Complete Gardening: Readme.wri Contents

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Microsoft Complete Gardening Tips and Troubleshooting

Thank you for purchasing Microsoft Complete Gardening. This document contains information that will help you solve common problems and get the most out of Complete Gardening.

Table of Contents

1. Most Problems Are Easily Solved
2. Mouse and Keyboard Behavior
3. Improving Performance
4. Printing from Complete Gardening
5. CD-ROM Problems
6. Sound or Audio Problems
7. Video Cards and Display Problems
8. Removing Complete Gardening Preferences and Shortcuts
9. Installing Complete Gardening on a Windows NT System
10. Most Problems Are Easily Solved

Complete Gardening supports the Windows 95 AutoPlay feature and will start Complete Gardening automatically when you put the Complete Gardening CD in your CD-ROM drive. As Complete Gardening starts, it automatically checks for all files it needs, makes sure your display and sound card are set up in a fashion Complete Gardening can use, and makes sure everything is generally in order.

As a result, the easiest way to cure any problems you encounter is to quit Complete Gardening, remove the CD from your CD-ROM drive, and then re-insert it. As Complete Gardening starts up, it should be able to fix most problems you might have encountered. If it doesn't, see the other items in this document.

1. Mouse and Keyboard Behavior
   
   What do I single click and what do I double-click?
   
   In Complete Gardening, you single-click on almost everything: buttons, commands, hot text, icons, and list items.
   
   You double-click in only three situations:
   • If using NT, you can open the program by double-clicking the Complete Gardening icon.
   • To go directly to a description from Plant Selector, double-click the plant name in the list.
   • To go directly to a description from Problem Finder or Photo Browser, you can double-click the photo.
   How can I use the keyboard?
   
   Accessibility
   You can use the TAB key to access all of Complete Gardening's major controls (buttons, icons, and commands).
   • To show keyboard focus, press TAB. As you move around the screen, the cursor (a trowel) shows which element has focus. Press SPACEBAR or ENTER to carry out a command or an action.
   • To scroll through text, use the UP and DOWN arrow keys or PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN (after pressing TAB to establish focus). To highlight hot text or photos, use the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys. Press SPACEBAR or ENTER to carry out a command or an action.
   • To access the buttons within Help, press TAB for focus, and then use the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to move between selections in the window. To access the buttons on the Help button bar, press TAB.
   • You can open the Windows Control menu by pressing ALT+SPACEBAR.
   Use SHIFT+TAB to scroll through keyboard controls backwards.
   
   Keyboard Commands

   To...                       Press...
   Open Help                    F1
   Minimize Complete Gardening  Alt + Spacebar + N
   Copy text                    Ctrl + C
   Print text                   Ctrl + P
   Close Complete Gardening     Alt + F4
   Access toolbar buttons       Alt + (underscored letter)
   Browse next topic            Ctrl + Right Arrow
   Browse previous topic        Ctrl + Left Arrow
   						

2. Improving Performance
   
   Make sure that Windows 95 is optimized for your CD-ROM drive. Windows 95 provides settings for CD caching and for accessing various CD-ROM drive speeds.
   
   

      To review and modify these settings:
      1. Select the My Computer icon on your desktop and click it with
      the secondary mouse button (usually the right mouse button).
      2. Choose Properties.
      3. Choose the Performance tab.
      4. Choose the File System button.
      5. Choose the CD-ROM tab.
   						

   In this box, make sure that the Supplemental Cache size is set to Large. Also, verify that the Optimize Access Pattern is correctly set for the type of CD-ROM drive that is installed on your system (single- speed, double-speed, etc.).
3. Printing from Complete Gardening
   
