We at Aladdin Systems would like to thank you for using DropStuff and for your continued support.
"Read Us First!" Folder
Once the software is installed, please refer to the files in the Read Us First! folder in your DropStuff 5.5 Folder on your hard disk. This folder contains the following files:
Aladdin Order Form
Aladdin Product Overview
DropStuff Read Me
License Agreement
What was installed (and where)
Licensing Information
Aladdin DropStuff is copyrighted evaluation software. You should not run the software until you have read, and agreed to, the document called ╥License Agreement╙. By running the software you signify that you agree to the terms of the License Agreement.
DropStuff is Shareware
Aladdin DropStuff is evaluation software. You may use it and pay nothing for up to 15 days. After 15 days, you must register with Aladdin Systems.
Upgrading to DropStuff 5.5 is FREE when upgrading from a previous version of DropStuff or StuffIt Deluxe, versions 5.0 and higher. Simply enter your prior registration number into the "Registration Number" field in the "Register" area. You now have a FREE registered copy of DropStuff.
Upgrading costs $15 when upgrading from DropStuff or StuffIt Deluxe, versions 4.5.x and earlier. Register DropStuff via the web, E-mail, fax, mail, or phone. We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, checks, and money orders (U.S. funds only).
If you do not own any of the above listed versions, DropStuff costs only $30. Register DropStuff via the web, E-mail, fax, mail, or phone.
Registration entitles you to technical support and special offers from Aladdin Systems.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING EVALUATION SOFTWARE!
Register Your Software
To register your copy of DropStuff 5.5, run the DropStuff application, and choose ╥Software Registration...╙ from the ╥iSupport╙ menu. It will connect to the Aladdin Registration Web site and allow you to register via your Web browser. Registered users are entitled to technical support, upgrade notices, and special offers on Aladdin products.
After Installing, Rebuild Your Desktop
Now that you've installed DropStuff 5.5, you should rebuild your desktop. This process will ensure that the new StuffIt icons are correctly displayed.
To rebuild your desktop, first select Restart from the Special menu. Hold down the option and command keys (the command key has an apple and/or clover symbol on it and is usually located next to the option key). Continue to hold down these two keys until you get a dialog asking whether you are sure you want to rebuild your desktop. Click OK. This process may take several minutes. When it is finished, you can launch and begin using DropStuff 5.5.
Description
Aladdin DropStuff consists of four components, the program DropStuff¬, the Aladdin Compression¬ control panel, the StuffIt Engine¬, and the StuffIt Engine¬ PowerPlug. The Aladdin Compression¬ control panel allows you to select the best compression method for your needs. The StuffIt Engine and the StuffIt Engine¬ PowerPlug do the stuffing when you drag items onto DropStuff. These two components also enhance StuffIt Expander¬ by giving Expander access to many more translators and decoders. StuffIt Expander is a separate product designed to expand common compression and encoding file formats. If you are not using StuffIt Expander we recommend that you get a copy today.
DropStuff is designed to meet three needs
(1) Create StuffIt archives quickly and efficiently.
Using DropStuff, you can create StuffIt archives by simply dragging & dropping your files and folders onto the DropStuff icon. DropStuff compresses a copy of the information into a StuffIt archive and puts the archive in the same location that you dragged from, using the name of the file or folder as the name of the archive.
(2) To enhance StuffIt Expander, so it can expand more formats.
If you have our program StuffIt Expander also installed, the StuffIt Engine and the StuffIt Engine¬ PowerPlug give it the ability to expand just about any file format you might encounter. These includes formats from Macintosh, Unix, and IBM-PCs and compatibles machines like Mime/Base64, Bzip (.bzip), DiskDoubler (.dd), and Unix Compress (.Z). StuffIt Expander will also be able to expand StuffIt SpaceSaver files and join StuffIt segmented files.
With the DropStuff (the StuffIt Engine) installed, StuffIt Expander can expand these file types for FREE:
StuffIt (.sit, .sea)
Note: there are over 15 different variants of StuffIt (from 1.5.1 to 5.0), including encrypted variations; all are
supported by StuffIt Expander.
Private File (.pf)
Aladdin's e-mail encryption product.
Disk Images (.img, .smi)
Expander can mount images created by Shrinkwrap or Apple Disk Copy.
BinHex (.hqx)
All versions.
MacBinary (.bin)
All versions.
UUcode (.uu, .uue)
The equivalent of .hqx on the PC.
Zip/GZip (.zip, .gz, .tgz)
Zip is a popular Windows format. Expander also supports encrypted Zip files.
