HELP PAGES

Installing ViewMinder and getting started

Upgrading

File locations

Which Windows

Set-up

Languages

Main menu

ViewMinder runs on personal computers that use Windows.  Before installing it, 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 will be named Expert###.exe, Genus###.exe or Business###.exe where the version number is #.##.

Then press Enter on your keyboard.

Upgrading

The installation program will install a version of ViewMinder that matches your operating system.

 If you are using Windows98 or Windows ME, and you later upgrade to a newer system like Windows XP, you can use the same installation program again to create a more suitable version of ViewMinder on your upgraded computer.

When you upgrade to another edition of ViewMinder - say from Genus to Expert ViewMinder, we recommend that you first uninstall the old program. You can uninstall the old version by clicking Settings on the Windows task bar, then Control panel and then Add/Remove programs.

You should also uninstall first when upgrading, if the old program's version number is 1.11 or earlier.

Uninstalling an earlier ViewMinder will not delete your pictures or their descriptions.  If you install the new program in the same directory as the old one, your new program will continue managing the picture collection you have already created.

For example, if you installed Genus ViewMinder in the default directory C:/Program Files/ViewMinder and you  later upgrade to Expert Viewminder or Business ViewMinder, you should install the new program in that same directory.

Then all of your pictures, descriptions and settings will be unchanged. However you will have to create new settings, in particular the fields that are enabled.

Are you using the latest version?

ViewMinder is updated regularly, to make it a better program. To help you stay up to date, ViewMinder programs check regularly from ViewMinder's web site and tell you whether a newer version is available. If it is, a message in your browser will tell you how to get it.

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

By default, your program runs this check when you start up the program, startin when you first use the program. The next check is made when the previous check was 15 or more days ago.

If you find this annoying you can change the interval in Settings. (Users of Genus ViewMinder cannot change the 15-day interval.)

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. Picture descriptions are held in a database file viewminder.db. When you import images, ViewMinder places them in a subfolder named storage.

You should not try to sort images by moving them into other folders because ViewMinder will not then know where they are. Pictures are grouped according to the information in ViewMinder's database, not by physically sorting them into subfolders..

Which Windows

Each ViewMinder edition comes in two types, one designed to run on Windows 98 and Windows ME, the other optimized for Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The installation program contains both programs and will choose the right one for your computer.

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

Set-up

When the program has been installed, the Setup wizard asks you the level of power you want. ViewMinder lets you store a great deal of information about your pictures but there’s no point collecting more than you’re going to 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. If you haven’t used the program before, 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

Next the wizard asks the language that you will normally use for picture descriptions. Whatever 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 yet. it's easy to turn on later via Program Settings.

Finally, if you are using Expert ViewMinder or Business 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.

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.

 START-UP | CHECK MODE | IMAGE EDITOR | BROWSE MODE

DATA EDITOR | ELEMENTS | SEARCHES | SETTINGS | RIGHTS | FAQs