Packard Bell Pulsar 16-35 - Software

If you try and install FIFA 97 on a Pulsar machine that has had the Master CD run on it at any time in it's life, then you may find the following series of events take place when you try an install the game through MS-DOS -

• The installation process from the CD will run perfectly.
• You can type DIR and press Enter to view the contents of the CD.
• Typing in FIFADOS to run the game will produce the "CD Error" message, and the game will not run.

There is no solution to this problem at the moment, but Packard Bell are aware of it. The only solution is to install and run the game through Windows 95 (which works perfectly).

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If you get problems with this software not working properly, go to Start / Settings / Control Panel. Double click on Display and go to Settings. Change the Colour Palette to 16-bit High Colour.

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On the Pulsar machines there is a directory C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS which contains a setup program which will reinstall Windows 95 on the computer. The installation will run through with no problem, but when you reboot the machine you will find that it has missed some important VXD files and will not boot into Windows.

There are 2 ways to recover from this, either by running the Master CD, or by deleting the files System.dat and User.dat from the C:\Windows directory, and then re-running the setup again (The only problem will be the programs menu will be in a completely different order).

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You may find you get an error message every time you go into the Control Panel. This is due to a conflict with the ODBC driver versions. The best fix is to delete the file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ODBCCP32.CPL, and the error should stop appearing.

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The Display Colour setting must be set to 256 colours to cure problems with the printing. This is done by going into Start / Settings / Control Panel / Display / Settings.

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If when you go into the works Spreadsheet or Database functions, the file is black with white spots, then go into the Display properties (Start / Settings / Control Panel / Display) and change the Colour Palette to 256 Coors.

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Using the communication button in MS Works 4.5 on Pulsars 24 and above causes an invalid page fault, in a memory address used by the System Board Extension for PnP BIOS. To fix it, you need to edit the regstry, thus:

• Create a new text file on the desktop called serialcom.reg
• Put the following lines in it,
  
  REGEDIT4
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\hardware\devicemap]
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\hardware\devicemap\serialcomm]
  "COM1"="COM1"
  "COM2"="COM2"
  "COM3"="COM3"
  
  
• Save the file then double-click it. Say yes to adding the file to the registry.
• Shutdown and restart the computer and try works again.

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This will normally occur either after running the Master CD, or on running the computer for the first time. It is indicated by a message "The computer is running in auditing mode". It will tell you to shutdown and restart the computer and all will be well. Of course when you do this it brings the same message back up again. To clear this, try,

• Shutdown and restart the computer. Press F8 when it says "Starting Windows 95". From the menu choose number 3 "Safe Mode".
• When it gets into Windows, click on Start, then Run, and in the box type in REGEDIT and click on Ok.
• Then goto HKEY_LOCAL MACHINE/SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/WINDOWS/CURRENT_VERSION/RUN.
• Delete any references to OEMRESET.EXE.
• Shutdown and restart the computer, and all should be fine.

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After running the Master CD, machine locks up with the above error upon trying to access windows. Solution is to go into safe mode (F8 when it says 'Starting Windows 95'). Click on Start / Run, and run the program Sysedit. In the system.ini file remove the line device=ARKDOSHK.VXD.

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When connecting to Compuserve, if the computer gives you "incorrect baud rate" error, then the problem is with the Compuserve software shipped with the Pulsar's. The version is not sufficient to run with the AT6800W modem, the solution is to call Compuserve and ask them to send out the latest version.

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Click on Start, then Run, and run the program REGEDIT. Then got to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE | SOFTWARE | MICROSOFT | WINDOWS | CURRENTVERSION | RUN

You will then see keys for Multimedia Keyboard, and On Screen Display. You can now delete these keys and stop FMEDIA from loading at Startup.

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If when you go into Audio Station it crashes with an error message and goes back into Windows, search the computer for a file LIST.VML and delete it. If this doesn't clear it, then search for another file called LIST.VSL and delete that. These files store the lists of recently accessed songs and midi files, and it means it cannot find one of the files on the list. If you don't want to delete the files you can edit them and remove the offending file from the list manually.

