Windows 95 GOLD Collection

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Windows 95 GOLD Collection / Windows 95 GOLD Collection.iso / mchanger / mchanger.txt < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1995-11-01 | 15.7 KB | 400 lines

================================================================ Media Changer 2.0 for Windows NT/95 Copyright (C) Swoosie Software 1995 by Mike Henderson and Gary Lucero ================================================================ What do all these terms mean? MCSETUP and MCSETUP.EXE refer to Media Changer Setup. MCHANGER and MCHANGER.EXE refer to Media Changer. Program Groups, Program Items and directories are associated with Windows NT. Please refer to your Windows NT documentation for more information. The Startup Menu, Shortcuts and folders are associated with Windows 95. Please refer to your Windows 95 documentation for more information. The Windows registry is a file where various system and application settings are stored. Please refer to your Windows documentation for more information. The Control Panel is used to alter user settings. Please refer to your Windows documentation for more infomation. ================================================================ What is Media Changer? Media Changer is a 32-bit Windows application that can effortlessly change your wallpaper bitmap, screen saver, and system sound settings every time you start Windows. ================================================================ What does Media Changer do? Media Changer copies or points to files from directories or folders that you specify, and then updates the Windows registry with these filenames. Once run, your system media settings will use these selected files for its wallpaper, screen saver and system sounds. ================================================================ How do I set up Media Changer? Just copy MCHANGER.EXE and MCSETUP.EXE to a directory or folder. Create a program item or shortcut in your Startup program group or folder for MCHANGER.EXE. Create program items or shortcuts for both MCHANGER.EXE and MCSETUP.EXE in a program group or Start Menu folder of your choice, so that when you need quick access to either of them, they're close at hand. To configure Media Changer, run MCSETUP.EXE. The setup program will present you with nine rows of similar check boxes, edit boxes, and buttons. Each row contains: On/off check box - The label (like Wallpaper or Asterisk) is also the on/off switch for that media type. When on, Media Changer will change the media type each time it's run. When off, Media Changer will not modify the item. Path + filename edit box, Browse button - The edit box (and the Browse button next to it) allow you to specify which directory Media Changer should copy files from. You can type in a path, or a path plus a filename, or you can select the Browse button and choose a file from the common file dialog. Preview button - The Preview button allows you to load the current wallpaper into Paintbrush (or the currently associated .BMP viewer), bring up the current screen saver, or listen to the current system sound (using SNDREC32.EXE). Tile\Password\Random check boxes - In Windows 95, the Tile checkbox toggles wallpaper tiling on and off. In Windows NT, this setting must be set via the Control Panel Desktop. In Windows 95, the Password checkbox in the Screen Saver row toggles password protection on and off for screen savers. In Windows NT, this setting is made through the Control Panel Desktop. Checking any of the Random checkboxes in any of the system sound rows will cause Media Changer to randomly select a .WAV file from the specified directory. With this checkbox off, Media Changer will select the next file in the directory (sequentially). Clone button: The clone button copies the contents of the Asterisk edit box into the edit boxes of the remaining system sounds. All values for the other system sounds will be lost. Clone makes setting up system sounds very easy. For instance, if you keep all of your .WAV files in one directory or folder, use the Browse button for Asterisk, and select any file from that directory or folder. Now select the Clone button. The text from the Asterisk edit box is copied to the rest of the system sounds. Now turn Random on for all of the system sounds. Select the Save button. Notice that now each of the system sounds is using a different .WAV file. Even if you keep your .WAV files in more than one directory or folder, Clone can still make setting up Media Changer easier. If the directories or folders are all on the same drive, type that drive name, or select with Browse, for Asterisk. Now select the Clone button, and then in order to correctly specify the remaining directories or folders, select Browse or edit the paths by hand. At the bottom of the dialog, four more buttons perform the following functions: About button - Selecting the About button displays a message box with copyright information concerning this shareware product. Network button (Windows 95 only)- This button will bring up the Network Options dialog. This allows