Copyright: Copyright © 1998 by Manuel Oñate


Select the starting and ending colors of the animation. You should probably select colors that blend nicely with the background you are using.


This window shows you the text of the second exit screen.


This lets you change the background of the Logo screens. First select the style of background: simple color, degraded or bitmapped. Then either select the colors you want to use or select a bitmap file. Experiment with it until you get the effect you want.


Bitmap Background

StartLogo will stretch (or tile) the bitmap you select to the logo size (320 x 200 pixels) and will use it as the background of the logo. You should probably use a bitmap that is not too complex.


Close the program losing all changes made. This is equivalent to clicking on the top right standard x button.


Contacting MomSoft

The best way of contacting MomSoft is visiting our web page, press the button on the first page of Startlogo, or the button below to open your browser and navigate to MomSoft home page.

If the button fails, please direct manually your browser to
http://www.momsoftco.com

You may also contact us by e-mail using the following Internet e-mail address:

momsoft@momsoftco.com

If you prefer the old-fashioned way, you can contact MomSoft by snail mail:

MomSoft
P. de la Habana, 134
28036 Madrid (Spain)


Contents

StartLogo v1.0

What is StartLogo?

Read This First

It's Free

Installing and Uninstalling StartLogo

Disclaimer and Agreement

Fast Help

Show Me!

How to...

Working with Logos

How to Get More Jokes

How to Make Your Own Joke Files

How to solve the MSDOS.SYS problem

MomSoft Programs

Contacting MomSoft

MomShell

Word PhoneBook

MomWallpaper

MomSoft Early Reader

Braser Soft

Programs to Learn Spanish or English


Degraded Color

Select two colors from the list that will appear when you click on either button. The top part of the screen will start with the color that you choose in the left hand button, and gradually be blended with the one you choose in the button on the right side.


Disclaimer and Agreement

Users of StartLogo must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "StartLogo is supplied as is.  The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of StartLogo."

StartLogo is a "freeware program" and is provided at no charge to the user.  Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system.

Anyone distributing StartLogo for any kind of remuneration must first contact Manuel Oñate  for authorization. This authorization will be automatically granted to distributors recognized by the (ASP) as adhering to its guidelines for shareware distributors, and such distributors may begin offering StartLogo immediately (However Manuel Oñate must still be advised so that the distributor can be kept up-to-date with the latest version of Startlogo).


This gives you a full-screen view of the initial screen.


Clicking here will bring up the Help you are presently reading.


How to Get More Jokes

It's easy. Just go to the MomSoft page at  http://www.momsoftco.com.

If the button fails, please direct manually your browser to
http://www.momsoftco.com

There you'll see the Startlogo link which will take you to the Startlogo page where you can find out how to get new Joke files. While you are there, you might want to see if there is a new and improved version of the program.

Don't you wish everything else in life was that easy?


How to Make Your Own Joke Files

It is probably easier to pick up new files from our repository ( see How to Get More Jokes), but some of you may want to make your own. Read the following carefully and you will learn how to do it.

Starting Out

To make your own text file, use your favorite word processor, and follow the 'rules' listed below according to the type of file you want to make.  Be sure to save your new file with a .txt extension. For example, save your new file as: MYJOKES.TXT.

Important Note: Since many people use Word as their word processor, be sure to not let it fool you. Word always gives you a default .doc extension. You have to be careful to tell it to save the file with a .txt extension, and if it again asks whether you want to save it in Word format or Text Only format, be sure to tell it you want the Text Only format. Other word processors may do something similar, so be careful.

Kinds of .txt files

There are three kinds of files you can use with Startlogo:

1) Single Line files. That means one-liners as opposed to

2) Question and Answer files, which consist of two different lines, and

3) Multiple Line files where you can put in text in any form you want. This would be useful for a joke or logo of 4 or 5 lines.

Now, with your word processor you can do the following:

Making Single Line files

Note: Startlogo will use the text of the file for the last shutdown logo and will use the description as the first logo.

The format is the following. You must copy it exactly, except in the places where you enter your own information:

.........................................................................................................

[Header]

Format=Single

Description=put in your own name for the file here

[Data]

your first one-liner goes here

your second one-liner goes here

your third one-liner goes here

; this is a comment and will not be shown on the screen. Notice that it begins with a semi-colon ;

........................................................................................................

etc.