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It would appear this program is not pre installed on some Pulsar machines. You must install it by running the file SETUP.EXE in the "32" folder on the CD. Then follow the install through, making sure to check the box to launch the program. If you do not check this box you may get the message " Missing Sector", which means it's not installed properly.

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If you click on the icon to run the PopUp Greetings program, it will ask you to insert the Print Paks CD. This is in fact the PopUp Greetings / Mighty Maths CD (6721100001).

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If you are missing manuals from the Navigator Software Library, then try this -

• If Navigator is running then close it down.
• Go into Windows Explorer and in the NAV directory open the file NAVBOOKS.INI.
• There is a section for each book in this file. In each section will be a line reading active=x, where x=0 for not active, 1 for active.
• For each book that is required ensure active=1.
• Save and exit the file.
• In the NAV directory you should see a sub-directory called USR1. Delete this directory.
• Close Windows Explorer down. Next time you go into Navigator, the books should be back

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If you install Windows 98, then the MGA Powerdesk software may suddenly stop working. You need to get hold of the latest Matrox Mystique driver from Matrox's web site. The version you're looking for is v4.11. This will only affect the Pulsar machines with the Matrox Mystique graphics card fitted.

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It is not possible to get past level 4 on the version supplied by Packard Bell, as it is only a 4 level demo. Note some of the later Pulsar machines (Pulsar 35 onwards) may have the full version.

Controls - Keyboard

The default keyboard controls are:-

Controls - Mouse

You can constrain movements along a mouse axis using the Controller Configuration Menu. This will allow you to control the rotation of your craft, its forward/reverse speed or left/right strafing.

Controls - Joystick

In Windows 95 you must ensure that the joystick drivers are installed and are calibrated with the appropriate calibration utility. The joystick options will not appear within the game if the joystick driver is not present or the joystick is not plugged-in when SWIV is started. In a similar way to the mouse, you can configure the joystick to control either rotation, movement or strafe.

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You may get this message when trying to load Navigator, the solution is as follows.

• Click on Start/Settings/Control Panel.
• Double Click on ODBC.
• Click on Settings.
• Click on Select, and change the path to C:\NAV\DB.
• Click on Ok, then Ok again, and finally Close.

Basically what has happened is that it is looking at a database in the c:\windows directory instead of the one in the c:\nav\db directory.

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This game has a feature which lets you input commands via the microphone. If it doesn't let you calibrate the microphone, try this

• Go to Start / Settings / Control Panel / System / Device Manager.
• Open up Sound, Video and Games Controllers. Double Click on Sound 16 SRS.
• In the Settings tab, take the tick out of Full Duplex Enabled.
• Close all the boxes down and restart the computer when prompted.

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Media Clips

The cartoon video clips freeze and the sound goes into a loop,

The first thing to check is the screen saver. The Pulsar machines have a virus scan utility which runs when the screen saver comes on. In the Display Properties go to Screen Scan and disable the feature.

Printing Problems

The Display Colour setting must be set to 256 colours to cure problems with the printing. This is done by going into Start / Settings / Control Panel / Display / Settings.

Sound Not Synchronised with Animations

Apparently there is a problem with using Adiboo for more than an hour or so (this includes sleep mode). After this time the sound may not be synchronised with the animations, or the sound will be lost altogether. As per usual Packard Bell are working on a solution for this problem.

Cannot Find Win-G

Sometimes when running Adiboo you may get a message saying it cannot install Win-G. The solution is to go into the Display Properties (Start / Settings / Control Panel / Display / Settings), and change the colour palette to 256 colours.

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Phantom Phone Calls

According to Packard Bell the best solution is to install the updated drivers for the modem.

Before running the updated drivers, you must uninstall the modem by double clicking on the USR icon in the Control Panel. You also need to make sure there are no other modems installed. Finally you may also need to delete a key from the Registry (Start / Run / Regedit), look for either HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ENUM\ISAPNP\USR6010 or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ENUM\MODEMWAVE, and delete which one you find.

To confuse matters, there are 2 versions of the restore disk, one bootable, and one not. If you have the bootable disk, just restart the computer with the disk in, and follow the instructions to update the drivers.