you to tell Media Changer if you want it to make copies of the current media files in its own directory. This can be handy if you get your media files off of a network drive which is unavailable from time to time. For example, by setting Media Changer to make a copy of the Startup sound file, your system will play a copy of that .WAV, which will be stored locally in the same directory or folder as MCHANGER.EXE. With this setting off, Media Changer will simply point the media settings in the Windows registry to the actual file instead of making a copy of it. NOTE: Normally, if you get bitmaps and sounds from a network drive, you will want to have Media Changer copy the wallpaper and the startup sound so that those two files will be available to Windows when it is starting. Normally, Windows will not long on to network drives until after it has tried to load the startup sound and wallpaper bitmap. Save button - Selecting the Save button saves the current settings to the registry. The specified files are copied, and the registry and Media Changer Setup dialog are updated with any changes that might have taken place. NOTE FOR WINDOWS NT USERS: To complete your setup of Media Changer, you need to do the following two steps: a. Open the Control Panel and bring up Desktop. Double-check that the wallpaper tiling mode is set how you want it. Next, single-click the Name box in the Screen Saver section. It will pop open and show all of your screen savers. Notice one of the names is repeated twice. Choose the first (top) of the two duplicate names. This is MCHANGER's copy of the screen saver it has currently selected. Each time you run MCHANGER.EXE, this will now automatically change to the screen saver Media Changer has selected for you. Click OK to save the settings. b. Open the Sound Control Panel item. Set each of the following sound items to the corresponding file in Media Changer's directory: System Asterisk: ASTERISK.WAV System Default: DEFAULT.WAV System Exclamation: EXCLAMAT.WAV System Exit: EXIT.WAV System Hand: HAND.WAV System Question: QUESTION.WAV System Start: START.WAV Close button - Choosing the Close button will close Media Changer Setup. ***NOTE: You MUST choose Save before closing the dialog or all changes made will be lost. ================================================================ How to Use It: Each time you run Media Changer, it will choose new media files to use according to the options you set in MCSETUP. It will then set your Windows media settings to either a copy of the chosen media files, or to the chosen media files themselves. (This option is set via the Network Options button in MCSETUP and is only available in Windows 95. In Windows NT, Media Changer will make copies of the current media files in its directory.) For the best (and the most fun) results, place a program item or shortcut for MCHANGER.EXE in your Windows Startup program group or folder. This way, each time Windows restarts, your system settings will automatically change. If you ever wish to change your settings, simply run Media Changer Setup and alter the options to your liking. NOTE: If you run Media Changer under Windows NT, the file _SCR.SCR will be copied to the Windows\System32 directory, not to the same directory as MCHANGER.EXE and MCSETUP.EXE. Under Windows NT, all screen savers must be in this System directory in order to work properly. ================================================================ Error Messages: It is possible (but not likely) that you could encounter error messages when running MCHANGER or MCSETUP. These errors will hopefully be self-explanatory (such as chosing a bad media file for one of the items, or if you select an invalid path). On rare occasions, the Windows registry system will do quirky things and cause error messages in Media Changer. If you encounter one of these problems, the best thing to do is restart Windows and run MCSETUP.EXE to make sure everything is set up correctly. If the problem persists, contact Gary or Mike (e-mail and snail-mail addresses are listed below), or check your Windows documention. ================================================================ How to Register It: Media Changer is GuiltWare. It has taken an unbelievable amount of time to design, code, debug, test, enhance, and fix this software. We were even kind enough not to put annoying nag screens or disable any features in this version. We would appreciate your support in our endeavors. Swoosie Software is committed to producing top quality software that enhances your Windows 32-bit computing experience. Please don't take advantage of us. If you do register, we'll send you the next major upgrade free of charge, and you will remove all feelings of guilt from your mind. To register, make out a check or money order for $10.00 payable to: Mike Henderson and Gary Lucero And send it, along with your name and address, to: Swoosie Software 300 East 1900 North Provo, Utah 84604 ================================================================ Speak to Us: Gary and Mike are lonely Internet surfers who are hungry for contact with the outside world. If you have any suggestions, comments, or (*gasp!