Making Question and Answer files

Note: If any joke lacks an A: field, Startlogo will use the deafault field, if present in the logo files. If no default is used, Startlogo will use the default text as entered in the last page of the program.

The format is the following. You must copy it exactly, except in the places where you enter your own information:

........................................................................................................

[Header]

Format=Q&A

Description=put in your own name for the file here

Default=put some text in here you would like to see in case the rest of the file cannot be read

[Data]

Q: write the 'question'

A: write the 'answer'

Q: write the 'question'

A: write the 'answer'

this line is a comment and will be ignored by Startlogo because it doesn't begin with Q: or A: It won't be shown on the screen.

.......................................................................................................

etc.

Notice that we have left a space between the two 'jokes'. You can leave spaces between the complete Q: A: section for greater legibility if you want.

Making Multiple Line files

Note: If this format is used, Startlogo will use the text in the file for last first logo and will use the description or the default text entered at the first page of the program for the first logo.

The format is the following. You must copy it exactly, except in the places where you enter your own information:

........................................................................................................

[Header]

Format=ML

Description=put in your own name for the file here

[Data]

<Start>

You can put in whatever you want.

Here's another line.

And one more.

<End>

this line is a comment and won't show on the screen because it's not between<Start> and <End>

<Start>

Here's a second 'joke', just so you get the idea.

You can put in whatever you want.

Here's another line.

And one more.

<End>

........................................................................................................

If you are unsure of any of what we have explained here, the best thing to do is load one of the .txt files that came with the Startlogo program, see how we've done it and then copy that.


How to solve the MSDOS.SYS problem

When Windows 95 first appeared there was a question posted in every appropriate forum:

How do I prevent the StartUp Logo to appear?

Well, the question was easy enough:

Edit the file MSDOS.SYS which should be present in the root folder of your boot disk (that means C:\ for most of us) and include the following line under the [Options] line:

Logo=0

So, now the question is different:

I want to use StartLogo and have it to randomize my StartLogo. But the logo is never being shown up. What should I do?

The answer is of course straight forward:

Edit the file MSDOS.SYS which should be present in the root folder of your boot disk and do any of the following:

1) Delete the line that says Logo=0

2) Change the line so that it says:

;Logo=0

(note the colon at the beginning of the line)

3) Change the line that says Logo=0 to the following:

Logo=1

Now, that was easy!

But, wait. MSDOS.SYS is a very important file that should be present on your system, and be correct in order for your computer to boot. Therefore the following cautions should be made:

1) First create a boot floppy

2) Second, copy your existing MSDOS.SYS changing its name, for instance, to MYMSDOS.SYS

3) Be sure that you are using a text editor to edit the file (use the notepad that comes with Windows for example)

4) Hold your breath!

If you are unsure of what you are doing, please don't be afraid to seek help. Ask your usual computer geek to supervise what you are doing, or even better, see what s/he does before a couple of your favorite drink.


The usual way of running Start Logo is to install it on the Start Up folder. That way, it will automatically randomize your start logo without user intervention. All you will notice is that the StartLogo icon will flash on your task bar whenever you start Windows.


Installing and Uninstalling StartLogo

Installing StartLogo

You may have received Startlogo in one of two possible forms:

1)	In a single executable file, usually named SETUP.EXE. In this case you should execute the program and follow the directions.

2)	In a compressed archive, usually named STRLGO.ZIP . In this case you should uncompress the archive to a temporary directory and execute the file SETUP.EXE which is included in the archive. Once the installation of Startlogo has finished you may delete the temporary directory and its contents.

Uninstalling StartLogo

To completely uninstall StartLogo from your computer and recover all disk space used by the program, execute the uninstallation routine that will be installed on your system.

1)	Open the Start Menu/StartLogo folder and select Uninstall StartLogo

2)	Open the Control Panel and the Add/Remove Programs applet. Select StartLogo in the Install/Uninstall tab and click on the Add/Remove button

In either case you should select the Automatic Uninstallation to ensure that StartLogo is completely removed from your system, including all its files and directories, start menu folder and registry settings. Once the uninstallation routine is finished there will no trace of Startlogo on your computer.

