Installation Instructions

To install your GetAhead course, insert the CD-ROM into your Primary CD drive. If you only have one drive, note the designated drive letter from your "My Computer" window. Generally this will be drive "D". If you have more than one drive then insert the CD-ROM into the drive with the lowermost designated letter. (see explanation under Technical Solutions).

Then launch the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows Key + R Key together. With older keyboards and or Windows versions you access Run from Start Menu > Run.

Type D:\setup (where D is your Primary drive) then click OK and simply follow the instructions on screen.

Compatibility issues

All GetAhead courses are MPC Level II multimedia compatible.

Since first launching the GetAhead series of CD-ROM courseware, over 99% of our customers have experienced no difficulties or problems whatsoever.

Where difficulties have been reported, in most cases these were solved by ensuring that the Readme.txt file was read before using the course for the first time and:

1) The PC meets the minimum specification.
2) The PC video settings are properly configured.
3) The PC has an up-to-date screen driver.
4) The CD is in the primary drive.
5) The course licence number was entered correctly.

Technical Solutions

Some customers with multimedia machines at the lower end of the minimum system specification have reported certain difficulties related to their specific PC sound card. Solutions to this and other reported difficulties are reproduced below:

CD Primary Drive
Error message "The course CD drive cannot be found"
You will receive this error message if you have more than one CD drive and you do not put the CD in your primary CD drive e.g. the CD drive with the lowest letter designation (A being the lowest).

For example, you may have a DVD/CD Writable drive designated (D:) and a standard CD drive designated (E:) In this case your Primary CD drive is (D:) and this is the drive you must put the CD-ROM into.

If you have done this but the CD-ROM still cannot be found, then manually enter the drive path letter only (e.g. D) when prompted, omitting any trailing colon or slash.

Licence Number
Please ensure that you enter the licence number found on the inside of the CD-ROM case, exactly as it appears including the " - " hyphens/dashes.

Problem Sound Cards
If you can see an animated head but there is no accompanying voice, then there is a problem with your sound card. This is unusual but does affect a few machines. If you experience this problem then turn off the animation. Instructions on how to do this are provided in the Readme file. Turning off the animation does not affect the course content.

Video Settings
It is important to check video settings before using the course for the first time. In Windows XP and Vista, video settings should be correct by default. For earlier versions instructions on how to do this are provided in the Readme file.

Screen Resolution
GetAhead courses are designed to run on personal computers with any widely used screen resolution. If a 640 X 480 resolution is selected (VGA) the product window occupies the total screen area. If a 800 X 600 resolution is selected (often called super VGA, or SVGA), the product window occupies about 75% of the total screen area.

If some of the text appears "strange" (i.e. text wraps oddly and looks unclear) this is because you are using a high resolution screen driver which does not support “small fonts”. GetAhead courses can be used at high screen resolutions, for example, 1024 x 768 and 1280 x 1024. However, at these resolutions you must select a screen driver that supports “small fonts”. Your Windows Help facility provides instructions on this.

Screen Drivers
If some of the screens appear "strange" (i.e. garish colours) or the system "hangs" then there is a screen driver compatibility problem. GetAhead courses have been developed to run with all standard and up-to-date screen drivers and you should switch to a standard screen driver. Your Windows Help facility provides instructions on how to do this.

Compatibility Mode
Error message: "xxcont01.exe is a read only file in DOS. Changes cannot be saved"

If you see this error message using Windows XP:

1) Locate the file "xxcont01.exe" file using Windows Explorer.
(Note where xx = 2 letters e.g. tm or bn etc.)
2) Right-click on the file name.
3) Select "Properties" from the pop-up menu.
4) Click the "General" tab and ensure that "Read-only" attribute is NOT selected.
5) Click the "Compatibility" tab.
6) Click "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
7) Select "Windows 95" from the drop down menu.
8) Click "OK"

If you see this error message using Windows Vista, right-click the icon for the program, click Properties, and then click the Compatibility tab. Under Settings follow the instructions for Compatibility Mode as XP above.