   What can I print?
   • Articles or parts of articles, plant descriptions, and problem descriptions
   • Lists: reminders, bookmarks, shopping lists, plant lists, garden journal entries
   Common printing problems and solutions
   Problem: Can't print text.
   Solutions: Here are some things to check:
   • Try printing from another application to see if the problem is global.
   • If you can't print from another application, make sure that your printer is plugged in, turned on, and that it is connected to your computer.
   • See if you need to change a ribbon, mount a print wheel or cartridge, add toner, or add paper.
   • Make sure you have the correct cable for your printer and that the printer cable is properly connected.
   • Check your printer setup: Windows 95 users: click Start, Settings, and then Printers. Verify the printer information displayed. Windows NT 3.51 users: go to Program Manager, and from the Main group window, double-click the Control Panel icon. In the Control Panel, double-click Printers, and verify the information displayed.
   • Refer to your Windows documentation for information on installing a printer.
   • Try reinstalling the printer driver.
   Problem: Printed text is garbled.
   Solutions: Here are some suggestions:
   • Turn the printer off and then on to reset it.
   • Copy the text onto the Windows Clipboard, open a word processing program such as Microsoft Word for Windows, open a file, choose Paste from the Edit menu, format the text as you wish, and then choose Print from the File menu.
   • Choose Print Setup from the File menu, and then make sure the right printer is selected. If you are using a font cartridge, also check to see that the right font cartridge is selected.
   • If you have a serial printer, ensure that the baud rate and printer parameters are set to manufacturer's specifications. (Decreasing the baud rate may solve the problem.) To check the serial com port settings: Windows 95 users: click Start, Settings, and then Control Panel. In the Control panel, click the System icon, and then the Device Manager tab. Windows NT 3.51 users: go to the Program Manager, and from the Main group window, double-click on the Control Panel icon. In the Control Panel, double-click on Ports.
   • Try reinstalling the printer driver.
4. CD-ROM Problems
   
   Ejecting the CD while the application is running Do not remove the CD-ROM disc while you are running Complete Gardening.
   
   If you eject the Complete Gardening disc from the CD-ROM drive while running Complete Gardening, insert a disc for another program, then click hot text (say, an insect name in a plant description), you will get the System Error message: "Error reading CD-ROM in Drive <drive letter>:" and then the instructions: "Please insert CD-ROM for Microsoft Complete Gardening."
   
   Reinsert the Complete Gardening disc, then press Enter.
   
   Conflicts with the CD-ROM drive In Windows 95, you can check for conflicts with your CD-ROM drive by clicking on the My Computer icon with the right mouse button and selecting Properties. On the System Properties screen, select the Device Manager tab and look for the CD-ROM drive in the list. If it appears with an exclamation point to the right of it, there is a conflict with the hardware setup. Check the manuals that came with your CD-ROM drive for information on how to set up your CD-ROM drive, or contact the manufacturer.
   
   CD-ROM drive conflicts with Windows 95 AutoPlay feature AutoPlay is a Windows 95 feature that starts an application when you put the application CD in your CD-ROM drive. If Complete Gardening does not start automatically, your CD-ROM drive does not support AutoPlay, or the AutoPlay feature is disabled. To start Complete Gardening manually, insert the Complete Gardening CD-ROM, open Explorer, and select the Complete Gardening icon or list item. Double- click MSGARDEN.EXE, and Complete Gardening will start. Complete Gardening will also create an icon in your Start menu; to start Complete Gardening in the future, simply insert the Complete Gardening CD and select the Complete Gardening icon from your Start menu.
   
   Future Domain SCSI Card
   The Future Domain SCSI Card and its driver FDCD.SYS do not work correctly with Windows 95. If you have a Future Domain SCSI card and experience sound stuttering, contact Future Domain for an updated FDCD.SYS driver.
   
   To find out if you are using this card and its driver, right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop and select Properties. Choose the Device Manager tab, select the SCSI controllers entry, and then choose Properties.
5. Sound or Audio Problems
   
   How do I turn sounds off?
   To turn sounds and narration off, click Features on the toolbar and then click Settings. Select the options you want and click OK.
   
   What if sounds won't play?
   