Cautions about your existing StartLogo

When you first run StartLogo, it looks to see if a file called logo.sys is present on the root folder of the boot drive (that's c:\ for the most of us). If it exists it makes a copy of this file on the program folder. The uninstall utility reverses this action, so that if you use the uninstall utility you will be sure that your original start logo is used again.

Therefore it is very important that you don't simply delete the folder containing the program if you decide that you will no longer use the program, but rather use the uninstall utility to make sure that all traces of the program are correctly eliminated.


It's Free

Startlogo is for free! Pass it on to you relatives and friends, even to your mother-in-law (if you have one) or the Queen of Sheeba (if you have her address). If your mother-in-law is like mine, you will probably prefer to give it to the Queen of Sheeba.

What's the Catch?

No catch, the program really is free. Then why would we spend days and nights, months and years in the arduous task of making such a fine program?

The answer is quite simple: we'd like you to stop by the MomSoft website Contacting MomSoft to see our offering of other fine programs. You might even stop by our friends' site at Braser Soft Programs to Learn Spanish or English to see their offering.

Aside from that, do as you see fit with it, and be sure to contact us if you have any questions.

Contacting MomSoft


MomShell

MomShell is a program launcher for Windows 95. It does everything that the Start Menu does, but in a better way:

•	Improved appearance with easier and more intuitive everyday usage

•	A monitor window to keep track of: date, time, CPU load, free system resources (yes,   Windows 95 still has them!), swap file usage and free disk space, number of threads and tasks running on your computer. On laptops compatible with APM it will also  show the percentage of battery charge remaining. All the information you need about your system in a convenient place!

•	 Alarms showing low conditions of the parameters described above. Know your system  is unstable before it's too late!

•	Complete control over how a program is to be run, including initial size of the  program window (normal, maximized or minimized), extra settings such as hide the  program or place it on top of other programs, program priority (give your important  task higher priority), change the default icon of your applications (use your own icons or select one from the icon library included with MomShell)

•	History of the last 16 programs run, which can be launched again with just two mouse clicks.

•	Easy import of your current Start Menu folders and new ones created by installation  programs. You may import one folder at a time (on the registered version only)

•	The tray menu: An easy and convenient way of accessing MomShell advanced functions, such as the Desktop and Control Panel, Selection of the default Windows Printer, etc.

•	Configurable number of program buttons (18 to 40 buttons on each page). Unlimited  number of program button pages.

•	Ugrade from MomShell 16 and retain all your settings

•	And much, much more...


MomSoft Early Reader

YOUR BABY CAN LEARN TO READ ... EVEN BEFORE TALKING

MomSoft Early Reader 1.0 for Windows 95/98 and NT is a program that helps parents teach their small children to read using their computers.

Early Reader has been designed by parents for parents. The developers have designed and tested the program with their own children. Manuel Oñate, president of MomSoft says "We were impressed by the ability of very young children to interact with computers. When we heard of a method to teach infants to read, we realized that it would be enhanced even more on a computer, so we wrote this program".

Early Reader is a database of words and sounds that enables parents to record their own voice and play it afterwards showing the corresponding word on-screen. The program is very easy to use, and for those new to computers, it has extensive on-line help. The program can be completely customized to suit the various needs of young children of different ages.

Early Reader requires a multimedia computer (sound card, microphone and speakers) running Windows 95/98 or NT.


MomWallpaper

MomWallpaper is a Wallpaper randomizer. It has many configuration options, as shown on the picture of its main window below:

Manuel Onate, the chief programmer at MomSoft says:

I started MomWallpaper as a gift to one of my nephews who had just got his computer and discovered the Internet is full of nice action photos he could use as wallpaper for his desktop. But the standard Windows way of processing wallpaper is cumbersome (to say the least). Therefore, I make the utility for him, and discovered how funny wallpaper can be. I added feature after feature until a full blown program emerged. The result is MomWallpaper.

MomWallpaper understands and uses the following graphic formats: BMP, JPG;JIF, DIB, RLE, TGA and PCX. That means that you don't have to convert those nice background images you get from the Internet, and also it saves a lot of hard disk space.

In addition MomWallpaper includes a bitmap explorer (shown below) which, by itself, will make a nice addition to your utilities library:


Select the number of colors that should be used in the animation. The bigger the number the smoother the animation will be, but there will be less colors available for the fixed part of the logo.


Select the number of sections (or rectangles of different colors) that should be used on the animation. Selecting a number of sections that is much bigger than the number of colors creates a rather interesting effect.


