-------------------------------------------------------------- The Complete National Geographic for Windows ReadMe File -------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT ------------------------- To view Readme.txt on screen in Notepad, maximize the Notepad window. To print Readme.txt, open it in Notepad or another word processor, then use the Print command on the File menu. --------- CONTENTS --------- 1) The Complete National Geogpraphic System Requirements 2) Installing The Complete National Geographic program 3) Uninstalling The Complete National Geographic program 4) Registering The Complete National Geographic CD sets 5) Installing Web Link capability 6) Installing QuickTime for Windows 7) Online Registration of The Complete National Geographic 8) Running The Complete National Geographic Under Low Memory 9) Problems With The Complete National Geographic Videos 10) Problems With Launching Web Browsers 11) Optimizing The Printed Output -------------------------------------------- THE COMPLETE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS -------------------------------------------- If your system meets these minimum requirements, you can use the Complete National Geographic: Processor: 80486DX 33MHz Windows 95 or Windows 3.1 (running under DOS 6.1 or higher) 8 MB RAM 10 MB free disk space Virtual Memory Enabled (Windows 3.1 create an 8 - 12 MB swap file) VESA Standard VGA 640 x 480 resolution with 256 colors Dual speed CD-ROM drive Windows-compatible sound card -------------------------------------------- INSTALLING THE COMPLETE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC -------------------------------------------- To install The Complete National Geographic program onto your machine, run the Setup.exe program that is included in the root directory of The Complete National Geographic CD. When the Setup program is running, you will first see a Welcome dialog. When you hit the Next button, you will see a Setup Option dialog that will allow you to choose the Setup option you want to perform. Select the 'Install The Complete National Geographic' option, then hit the Next button. The Setup program will then lead you through the rest of the program installation. --------------------------------------------- UNINSTALLING THE COMPLETE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC --------------------------------------------- To uninstall The Complete National Geographic program from your machine, run the Setup.exe program that is included in the root directory of The Complete National Geographic CD. When the Setup program is running, you will first see a Welcome dialog. When you hit the Next button, you will see a Setup Option dialog that will allow you to choose the Setup option you want to perform. Select the 'Uninstall The Complete National Geographic' option, then hit the Next button. The Setup program will first determine if you currently have The Complete National Geographic program installed. If you do have it installed, the Setup program will remove the program and its required components. If you do not have it installed, the Setup program will show you an error message, and the Setup program will terminate. ---------------------------------------------------- REGISTERING THE COMPLETE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CD SETS ---------------------------------------------------- To register a CD set with The Complete National Geographic program installed on your machine, run the Setup.exe program that is included in the root directory of The Complete National Geographic CD. When the Setup program is running, you will first see a Welcome dialog. When you hit the Next button, you will see a Setup Option dialog that will allow you to choose the Setup option you want to perform. Select the 'Register The Complete National Geographic CD Set' option, then hit the Next button. The Setup program will then determine if you currently have The Complete National Geographic program installed on your machine. If you do not have it installed, the Setup program will show you an error message, and the Setup program will terminate. If you do have it installed, the Setup program will then execute the CD registration process. You must then restart The Complete National Geographic program in order to use the newly registered CD set. ------------------------------- INSTALLING WEB LINK CAPABILITY ------------------------------- To install the Web Link capability that is required to link The Complete National Geographic program to the National Geographic Society Web site, run the Setup.exe program that is included in the root directory of The Complete National Geographic CD. When the Setup program is running, you will first see a Welcome dialog. When you hit the Next button, you will see a Setup Option dialog that will allow you to choose the Setup option you want to perform. Select the 'Install The Complete National Geographic' option, then hit the Next button. The Internet Link Setup program will be launched automatically during program installation. If you choose not to install the Web Link capability during the main program installation, you can manually launch the Internet Link Setup program from the program Setup by choosing the 'Internet Link Setup' option. The Internet Link Setup program will then search for all copies of the Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Explorer browsers currently installed on your machine. If the Internet Link Setup program found any copies of the Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Explorer browsers on your machine, you will be able to choose, from a list of all the Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Explorer browsers found on your machine,which browser you want The Complete National Geographic program to use to link to the National Geographic Society Web site. If the Internet Link Setup program did not find any copies of the Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Explorer browsers on your machine, or if you want to use a different browser, you can then do a manual search for your selected browser by hitting the Find Browser button. In order to properly link to the Internet with The Complete National Geographic program, your machine MUST be already connected to the Internet, through an Online service, an Internet Service Provider, a dedicated Internet line, etc. The Complete National Geographic does not provide you with an Internet service, it just links to your existing Internet service. After