If you have the non-bootable version, then restart the computer without the disk in, and when it asks for the location of the drivers, put the disk in, and point it to A:\USR\OPTIONS\CABS, and it should install the modem.

Sleep Mode and Comm Central

To get a Pulsar to go into sleep mode by pressing the button with Comm Central running, follow these steps -

• Go into Control Panel.
• Double click on the "Power" icon.
• Click on the "Advanced" button.
• Take the tick OUT of the "Wake up Computer When the Phone Rings" option.
• Click on Troubleshooting.
• Make sure APM 1.0 is ticked.
• Click on "Apply".

The PC will still wake up when a Fax / Voice call is received. It does not wake up on the 1st ring, but will receive the message and wake up when Comm Central registers that the message is there.

Microphone Muted

When using the speaker phone option in Comm Central, it displays MIC and a picture of a speaker with a cross through it and mutes the microphone. However it does not affect the windows volume control levels.

Run Regedit, and go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/PBR/CCentral/Settings/TAPI

and change the use mixer value from 01 to 00.

Recording Poor Quality

The answer phone message is stored in the following file,

C:\CCENTRAL\SUGGREET\GREET0.GCR

This file is just a renamed WAV file. To solve the problem, open the file in Sound Recorder (Start/Programs/Accessories/Multimedia) and re-save it.

Removing Comm Central From Startup

To stop Comm Central from running automatically when you switch the machine on then,

• Load up Comm Central.
• Click on the Settings Button and click on the Advanced Tab.
• Take the tick out of the box for "Automatically Load This Program at Startup".
• Click on Apply, then Ok.
• With Comm Central still on the screen, Go to Start / Shutdown / Restart the Computer, and click on Yes.

Inbox Setup Wizard Runs When Comm Central Opened

Whenever you run Comm Central, the Inbox Setup Wizard appears. To solve this problem,

• Close Comm Central if it is running.
• Click on Start / Settings / Control Panel.
• Double Click on Add/Remove Programs, then click on Windows Setup.
• Take the Tick out of Windows Messaging, click on 'YES' for the message that appears.
• Click on OK. When it asks you to restart the computer, choose 'NO'.
• Goto Start / Find / Files or Folders.
• Search for Mailbox.
• Delete the files "Mailbox.Pab" and "Mailbox.Pst".
• Shut the computer down and restart.
• When the computer gets back into Windows, go back into Add/Remove programs and Windows Setup.
• Put the tick back in for Microsoft Fax, and click on 'Yes' for the message that appears.
• Click on OK.
• Go through the Inbox Setup Wizard when it appears.

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Most sound problems in Windows 95 on the newer PB machines can normally be traced back to the software Wave table. Known problems are -

Comm Central, Creative Writer, Netmeeting, Dragon Dictate, Talk to Me, Voicetype, MS Works, Autoroute Express, Funschool 5, Quake, Toy Story, Star Trek Generations, EZ Language, Final Fantasy 7, Discworld, and many others all crashing, giving distorted sound, not installing properly, or giving General Protection Faults when the Caps Lock key is pressed. May also get problems upgrading the machine to more than 64MB RAM.

To disable the Wavetable -

• Go into Windows 95.
• Close Comm Central.
• Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel, System and Device Manager.
• Click on (+) next to Sound, Video and Game Controllers.
• Highlight Sound 16 SRS PNP & Wave Table.
• Click on Properties.
• Click on Settings.
• Remove the tick from "Software Wave Table Enabled".
• Click on OK.
• Shut down the computer and restart.

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Everytime you start the machine it goes straight into Kiddos and won't let you out. The solution -

• Right-Click on the desktop, and create a new shortcut.
• On the command line enter EXPLORER, then click Next, then Finish.
• You now have a new icon on the desktop called EXPLORER, double-click on it.
• In the left hand panel double-click on the Kiddos folder, and then on the CyberTrio folder.
• In the right hand panel double-click on CyberTrio Setup.
• Now select Advanced Mode and click on OK.
• Close the Explorer Window, and delete the Explorer Icon.
• You can now reboot, the PC will start up into full Windows.

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