you don't want the
message displayed, select this option.
/N no mouse detection before popping up. The
Screen Scenes mouse motion detection routine
conflicts with some programs. Use this option
to disable the mouse detection in case of
conflicts.
/R scene run this numbered scene until told different.
Tells Screen Scenes that you want this scene
to be the only one to pop up until you tell it
different through the Main Menu.
/S path specify drive and directory for swap files.
When swapping itself to the disk, Screen
Scenes puts it's swap files in the C:\
directory. If you want them stored somewhere
else enter the drive and directory to use.
/U unload Screen Scenes. Removes Screen Scenes
from memory. This will not be possible if
another TSR program has been loaded after
Screen Scenes. Screen Scenes will provide a
message on the screen telling whether or not
it was successfully unloaded.
/W Wake up. Reactivates the Screen Scenes
automatic pop up code. Use this command when
the program is asleep and you are ready for it
to resume it's automatic function.
/? show these command line options
CONFLICTS WITH OTHER PROGRAMS
Desert Frog Screen Scenes v2.6 is a Terminate and Stay
Resident (TSR) program. MS-DOS was not designed to
support TSRs, so there is always a chance pf conflicts
between the resident program and the normal application
running at the time. Try the suggestions listed here if
you have a conflict between Screen Scenes and another
program.
Problem: Screen Scenes pops up when I am running Windows
or some other program and messes it up.
Solution: Use the /G command line option to make Screen
Scenes go to sleep before running the program and use the
/W command line option to wake it up again once you are
done. A batch file that implements this fix for Windows
might look like this:
SS26 /G
WIN /3
SS26 /W
Problem: Program X uses the same hotkey as Screen Scenes.
Solution: Use the /H command line option to set a
different primary hotkey for Screen Scenes.
Problem: My mouse behaves funny when I run program X with
Screen Scenes installed.
Solution: Use the /N command line option to tell Screen
Scenes not to check the mouse before popping up. With
this option selected, Screen Scenes will pop up if all
you are using is the mouse, but it will immediately stop
execution when you next move the mouse.
Problem: Screen Scenes pops up when I'm doing very long
recalculations with my spreadsheet.
Solution: Put Screen Scenes to sleep using the <ALT><;>
hotkey for very long recalculations.
Problem: Program X runs a lot slower than it used to.
Solution: Program X was probably using Expanded memory
for data or overlay storage and now Screen Scenes is
using that memory. Run Screen Scenes with the /D command
line option to force it to use disk space for storing
it's overlays instead of using the expanded memory.
REMEMBER: If you make use of this software you are
expected to pay a registration fee of $15 to:
Desert Frog Software
P.O. Box 10413
Glendale, AZ 85318
Questions? Call (602) 843-0183 evenings or weekends.
Please make payment by check.
The registration fee entitles a single user to use this
software and to make unlimited backup copies.
Registered users will receive a code which eliminates the
sign-on screen.
Future versions of Screen Scenes will be available to
registered users for $8.
Desert Frog Software disclaims all warranties relating to
this software, whether express or implied.
INVOICE
Remit to: From:
Desert Frog Software ______________________
P.O. Box 10413 ______________________
Glendale, AZ 85318 ______________________
(602) 843-0183 ______________________
Contact Individual:
______________________
______________________
Qty Unit Price* Total
___ Desert Frog Screen Scenes v2.6 __________ _______
Total = _______
Desert Frog Screen Scenes v2.6 has been delivered to and
accepted by the customer. Upon receipt of this paid
invoice a registration code shall be sent to the customer
which eliminates the sign-on screen. The customer may
provide copies of this software to as many users as paid
for.
* Volume discounts and site license fees are shown below.
# of copies Price per copy
1-10 15.00
11-25 12.60
26-50 10.00
51-100 7.50
An unlimited site license is available for $750.00. All
prices are in US dollars.
If you don't mind answering a question, can you tell us
where you got this disk?
Friend __ Bulletin Board (which?) _____________________
Catalog (which?) _______________________________________
Other __________________________________________________