You can see how will your start logo look like as you modify the various settings.


Programs to Learn Spanish or English

Braser Soft

Now what in the heck do our programs have to do with Startlogo? Answer: nothing directly related. We are just the guys who wrote this Help file, and we happen to be friends of the MomSoft people. You'll find short descriptions of our programs further below.

If you want to contact us, do one of the following:

Email:

gbb@ctv.es

Webpage:

You can download the Shareware versions of our programs here:

http://www.braser.com

SnailMail:

GB Blanchard

Aptdo. de Correos 555

29680 Estepona, Málaga

Spain

Tel. / Fax:

(your code for Spain) 5-279-3791

The following contains very short descriptions of our programs. Please go to our Website for more information:

Spanish Helper

Spanish Helper is an aid to allow you to learn Spanish in a minimum amount of time. The Spanish Helper programs are divided into three levels which correspond to 1) Beginning, 2) Intermediate, and 3) Advanced, and are designed to run perfectly on Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 platforms. The programs’ interactive quizzing system allows you to learn vocabulary rapidly. Contains a large database of vocabulary allowing you to form your own quiz lists, as well as an on-line grammar help program. Its design makes it the perfect program for individuals or schools.

Spanish Helper for Business

Spanish Helper for Business  is a program designed for those who have learned or are learning Spanish and need to concentrate on Business Spanish. The interactive quizzing system allows you to learn rapidly using either the contents of its own large database of vocabulary, or by using lists that you compose in order to quiz yourself. The complete registered version contains over 9.000 words and phrases.

Inglés-Inglés

English: Inglés-Inglés is designed to help Spanish speakers learn English. The programs are divided into three levels which correspond to 1) Beginning, 2) Intermediate, and 3) Advanced, and are designed to run perfectly on Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 platforms.

  The programs’  strategy is based on vocabulary-building exercises. You can use the programs’ own large data base to test yourself either in multiple choice or fill-in the blank question format. Although the vocabulary included in the programs is probably sufficient for anyone who wants to learn Spanish, one of the best features of the programs is that users can create their own word lists and test themselves.

Español:   Los programas de Ingles-Ingles se dividen en tres niveles que corresponden a los de 1) Principiante, 2) Intermedio, 3) Avanzado. Estan disenados para funcionar con Windows 3.1 y Windows 95.

  Su estrategia principal se basa en el aprendizaje de vocabulario. El usuario contesta preguntas o en formato tipo test (varias respuestas posibles) o rellenar el espacio. El vocabulario ya incluido en el programa es muy extenso, pero el usuario puede crear sus propias listas de vocabulario para examinarse.

Léalo

English: Léalo is a complete course in Windows .hlp format which will enable Spanish speakers to read English texts with the aid of a dictionary. Explanations, examples, and exercises with keys.

Español: Léalo es un curso completo en formato .hlp de Windows para aprender a leer ingles con la ayuda de un diccionario. Explicaciones, ejemplos y ejercicios con clave.


This edit box contains the text that will appear when either no joke file is selected, or the one selected lacks the question or answer part of a joke.


Read This First

Well, now that you've got this program, you'll probably want to know what it does and what you can do with it.

Why Startlogo?

Because the author supposes that there must be other people like himself who grow very tired of seeing Microsoft's elegant  message at the beginning of every Windows session.

Life is short. Why not spend those moments you are waiting for your computer to become operative with something funny like a joke? StartLogo was designed to help you lead a longer, happier life filled with joy.

What you can do with StartLogo

The basic idea of the program is that you can replace the starting screen of Windows 95/98 with something like:

How do you get an elephant into a fridge in 3 steps?

Open the door, get the elephant in, close the door.

Yes, we know you are now groaning at this terrible joke. But the great thing about StartLogo is that you can put in your own jokes or any other kind of text you may prefer. We'll call the text of this screen logos from now on.

Back to the serious side, you should read this Help file to find out all of the possibilities.The Show Me! section gives you a quick look at what you can do. The Working with Logos section give you a more detailed look at the possibilities.

StartLogo is always changing

Startlogo comes with a 'sampler' of text files you can use to change the ending screens. You can get more by going to http://www.momsoftco.com in order to increase your collection. You can read more about this in the section How to Get More Logos.