MIME/Base 64 (.mime)
Compact Pro (.cpt)
Arc (.arc)
AppleLink Package (.pkg)
BZip (.bzip)
LHa (.lha, .lzh)
TAR (.tar)
Unix Compress (.z, .taz)
(3) Enhance third-party products that use the StuffIt Engine.
There are many programs written by other companies that will take advantage of the StuffIt Engine if it is present. Once you have installed DropStuff these products can stuff and expand files.
About Archives
An archive is a single file which acts like a container, holding one or more files or folders. Usually the files in an archive are compressed, so they take up less room on a diskette or hard drive, and take less time to transmit over networks and modems. Unless the archive is ╥self-extracting╙ (.sea), you need a separate utility to access the files in an archive. StuffIt Expander lets you decompress the contents of archives. All archives created by any version of StuffIt are supported, including files created with other members of the StuffIt family, including StuffIt Deluxe, StuffIt Lite, or DropStuff.
Using DropStuff
Files, folders, or disks can be stuffed by dragging their icons onto the DropStuff icon.
1) In the Finder, select one or more items that you want stuffed.
2) Drag them over the DropStuff icon until it is highlighted.
3) Let go of the mouse/trackball/trackpad button. DropStuff will compress the item(s) you selected. DropStuff will automatically quit, when it finishes stuffing.
If you prefer to manually stuff your files or want to compress items from multiple locations:
1) Double click the DropStuff icon.
2) Choose ╥Stuff...╙ from the File menu.
3) Click the ╥Add╙ button to move the selected item from the directory list on the left to the items list on the right.
4) Click the ╥Stuff╙ button in the lower right corner to stuff the items shown in the item list into an archive.
Here are some details of the Stuff dialog
Ñ The directory list on the left of this dialog is similar to the Open dialog that allows you to select files, folders, and disks. The pop-up menu above the list indicates the folder in which the items reside.
Ñ Checking the ╥Delete item when finished╙ check box deletes the selected item from the disk after it has been stuffed into the current archive. Use this feature carefully.
Ñ The ╥Remove╙ button removes the selected item from the item list and places it back in the directory list. This means the item will not be subsequently stuffed into the current archive.
Ñ The ╥Items to Stuff╙ list contains the items that will be stuffed into the archive when the ╥Stuff╙ button is clicked.
Ñ Checking the ╥Encrypt with password╙ check box encrypts all items in the item list when the ╥Stuff╙ button is clicked. Make sure to remember your password! You will need it to unstuff any encrypted items in the archive. Also, passwords are case sensitive. Aladdin Systems can not help you if you forget your password.
To create a self-extracting archive that any Mac OS user can unstuff, even without a StuffIt product:
1) Double click the DropStuff icon.
2) Choose ╥Preferences...╙ from the File menu.
3) Click the ╥Make self-extracting╙ checkbox (so the box is checked).
4) Click "OK".
Now proceed to stuff files, using either the manual or drag & drop techniques. All new archives you create will be self-extracting until you deselect the ╥Make self-extracting╙ checkbox in the DropStuff ╥Preferences...╙ dialog.
DropStuff is not able to create segmented archives and is therefore unable to create multi-disk self-extracting archives. If you need to segment very large archives to fit onto floppy disks, you will need to obtain StuffIt Deluxe (our commercially available ╥Complete Compression Solution╙¬). If you╒re a registered user of DropStuff you can get StuffIt Deluxe at a special price. Contact Aladdin for details (831/761-6200) or see the order form located in the Updates & Special Offers folder.
Special Topics for DropStuff
Shortcuts
While dragging and dropping a file onto DropStuff...
Ñ Holding down the control key will delete the original after stuffing is finished. You are not warned, so use this feature carefully.
Ñ Holding down the option key brings up the one-time preferences dialog. Any preferences you set in the preferences dialog will be used for the current stuffing operation only.
Ñ If you drop a StuffIt archive on DropStuff with BinHex encoding turned on, the archive will just be BinHexed (as opposed to being re-stuffed and BinHexed).
Known Issues
Ñ The PictoGuide can be opened by SimpleText, some versions of TeachText, and any application that can open PICT documents. If you have trouble opening the PictoGuide, your version of TeachText may be not be recent enough. The PictoGuide will print correctly on some printers, but not others. If the page breaks of the printed PictoGuide seem inaccurate, turn *off* ╥Larger Print Area╙ in the Options dialog of ╥Page Setup...╙ and try reprinting. Certain Hewlett-Packard printers may not allow you to turn this option off; in this case, the printed PictoGuide will contain all the complete information, but the page breaks will be off.