*) bug reports, you can contact us at: GLucero@novell.com - and - MHenderson@novell.com Swoosie Software, Media Changer, and Media Changer Setup are in NO way affiliated with Novell. ================================================================ Revision History: 1.1 May, 1995 - Media Changer is born as a shareware app. MCSetup is only offered to registered users. 2.0 July, 1995 - Media Changer begins storing all of its configuration in the Windows registry. All system media settings are automatically changed via the Windows registry as well. MCHANGER.EXE received a complete rewrite which removed many bugs and shrunk the .exe size considerably. MCSETUP.EXE underwent a major interface overhaul, and is now included in the non-registered release. The Random feature is removed from BMP and SCR settings. You can now turn wallpaper tiling and screen saver password mode on or off through Media Changer. All of Media Changer's copies of the media files are now stored in the same folder as MCHANGER.EXE except under NT. The wallpaper is automatically updated as soon as Media Changer is run. 2.0 August, 1995 - As the Windows 95 release date draws near, we figure out that NT doesn't take kindly to its registration being fiddled with. We decide to remove registry support for NT, and instead we go back to the 1.0 way of doing things for NT: The user must open the Control Panel and do initial setup themself. But the Windows 95 version is still uses the registry, and it all works pretty well, even though Windows in general is kind of inconsistent in the way it updates the registry versus the Control Panel applets. =============================================================== The Legal Stuff: Copyright (C) 1995 Swoosie Software All Rights Reserved License Agreement You should carefully read the following terms and conditions before using this software. Unless you have a different license agreement signed by Swoosie Software, your use of this software indicates your acceptance of this license agreement and warranty. Shareware Edition Evaluation and Registration This is not free software. You are hereby licensed to use this software for evaluation purposes without charge for a period of 21 days. If you use this software after the 21 day evaluation period a registration fee of $10 is required. Payments must be in US dollars drawn on a US bank, made payable to Mike Henderson and Gary Lucero, and should be sent to Swoosie Software, 300 East 1900 North, Provo Utah 84604. When payment is received you will be sent a registered copy of the latest edition of Media Changer and Media Changer Setup. Unregistered use of Media Changer after the 21-day evaluation period is in violation of U.S. and international copyright laws. Distribution Provided that you verify that you are distributing the Shareware Edition (see the top of this file to check) you are hereby licensed to make as many copies of the Shareware Edition of this software and documentation as you wish; give exact copies of the original Shareware Edition to anyone; and distribute the Shareware Edition of the software and documentation in its unmodified form via electronic means. There is no charge for any of the above. You are specifically prohibited from charging, or requesting donations, for any such copies, however made; and from distributing the software and/or documentation with other products (commercial or otherwise) without prior written permission, with one exception: Disk Vendors approved by the Association of Shareware Professionals are permitted to redistribute Media Changer, subject to the conditions in this license, without specific written permission. Registered Edition One registered copy of Media Changer and Media Changer Setup may either be used by a single person who uses the software personally on one or more computers, or installed on a single workstation used nonsimultaneously by multiple people, but not both. You may access the registered edition of Media Changer and/or Media Changer Setup through a network, provided that you have obtained individual licenses for the software covering all workstations that will access the software through the network. For instance, if 8 different workstations will access Media Changer and/or Media Changer Setup on the network, each workstation must have its own Media Changer license, regardless of whether they use Media Changer at different times or concurrently. Governing Law This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Utah. Disclaimer of Warranty THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. Because of the various hardware and software environments into which Media Changer may be put, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED. Good data processing procedure dictates that any program be thoroughly tested with non-critical data before relying on it. The user must assume the entire risk of using the program. ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE. Trademarks Windows NT and Windows 95 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.