Go to:

Contents


After selecting the joke file and / or changing the other settings, click this button in order to save your work. If you click on the X in the top right corner, your work will not be saved.


Click on this button before you click on 'Save Changes and Exit' to save the currently shown logo.


You will see different text every time you click this button after having selected a file in the list of joke files.


This button will automatically create a shortcut on your desktop to the StartLogo editing window.


Show the Animation on the preview image.


Show Me!

You will probably want to see this topic on a full screen.

This is the main window of Startlogo showing the joke selection tab. Click anywhere on the image for an explanation on what each control does:

The second tab is where you select how do you want the background to look like:

Now we'll show you the third tab of Startlogo. We'll only show the third and not the fourth because the controls are identical. The only difference is that one is related to the Questions and the other to the Answers:

And finally, on the Animation tab there are the settings related to the little animation that will be shown when Windows starts up:


Single Color

Select the background color from the list that will appear when you click on the color button.


You can change the color of the letters (font) here by clicking on the button.


You can have more than one text file (file with a.txt extension). Double click on one of the files shown and Startlogo will use  text from that file.


You can choose any font that you have on your computer to show the Logo.


StartLogo can apply three different effects to the text of the jokes:

Nothing: No effect applied

Shadow: A shadow (of the color selected) will be added under the text

3D: The text will have a 3D effect, as if it had some depth.


Do you want larger or smaller text? Here is where you change it.


You can select the text style (Bold and / or Italic) selecting the appropriate checkboxes


Select the logo file that you want to use for your starting logo. Note that StartLogo will only look for joke files on the same folder in which the program is located.


If your computer only uses one of the shotdown logos, either the first or the last, you may have Startlogo to place both the Question and the Answer on the first or last logo.


Word PhoneBook

Word PhoneBook is an Add-In for Microsoft Word for Windows 7.0. It consists of a database of names, addresses and fax numbers that automates the process of writing letters, faxes and envelopes under Word. The approach is different to other similar utilities in that it uses variables that are defined in your Word templates, in the places you want the data to be  inserted .

A new version will be available very soon. Please go to the MomSoft web page for the latest information: The best way of contacting MomSoft is visiting our web page, press the button below to open your browser and navigate to MomSoft home page:

http://momsoft.pair.com

You may also contact us by e-mail using the following Internet e-mail address:

momsoft@pair.com

If you prefer the old-fashioned way, you can contact MomSoft by snail mail:

MomSoft

P. de la Habana, 134

28036 Madrid (Spain)


Working with Logos

The quickest way to see how to change the text of the ending screens is to go to the section Show Me!.  But we'll give you a bit more detailed explanation here.

When you installed StartLogo, a group was created in your StartUp section. Go to the Startlogo group and double click on Startlogo.exe. You will then see the Show Me! screen referred to in the above paragraph.

The heart and soul of StartLogo are the text files (the files with the .txt) extension, some of which came with the program and others which you can either download from our Web site or even make yourself.

In the Joke page, there is a box on the left. If you have more than one text file they will be shown here. You simply click on the one you want and you will immediately see one of the Logos in the Preview area. Click on the Select button to choose a different joke and see it.

At this point you can either:

1) go on to change the settings of the program visiting the rest of the tabs of the notebook, or

2) you can simply click on the 'Save Changes and Exit' button. Doing this will use the default screen colors.

Seeing a different Logo

If you want to see a different Logo every time you exit Windows, you can first follow any or all of the above steps, and then  click on the Create A Shortcut in the Startup Group button. What this does is to force Startlogo to read a new Logo every time you start Windows. You will then see the new Logo text when you exit.

Undoing the previous step

If you later decide that you want to see the same Logo all the time, it's easy. You just follow these steps:

  1) Windows 'Start' Button

  2) Select 'Configuration'

  3) Select 'Startup Programs'

  4) Select 'Remove'

  5) And then remove Startlogo

Comments for beginners: This does not remove the program from your computer. It just means that the logos you select will not change. You can see why in the following comment.

Comments for the technically minded: The reason doing this will work is that Startlogo randomly selects a new logo from the file you have selected when Windows starts up. Remove it from Startup and you remove the randomizing capability.

You can then choose your 'permanent' Logo by going into Startlogo, choosing the text file, changing the colors, and then clicking on Use  before you click on 'Save Changes and Exit' (as described above)