Ñ If DropStuff does not highlight when dragging a file onto it, try rebuilding your desktop by restarting your computer while holding down the Option and Command keys until a dialog appears. Click ╥OK╙ when asked if you want to rebuild your desktop.
Ñ If DropStuff╒s preferences are set to ╥Make self-extracting╙ and ╥Encrypt with Password╙, when you drag a StuffIt archive onto DropStuff it will turn the archive into a Self-Extracting Archive (.sea) but will not encrypt the .sea.
Visit our web site for the latest FAQs
We hope that you won╒t have any problems with StuffIt Expander, but if you do, you can contact Aladdin Systems. We have a consistently updated set of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) about every Aladdin product on our web page. Bookmark this page:
<http://www.aladdinsys.com/faqs/prodfaqs.html>
Aladdin Expander¬ & Aladdin DropStuff (Windows)
For those of you using Windows machines as well, Aladdin Expander 5.0 for Windows expands files from the most popular archiving and compression formats found online, including StuffIt (.sit) and ZIP (.zip). Aladdin Expander will also expand files in uucoded (.uue), BinHex (.hqx), and MacBinary (.bin) formats, such as those commonly found on the Internet. Other archive formats supported include ARC (.arc), Arj (.arj), and gzip (.gz). Aladdin Expander will also expand self-extracting archives created by StuffIt, ZIP, and Arj. Expander 5.0 is the only Windows decompression tool that can expand StuffIt-compressed files, the standard compression utility on the Macintosh. So, if you encounter a file in the .sit format, with Expander 5.0 you can access it! You can download Aladdin Expander for Windows FREE at:
<http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/index.html>
Commercial Distribution of .SIT and .SEA Files
When files are compressed, they become .sit files. If they are made self-extracting, they become .sea files. You are allowed to freely send these to your friends, colleagues, and partners as long as you do not charge them for receiving the files. Should you have a fee involved, you must have a distribution license from Aladdin Systems. Contact Aladdin for more information at dev.sales@aladdinsys.com.
How to Contact Us
If you would like information about our other award-winning products (like Spring Cleaning¬, Aladdin FlashBack¬, MacTicker¬, Private File¬, Aladdin Desktop Magician¬, DragStrip¿, ShrinkWrap¬, Sundial, or InstallerMaker¬), just ask us. For the quickest way to learn more about Aladdin's products, visit our Web site listed below.
MAIL:
Aladdin Systems, Inc.
165 Westridge Drive
Watsonville, CA 95076
USA
PHONE: (831) 761-6200
FAX: (831) 761-6206
INTERNET: http://www.aladdinsys.com
http://www.aladdinsys.com/support (Web based Technical Support)
Technical Support is available by several different methods. We encourage our customers to take advantage of our Web Based Support. You can receive this support instantly 24 hours a day by using the "iSupport" Menu in any StuffIt application and choosing "Product Support..." or by going to:
http:// www.aladdinsys.com/support
The majority of customers with technical questions find their issues are resolved most quickly by using this method. It offers a fully searchable knowledge base of solutions.
Technical Support is also available by phone, fax, or mail at the above contact.
ELECTRONIC MAIL: sales@aladdinsys.com (Customer Service & Sales)
Special Note to Developers, Product Managers, and Network Administrators
This installer was created using StuffIt InstallerMaker¬. StuffIt InstallerMaker provides many advanced features while being very easy to use. To try StuffIt InstallerMaker for free, download it from our web site: www.aladdinsys.com/developers/installermaker/index.html. By using InstallerMaker for this installer, we not only saved media space and download time due to Aladdin's advanced compression technology, but also provided our users a way to easily customize installation. If you are interested in making installation easier for your users while saving distribution costs, contact our licensing department at:
MAIL:
Aladdin Systems, Inc.
Installer Licensing
165 Westridge Dr.
Watsonville, CA 95076
USA
PHONE: (831) 761-6200
FAX: (831) 761-6206
ELECTRONIC MAIL: dev.sales@aladdinsys.com
Copyright ⌐ 1996-1999 Aladdin Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
StuffIt, StuffIt Deluxe, StuffIt Engine, StuffIt SpaceSaver, StuffIt InstallerMaker, Private File, Aladdin FlashBack, CyberFinder, Aladdin Desktop Magician, DragStrip, MacTicker, Sundial, Spring Cleaning, ShrinkWrap, the StuffIt clamp, and the Aladdin Logo are trademarks of Aladdin Systems, Inc. All other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Now our lawyers are happy.