   Here are some suggestions:
   • Check the volume on your sound card. Also, check the volume on the software controls ("mixer" or "volume control") used to run your sound card.
   • If the volume is turned up and you still hear no sounds, something may be wrong with your card installation. Check to see that the sound card software is installed correctly, and if it isn't, reinstall it.
   • If you have both a sound card and special software that bypasses the sound card to play sounds through the PC speaker, you should remove or disable the special software (the PC speaker driver). Complete Gardening requires an MPC2-compatible sound card, and it is not meant to run with just the PC internal speaker or any combination of that speaker and special software.
   • If you have external speakers, make sure the power supply cord is plugged in all the way, and that the batteries are not dead.
   • Make sure audio compression is selected:
   Windows 95 users: Click Start, Settings, and then Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs. Click the Windows Setup tab, select Multimedia from the list, and then click Details. Make sure that Audio Compression is checked.
   
   Windows NT 3.51 users: Go to the Program Manager, and from the Main group window, double- click on the Control Panel icon. In the Control Panel, double-click on Drivers and click the Add button. Select Microsoft Audio Compression Manager and click OK. Supply the appropriate Windows NT Setup disk or CD-ROM, click OK, and then click Restart.
   
   What if there are skips or interruptions?
   
   Sound skipping You may experience audio breaks or skips if your CD-ROM drive does not fully meet the Multimedia Personal Computer (MPC2) specifications for Data Transfer Rate. The drive should be able to transfer data from the CD at 300 KB per second while using less than 60% of CPU resources. Check the documentation that came with your CD-ROM drive to see if it meets these standards.
   
   Sound interruption error message: "All wave devices that can play files in the current format are in use. . ." If Microsoft SoundBits (or a similar sound-producing program) is installed and enabled, you will not hear any startup audio with Complete Gardening and you will get the message "All wave devices that can play files in the current format are in use. Wait until a wave device is free, and then try again." This occurs because both SoundBits and Complete Gardening are trying to play audio at the same time. You can solve the problem by disabling SoundBits as follows:
   
   Windows 95 users:
   Double-click the Sounds icon in the Control Panel. In the Sounds Properties dialog, select Windows default in the Schemes list box and then click OK.
   
   Windows NT 3.51 users:
   Go to Program Manager, and in the Main group window, double-click the Control Panel icon. In the Control Panel, double-click the Sounds icon, and in the Sounds Properties list box, make sure Enable System Sounds is unchecked.
   
   Stuttering Audio
   If audio appears to echo or stutter, check the "CD-ROM Problems: Conflicts with the CD-ROM drive" section above. Some SCSI cards are known to conflict with Windows 95 and will cause audio to stutter if the CD-ROM drive is plugged into such a SCSI card.
   
   What if sound is distorted?
   
   
   • Volume controls: Try turning the volume control down on your speakers. If that doesn't work, turn down the volume on your sound card. (Check the documentation that came with your sound card to find out how to do this.) Generally, there is either a volume dial on the back of the card (at the rear of the computer where the speakers plug in) or you use a program often called a "mixer," which you can find under Start, Settings, Control Panel. Some sound cards require that you adjust both controls. You can also check the volume level for your computer: click Start, Settings, and then Control Panel. In the Control Panel, double-click the Multimedia icon. In the Multimedia Properties dialog, check the volume selected in Audio Playback Volume.
   • Driver settings: If you are using a 16-bit sound card, you may be able to change the DMA (direct memory access) setting in the driver. Sounds that are distorted when the driver DMA setting is low will sound better when the driver is set to a higher DMA value. If you are using the Media Vision Pro Audio 16 sound card, set the DMA value to 7. If you are using a Sound Blaster 16 sound card, set the value of the High DMA channel to match the value of the Low DMA channel. For details on changing the settings of your sound card driver, see the manual included with the card.
   Specific Driver Issues
   
   Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16/16ASP
   Audio in Complete Gardening may not play if you are using a Sound Blaster 16 or Sound Blaster 16 ASP sound card. This problem occurs because some computers are unable to use the 16-bit DMA (direct memory access) channel on the Sound Blaster cards.
   
   To correct this problem, switch the HDMA channel to use DMA or 8-bit DMA. See your Sound Blaster documentation or contact Creative Labs for information on how to change this setting.
   
   Turtle Beach Monte Carlo
   When using the Turtle Beach Monte Carlo sound card, sounds may play correctly the first time, then fail on subsequent attempts. To correct this problem, run the Monte Carlo driver utility and change the setup to use the Standard drivers and not the V-synth driver. Audio clips should now play correctly.
   