Windows NT Permissions
If you see the error message"xxcont01.exe is a read only file in DOS. Changes cannot be saved" and you are using Windows NT then you must update permissions for the directory in which the course is installed.
(Note where xx = 2 letters e.g. tm or bn etc.)

Windows NT Error
Error message: "Cannot run the 16-bit program. The application is not supported by Windows NT"
This problem may occur when a program attempts to access an incorrect version, outdated, missing, or damaged DLL file. This means that there is a problem with your own NT4 installation, that you may have been unaware of.  To resolve this problem expand the following files from the original Windows NT installation disc and copy them to the <systemRoot>\system32 directory.

Compobj.dll
Ddeml.dll
Ole2.dll
Ole2disp.dll
Storage.dll
Ctl3dv2.dll
Ole2nls.dll
stdole.tlb
Typelib.dll
Ver.dll

NOTE: The Ver.dll file is located in the <systemRoot>\system folder and the <systemRoot>\system32 folder, and both versions have the same file size and date. (<systemRoot> is the Windows folder on your machine e.g. "C:\WINNT"). The cause of this problem is usually an incomplete or improper installation of an NT application - the setup leaves certain files damaged or outdated.

Windows 2000 - Application Not Responding
Using Windows 2000 it is possible for an application to sporadically lock/freeze up. This freeze can be described in the following ways:
- The application stops responding
- Mouse Pointer is still active
- ALT-TAB Switching semi-functional
- Unable to interact with, start or close other programs
- Task Manager will not respond
- CPU usage at or near 100%
- Unable to Shut Down
- Only recourse is to Reset/Reboot the machine

This problem is the result of a bug in the Windows 2000 memory allocations routines. Microsoft provide a fix for a memory allocation error in Windows 2000. This bug was fixed with Service Pack 3 which we recommend that you download and install.

Windows 2000 Error
Error message: "Initialization Failed. Not enough memory or the file is damaged"
This occurs on launching an application on the end-user machine, when logged into Windows 2000 as a standard "User”. This is because the application needs access to the Windows temp folder.  Under Windows 2000, when logged in as a standard user, permissions to this folder are not allowed.  For the end-user to run the course on Windows 2000 when logged in as a "standard" User, the shared rights of the "User" group will need to be altered by the Administrator. To configure the "User" permissions to allow the course to launch:

1.  Log in as an administrator.
2.Open "Computer Management" from Windows "Start: button :Programs\ administrative Tools. If this item is not in the menu, right click on the taskbar and select properties. Click on the advanced tab, and check "Display Administrative Tools".
3.Expand the Shared Folders and click on the "Shares" folder.
4.From the Action menu select "New File Share".
5.In the "Create Shared Folder" dialog window, click the "Browse..." button.
6.Find the folder Windows is installed to. By default this should be "WINNT". It is possible that windows is installed in "WINDOWS" (this may be the case when upgrading from Windows98). Then select the temp folder and click OK.
7.Enter a Share name, e.g. "Temp" and Share description, e.g. "Shared Window's Temp Folder", then click next.
8.Select "All users have full control" then click "Finish".When asked to create another shared folder, click "No".
9.You should now see "Temp" (or the share name given previously), in the list of shared folders.Right click on the "Temp" share, and select "Properties" from the right-click menu.
10. Click the "security" Tab, then click the "Advanced..." button.
11. Select "Users" in the edit field under "Permission Entries"
12. Click the "View/Edit..." Button.
13. Click the checkboxes under the "Allow" column for all permissions except: "Delete", "Change Permissions", and "Take Ownership"
14. Click OK to close the "Permission Entry" property sheet.
15. Click OK to close the "Access Control Settings" property sheet.
16. Click OK to close the "Temp Properties" property sheet.

Still Having Problems?

If having tried all the above solutions including reading the Readme.txt file included with the CD-ROM, then you either have a hitherto unreported issue or your CD-ROM may be damaged.

In either event, please contact us explaining your problem in detail.