you have successfully installed the Web Link capability, if you want to choose a different Internet browser to link to the National Geographic Society Web site, you need to rerun the Internet Link Setup program. -------------------------------- INSTALLING QUICKTIME FOR WINDOWS -------------------------------- During program installation, if The Complete National Geographic Setup program determines that you do not have QuickTime for Windows installed on your machine, or that you do not have QuickTime for Windows installed properly on your machine or that you have the wrong version of QuickTime for Windows installed on your machine, the QuickTime for Windows Setup program will be launched automatically from within The Complete National Geographic Setup program. The Complete National Geographic CD is shipped with the 16-bit QuickTime for Windows Version 2.11, which is required to properly view the program videos in The Complete National Geographic program. You must have the 16-bit QuickTime for Windows Version 2.11 or greater installed properly on your machine in order for The Complete National Geographic program to play program videos correctly. If you have 32-bit QuickTime for Windows installed, you must also install the 16-bit QuickTime for Windows in order to view the program videos. -------------------------------------------------------- ONLINE REGISTRATION OF THE COMPLETE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC -------------------------------------------------------- There are three ways that The Complete National Geographic CD can be registered online with Mindscape. One way is from The Complete National Geographic application. When the application is run, if the user did not complete the online registration yet, the online registration dialog is displayed that allows the user to register online with Mindscape. Another way to register is by double clicking on the Free Photos icon in the National Geographic folder. This icon is added to the National Geographic folder when The Complete National Geographic application is installed. Another way to register online is from The Complete National Geographic Setup program. When the Setup program is running, you will first see a Welcome dialog. When you hit the Next button, you will see a Setup Option dialog that will allow you to choose the Setup option you want to perform. Select the 'On-Line Registration' option, then hit the Next button. The online registration dialog will then be displayed. You cannot register online from the Setup program if The Complete National Geographic has not been installed already. --------------------------------------------------------- RUNNING THE COMPLETE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC UNDER LOW MEMORY --------------------------------------------------------- If you are running The Complete National Geographic CD under low memory conditions, the application may not operate as well as possible. You may not be able to get to every area in the application, depending on how much memory is available. The magazine photos may be displayed at a lower resolution than your current screen resolution and/or it may run slowly. The introduction and exit video playback may be very choppy and the audio may not be synchronized with the video. Also, the video picture might look unsatisfactory and the audio might be inaudible. For the best application performance, it is recommended that you have as much memory available as possible before running The Complete National Geographic CD. It is also recommended that you enable virtual memory before running the application. If you are running under Windows 3.1, you should establish a swap file that is between 8 - 12 MB in size. --------------------------------------------------------- PROBLEMS WITH THE COMPLETE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VIDEOS --------------------------------------------------------- If you are experiencing problems with The Complete National Geographic videos, there are a few factors that could be causing the problems. One factor is memory. You must make sure that you are not currently very low in system resources. Try closing all other applications and make sure that virtual memory is being used. Another factor is the graphics screen driver. Make sure you are using updated screen drivers and also screen drivers that are specific to your current graphics card. Another factor is the CD drive. If the CD drive speed is slower than the required minimum CD drive speed, this might cause problems with video playback. The minimum required CD drive speed is 2X. ------------------------------------- PROBLEMS WITH LAUNCHING WEB BROWSERS ------------------------------------- Whenever you click on the Web button in The Complete National Geographic, the Internet browser of your choice should be launched and you should be brought directly to The National Geographic Society web site. If you find that the Internet browser is not being launched properly: Make sure that you are not trying to launch a 32-bit Internet browser in Windows 3.1; Make sure the Internet browser works fine outside of The Complete National Geographic. If you find that the Internet browser is being launched, but you are not being brought to The National Geographic Society web site: Make sure that your Internet connection is working correctly; Sometimes, if the maximum number of connections is already connected to The National Geographic Society web site, you will not be able to connect until there is another connection available. ------------------------------ OPTIMIZING THE PRINTED OUTPUT ------------------------------ By default, the printer settings that are set in The Complete National Geographic are general settings that produce good printed results for both text and graphics. If you want to optimize the printer settings for either text or graphics, you can adjust the settings yourself to get your desired print quality. Since the printer settings are different for text and graphics, if you optimize the output quality for one, this might reduce the output quality for the other. To optimize the printed output for text, select 'Optimize for Text' on the printer setup dialog. Selecting this option will apply a filter to the printed output that will improve the quality of the printed text. To optimize the printed output for graphics, click the Options button on the printer setup dialog. You can then change the graphics settings to achieve your desired printed output quality.