   For additional information about using Turtle Beach drivers, see your sound card documentation.
   
   Roland Rap-10
   When using the Roland Rap-10 sound card you may experience problems playing compressed audio (most audio in Complete Gardening is compressed). To correct this problem, make sure that you are using Roland Toolworks software version 3.7 or later.
6. Video Cards and Display Problems
   
   In some situations, Complete Gardening may encounter video display problems when using accelerated video drivers, video drivers with a lot of colors, or high resolution video drivers. These situations are described below. Contact your hardware or video card manufacturer about obtaining updated drivers for Windows. If you have a modem, you can obtain the latest 256-color SVGA driver from the Microsoft Download Service at (206) 936-6735.
   
   Less than 256 colors
   Complete Gardening will not run if your display is set to 16-color mode-it is designed to run at 640x480 resolution or higher, with 256 colors or more. If your display is set to show 16 colors, change your display settings to show 256 colors or more. For details on changing your display settings, see your Windows documentation.
   
   More than 256 colors
   Some video cards may encounter problems when using accelerated video drivers, video drivers with more than 256 colors, or high-resolution video drivers.
   
   Error messages and display problems
   If you get the error message, "Complete Gardening cannot start your video driver...," try doing the following:
   
   Make sure video compression is selected:
   Windows 95 users:
   Click Start, Settings, and then Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs. Click the Windows Setup tab, select Multimedia from the list, and then click Details. Make sure that Video Compression is checked.
   
   Windows NT 3.51 users:
   Go to the Program Manager, and from the Main group window, double- click on the Control Panel icon. In the Control Panel, double-click on Drivers and click the Add button. Select (MCI) Microsoft Video for Windows and click OK. Supply the appropriate Windows NT Setup disks or CD-ROM, click OK, and then click Set Default.
   
   If you are having display problems, try doing the following:
   
   
   • Try closing down other programs to ensure you have enough memory.
   • Try switching to a driver supplied by Windows 95 or Windows NT.
   • Change to a different display mode. An alternative to using a different driver is to change your video mode to a standard video mode such as 640x480 resolution with 256 colors.
   For details on how to change drivers or switch to a different display mode, see your Windows documentation.
   
   Specific Driver Issues
   
   S3 video drivers
   If you are running an S3 video driver in 16-bit color mode and you are experiencing problems, try switching to another display mode.
7. Removing Complete Gardening Preferences and Shortcuts
   
   To remove Complete Gardening preferences and shortcuts from your hard disk:
   
   Windows 95
   If you want to remove these, you can delete them with the Add/Remove Programs control panel. For details on using the Add/Remove Programs control panel, see your Windows documentation.
   
   Note: Because the Add/Remove Programs control panel uses some files on the Complete Gardening CD to delete preferences and shortcuts, you must put the Complete Gardening CD in your CD-ROM drive before opening this control panel.
   
   Windows NT
   From Program Manager, select File and then Run. In the Command Line edit box, type d:\data\msgdn32.exe /uninstall (where d: is the name of your CD drive letter).
8. Installing Complete Gardening on a Windows NT System
   
   Log on as an administrator Since Complete Gardening may require some changes to the system, it may not run correctly on a Windows NT system while you're logged on as a user. To work around this, you should log on as an administrator.
   
   Font display problems
   Some articles in Complete Gardening require special fonts to display the full topic correctly. If text does not display correctly in Complete Gardening, you should make sure that all the fonts are installed properly.
   
   

      To install the required font:
      1. Select Fonts from the Control Panel (usually found in the
      Program Manager Main group).
      2. In the Fonts dialog, select Add.
      3. Locate the Complete Gardening CD and navigate to the \data\setup
      directory. The font included on the CD will be displayed in the
      dialog.
      4. Choose Select All and click OK.
   						

   Mouse cursor display problem when using the keyboard If you are running Windows NT 3.51 with a Cirrus Logic Chip set for Video (using the 3.50 video driver), the mouse cursor displays one step behind the area that has tab focus.