How to use your CD-ROM

The objective of this CD ROM is to let you know about a large variety of software developed by programmers spread across the world. You will find that many of the programmes can be useful at work or at home, besides enjoying many hours of leisure with the games which are also included.

All of the programmes included in your CD ROM run in Windows 95. Some of the programmes featured require additional hardware, such as a printer, graphics card with 256 colours or better, sound card, microphone, etc. Therefore some of the programmes included may not function properly in your computer due to its configuration.

All of the programmes are accompanied by the original instructions supplied by the authors themselves. In general this information, as well as the programmes themselves, are written in English.

In case of any queries regarding a particular programme, or if you wish to register, you should contact the author directly.

This CD ROM does not have any kind of installation or execution programme of the selected programmes, since Windows itself makes available its resources to carry out these tasks easily and trouble-free, with advantages for the user.

You can thus use, test and check out a large variety of Shareware, Freeware and Public Domain programmes without needing to perform any kind of installation, and, especially, without taking up space in your disk. Whenever or wish to run a specific programme, just insert your CD ROM, select the directory and click on the programme icon. For greater ease of use, each programme has its own directory, organised in several groups. 

The programmes which interest you most can be copied to your disk without any problem, all you need is to copy its folder.

The Help and manuals available in Windows itself may be useful, in case you do not know how to copy files to your disk, run them, etc. Windows has a programme (Explorer) which can help you query your CD ROM or Run it, available from the Start menu.

For immediate use of your CD ROM, we suggest that you follow these steps:

Insert the CD-ROM in its unit.

Open the folder My Computer, located in your work area, and then open the folder for your CD ROM

A window appears with the folders for the various directories in your CD-ROM. For greater ease of use, each programme has been organised by categories (Action, Board, Card, etc.). 

Click any folder and another window appears, this one containing the programmes included in that directory (group)

Select the programme you wish to run and open its folder.

The new open window will display all the files for that programme. You will thus have access to the information which the authors considered to be important to share with you (text files and Help files), as well as the executable, which is easily recognised by its icon.
To run the programme, just click on the programme icon. To access the Help information  or text information, also just click the icons.

Other programmes may contain many more associated files, such as images, DLL's, setup, etc. In order to have the executable files displayed first, use the option View — Arrange Icon — by type. You can use any of the options supplied by the application (Large or Small Icons, List, Details, etc.), so as to customise the programme to your needs.

You can also opt to have a certain type of file not displayed (DLL, SYS, VXD, etc.). To do that, in the option View — Options, select hide files of these types.

This is one of the most immediate ways of using your CD-ROM, without having to worry about copying files to your disk, change the Windows setup, etc. There are several other ways, such as using the Explorer, creating shortcuts, etc. If in doubt about these procedures, refer to the Windows manual or the available on-line help of Windows itself (F1 key).

To perform the installation of a True Type font, we suggest you use the Control Panel and open the folder Fonts. This Windows utility allows you to add or remove fonts and is rather simple to use. Before installing a font in your system, you may check its characteristics, simply opening the font folder and clicking the font you wish to view.

It is important that you read the instructions that come with the programmes, so that you can make the most of their features. The vast majority are easy to use and you will not experience any trouble.

Registry

Your Windows keeps a registry of most of the software used on your computer. By Microsoft norm, each program must create its own entry in the Registry.

You can easily access this information, by using the Registry.exe program that comes with Windows.

In order to do this, use the following command:

Start

Run

Regedit

When you start the application, use the Registry command and then Export Registry File. Keep your Registry file in the folder you wish. 

To reset the previous information, just do the reverse operation - carry out Regedit and then import the file.

Depending on how you use Windows, your Registry file may be of a considerable size, causing Windows to function poorly or slowly. In any case, unless you have a knowledge of programming you should not make alterations in your Registry, as you run the risk of deleting information that is necessary for Windows to function.