If the X'ed icon appears during startup…

it means that Front&Center could not be “loaded” (installed into the System's memory during startup).
••  Did you press the shift key or hold the mouse button down during startup?  Front&Center will not load if the shift key is pressed or the mouse/trackball/trackpad button is down during startup.
••  If the shift key wasn't pressed and the mouse button wasn't down during startup, one of three things is wrong (check them in order):
1) You Mac is not running System 7.  Front&Center requires System 7.0 or newer, it will not load if your Mac is running System 6 or earlier. 
2) Front&Center cannot read its preferences (which are stored in the control panel file).  Try opening Front&Center and see if you get any of the error messages shown below.
3) Front&Center cannot get enough memory to load.  If Front&Center cannot get 1.5K of memory, your Mac is critically short of memory, find out why and fix this problem asap.

Fatal Errors When Front&Center is Opened
••  Fatal errors are serious enough to prevent Front&Center from opening. 

••  If the dialog above appears when Front&Center is opened, one of two things is wrong.
1) You Mac is not running System 7.  Front&Center requires System 7.0 or newer, it will not load if your Mac is running System 6 or earlier. 
2) Something is wrong with your System software.  This error should never occur (Front&Center always checks obscure errors, just in case).  If you get this error, re-install your System software ASAP.

••  If the dialog above appears when Front&Center is opened, your Mac is very low on memory, restarting and/or quitting applications should cure this problem.

••  If the dialog above appears when Front&Center is opened, Front&Center has become corrupted: reinstall a fresh copy.

Non-Fatal Errors When Front&Center is Opened
••  Non-Fatal errors do not prevent Front&Center from opening. 
••  The top text in each error alert describes the problem.  The text next to the light bulb (idea) icon gives a possible solution. 

 ••  If the dialog above appears when Front&Center is opened,  Front&Center didn't load when the Mac was started.  Is Front&Center in the Control Panels folder within your System Folder?  Was your Mac restarted?  Did you hold down the shift key or mouse button during startup?  Try restarting your Mac, watch closely to see which icon Front&Center displays during startup.  If the X'ed icon appears, see the above section.

 

••  If the dialog above appears when Front&Center is opened,  something else is already “talking” to the part of Front&Center that loads during startup.  This something should be another copy of Front&Center opened on your Mac.

 

 ••  If the dialog above appears when Front&Center is opened,  restart your Mac, then open the Front&Center control panel again.  If the error reappears: install a fresh copy of Front&Center and restart your Mac.  If the error again reappears: reinstall your System software.  This is one of those errors that should never happen…

 

 ••  If the dialog above appears when Front&Center is opened,  Front&Center ran out of memory.  This can happen if you have several applications open.  Since your Mac is so critically low on memory, the best way to recover is to restart asap.

When a setting is changed or the window is closed:

 ••  If the dialog above appears when a setting is changed or the window is closed,  Front&Center could not write the settings to its control panel file.  Here's the possible causes (check them in order):
•1•  Front&Center is on a locked or read-only disk.  If Front&Center is on a CD-ROM or write-protected drive (e.g. a locked floppy), you cannot change its settings.
•2•  Front&Center is locked.  Open the Control Panels folder, click once on the Front&Center icon, then drag down the File menu to Get Info….  Make sure the Locked checkbox at the bottom left is unchecked.
•3•  A disk error has occurred.  If Front&Center is on your hard disk, use a disk utility (e.g. Apple's Disk First Aid or Norton Utilities) to make sure your disk is OK.

Why the bottom of the window says “Changes take effect after restart”
••  Here's what can be “wrong”:
•1•  Front&Center did not load when the Mac was started.  Is Front&Center in the Control Panels folder within your System Folder?  Was your Mac restarted?  Did you hold down the shift key or mouse button during startup?  Try restarting your Mac, watch closely to see which icon Front&Center displays during startup.  If the X'ed icon appears, see the section earlier in this chapter If the X'ed icon appears during startup…
•2•  Front&Center encountered a non-fatal error.    Try restarting your Mac, watch closely to see which icon Front&Center displays during startup.  If the X'ed icon appears during startup, see the section earlier in this chapter If the X'ed icon appears during startup….
     If Front&Center shows the normal icon during startup, open the control panel.  If the bottom says “Changes take effect after restart.”, your Mac is having problems with its Program to Program Communications (PPC): reinstall Front&Center and your System software.

If Front&Center doesn't activate…
••  Did Front&Center load at System Startup?  If so, open the control panel and verify: 1) either the Hot Key or Click Modifiers is turned On, and 2) you are pressing the correct key combination.
••  Is your Hot Key or Click Modifiers being used by some other software?  Other utilities, such as QuicKeys®, may intercept the Hot Key or Click Modifiers before Front&Center sees them.
••  Is your Mac “hung up” (crashed)?  Is it responding to any other keyboard or mouse input?  If not, try pressing âŒ˜-option + “esc” to exit the current application (any unsaved work will be lost).  If you successfully return to the Finder, quit all other applications immediately and then restart your Mac.

If You Still Cannot Solve the Problem…
••  Send me e-mail.  Follow the directions in the chapter How to Reach the Developer.  Make sure you convince me you tried all the steps in this chapter correctly.