Installing ViewMinder and getting started

Upgrading

File locations

Set-up

Languages

Moving your collection

Main menu

ViewMinder runs on personal computers that use the Windows operating system. 

Different versions of Windows require differing programs but the ViewMinder installation program contains them all. It will install the version of ViewMinder that matches your Windows system.

In other words, you can use the same installation program whether you are using Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME or Windows XP.

On Windows 2000 and Windows XP, ViewMinder takes advantage of their ability to use many different alphabets. You can still display several alphabets with Windows 98 and Windows ME but you cannot switch between them so easily.

Before installing ViewMinder, start Windows if it is not already running. If Windows is already running, close any other programs that may be operating.

On the Windows Start menu, click Run.

EITHER
If you have downloaded ViewMinder, click Browse to move to the folder where you saved the ViewMinder installation program.

OR
If ViewMinder is on a CD, put the disc in the CD-ROM drive, close the drive and type D:\ followed by the name of the installation program. (If your CD-ROM is not D, replace the D with the correct letter.)

The installation program is named ExpertViewMinder##.exe or GenusViewMinder##.exe where the version number is #.##. For example, ExpertViewMinder20.exe is the program that installs Expert ViewMinder version 2.0

Then press Enter on your keyboard.

Are you using the latest version?

ViewMinder is updated and improved regularly. To help you stay up to date, ViewMinder programs check regularly from ViewMinder's web site and tell you if a newer version is available.

The only information that is sent to the website is the name of your edition (Genus or Expert ) and your version number. Nothing is transmitted about your identity, location, pictures or anything else.

By default, your program runs this check every fifteen days. Users of Expert ViewMinder can change this interval.

Upgrading

Upgrading to match Windows
If you are using Windows98 or Windows ME, and you later buy a newer computer with Windows XP, you can use the same installation program to install ViewMinder on your new computer.

In this case, you will also need to move your picture collection and their descriptions to the new computer. See Moving your collection.

File locations

The setup wizard creates a folder named ViewMinder (unless you specify a different folder) and installs all the ViewMinder files there.

The ViewMinder program file is viewminder.exe. All picture descriptions are held in a single database file viewminder.db.

When you add pictures to your collection, ViewMinder copies the image files to the collection folder. You can choose the name and location of this folder when you first install ViewMinder.

Windows XP and Windows 2000
By default, this folder is named "ViewMinder Collection" and it is located at
Shared Documents\Shared Pictures\ViewMinder Collection.

This means its physical address is normally
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Pictures\ViewMinder Collection

Windows 98 and Windows ME
By default the image folder is named "ViewMinder Collection" and it is located under the ViewMinder program directory. 

This means its physical address is normally
C:\Program files\ViewMinder\ViewMinder Collection

*If you have upgraded from ViewMinder Version 1 to Version 2
Your image folder is named "storage", located under the installation directory.

This means its physical address is normally
C:\Program files\ViewMinder\storage

It is possible to change the name and location of the storage folder but it is not usually worthwhile.

Whatever name and location you choose for your picture collection, it is not advisable to use this folder for any other images or files. It should be for your ViewMinder collection only.

You place images in this folder using ViewMinder's import function. ViewMinder automatically names them with numbers and links these numbers to information in its database.

You should not try to move or sort your images (for example, with Windows Explorer) by renaming them or placing them in other folders, because ViewMinder's database will not then be able to find them. ViewMinder groups and sorts pictures according to the information in its database, not physically moving them around.

You can move or rename your ViewMinder collection folder, but you must move all the images at the same time to the new location. 

Set-up

When the program has been installed, the Setup wizard asks you the level of power you want. ViewMinder makes it possible to store a great deal of information about your pictures but there’s no point storing more than you need.

First the wizard asks you about your camera or cameras, and then about your level of photography. It uses your answers to activate the parts of ViewMinder that you'll probably need. For the exact details of the choices it makes, see Chapter 8, Settings.

None of the choices that you make will activate all the features of ViewMinder so, when you get used to the program, it is worth looking at the Program Settings.

When you are starting with ViewMinder, choose the simplest level that seems to suit you. You can fine-tune the Program Settings later when you are sure what you need.

Languages

The wizard asks the language that you will normally use for picture descriptions. Regardless of the language of ViewMinder’s on-screen menus and instructions, you can write a picture description in any language.

You can pick one or several other languages for descriptions. This is useful if you share your pictures with people abroad. Don't activate the feature if you don’t need it at present. It's easy to turn on later via Program Settings.

Finally, if you are using Expert ViewMinder, you can provide information about yourself that can be included with the description of any picture that you export.

Genus ViewMinder cannot export picture descriptions. If you want to send descriptions with your pictures, or to manage collections of more than 250 pictures, please upgrade.

Moving your collection

To a new computer

1. Install ViewMinder on your new computer.

2. Copy all the files from the collection folder on your old computer to the collection folder on your new one. (See file locations).

3. Copy the database file viewminder.db from your old computer to your new one. When Windows asks if you want to overwrite the database file on your new computer, answer yes.

Moving to a new folder

One of the uses of this is to move a large collection from your fixed drive to a network drive. It is not advisable, however, unless you are very familiar with Windows. 

To change collection folders safely, you need plenty of storage space. This will allow you to make a duplicate copy of all your images in the new folder, and be sure everything is working properly, before you delete anything.

ViewMinder should not be active while you do this. It is done using Windows Explorer and WordPad.

1. Decide the name and location of the new folder.
   Using Windows Explorer, create the folder and write down its address: for example
   C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Pictures\VM.
   Do not use a folder that contains any other files. 

2. Using Windows Explorer, copy all the images from the old folder to the new one. Copy them, rather than moving them. Then, if anything goes wrong, you can easily revert to your old setup.

3. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the ViewMinder program folder. It is probably at C:\Program Files\ViewMinder.

4. Make a backup copy of the file VMConfiguration.xml in this directory.
   Do this by selecting the filename.
   Then click the Menu item Edit - Copy.
   Then click Menu - Edit - Paste.
   This will produce a new file called "Copy of VMConfiguration.xml"  in the same folder.

5. Open the file VMConfiguration.xml using Windows WordPad.
   Navigate down to the line that begins <RepositoryPath>.
   Delete the existing address and type the new address of the collection folder.
   Make sure the line still ends with </RepositoryPath>.
   Save the file.

6. Close WordPad and Windows Explorer.
   Start ViewMinder and make sure that it is working properly.
   When you are sure, you can delete the old collection folder.

7. If ViewMinder doesn't work, close it and open Windows Explorer.
   Navigate to the Program folder.
   Delete the file VMConfiguration.xml.
   Change the name of "Copy of VMConfiguration.xml"   to VMConfiguration.xml.
   This will restore things to how they were before you started.

Main menu

The Main Menu is ViewMinder's starting point. From here you can load new pictures, check them, browse through your collection or search for specific pictures.

It also shows you how large your collection is, how many pictures are waiting to be checked and how many picture descriptions have not yet been finalized.

ViewMinder always begins with the Main Menu. If you get lost in the program at any time, switch back to the Main Menu by clicking its button on the taskbar.

You can switch between different activities by clicking the buttons in the Main Menu. You can also switch between them and the main menu by clicking one of the buttons on ViewMinder toolbar.