Packard Bell 9000 Series - Software

One or more instances of explorer starts every time you start windows. Look in win.ini and check the number of spaces between items in the load= and run= lines. If there is more than one space, explorer will start once for each space. Also check for commas at the end of these lines and take out any you find.

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Getting a hieroglyphics on-screen keyboard when trying to run this program on a Packard Bell - just delete the WP Boxdrawing Font. Go into Start / Settings / Control Panel / Fonts, Highlight the font and press the delete key on the keyboard.

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Problems with this program locking up on the PB 900x series. According to Microsoft it is due to the display driver. The solution to the problem is to install the correct display driver in Windows 95.

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Business Cards

Using Page Wizard Assistant - Business Card & Paper. If the printer is set for A4 size paper - business cards will be in one column down the centre. If the printer is set for Letter 8.5 x 11 - business cards will be in two columns filling the page.

Task Wizard Crashes

After going right through the task wizard, you click on the 'Create' button at the end. Instead of bringing up the publication it crashes back to Windows. Sound familiar? Read on...

First of all shutdown and restart the computer. Then click on Start / Settings / Control Panel. Double click on Add/Remove Programs. On the list that appears double click on Publisher and follow on screen instructions until you get to a menu. Choose Remove All, and again follow on screen instructions.

After you've done that click on Start / Programs / Packard Bell / PBSETUP (or Start / Tools / PBRESTORE, depending on your model). Insert the Master CD, and from the menu choose Publisher. Follow the on screen Instructions, making sure that you choose the option to Add All when it appears, and it should reinstall Publisher back onto the machine. Case Solved.

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This software is similar to Microsoft Encarta, there is a MEDIA section which allows for the playback of Sounds, Video Clips, Animations, Photos, and Maps. There is a Print, Copy, and Save option from the menu, these options are only available when viewing Photos and Maps. Whilst it is possible to pause animations and videos it is NOT possible to Print, Copy, or Save the image.

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This software only works with the PB Top Drawer Scanner and no other.

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If you get this problem where the game won't work because WING32.DLL is 'missing' then you will have to run the INSTALL.BAT from the INSTALL directory on the CD-ROM. i.e. D:\INSTALL\INSTALL.BAT you can then run D:\VCHESSW.EXE

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Word prints "Packard Bell" on all my envelopes

On machines with Word pre-loaded, you will get "Packard Bell" printed on envelopes. To remove this click on "Tools" then "Envelopes and Labels" you will find the return address is set to "Packard Bell" . Delete it and put in the correct return address

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Removing recent file list from Works 4.0

If you want to remove the list of recently saved files in Works 4.0 and you feel confident enough to play around in the registry, then here goes:

Run REGEDIT from the Start Menu
Click on: HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Microsoft / Works / 4.0 / Recent File List

All the files are in here. Double click on the ones you want to remove. Delete the entry and click on Ok.

Share.exe in Works

If works is asking for share.exe.Try editing system.ini and under the 386enh section put the following line

Device=vshare.386

Runtime Error : R6001 Null Pointer Assignment

This error normally appears when trying to save a document in RTF format. The solution is to Edit the file CONFIG.SYS and ensure that the line FILES= is present and set to 20 or greater.

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My First Encyclopedia crashing every time you tried to access the previously saved images that were residing along the top menu bar in the Paint program contained in the Enclopedia.Turned out that the problem lay with the images contained in the

c:\ka\tree\paint

directory.The images were saved with the extension *.dib.There were only two thumbnail images residing on the menu bar in the program but when I went into the above directory there appeared to be 4 files with the extension *.dib. Simply removed all the dib files and went back into the paint program and was able to create, save and load once more.

Can't Load Logo.wsb

When loading My First Encyclopedia, you get an error message along the lines of Midi Driver Error cannot load Logo.Wsb.

This is caused by the software wave table being disabled. Just re-enable it by going to Start / Settings / Control Panel / System / Device Manager. Double click on Sound, Video & Game Controllers, and then double click on Sound 16 SRS. Go to settings and put the tick back in for Software Wave Table. If you have disabled the software wave table to get another piece of software working, this of course will not now work.

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In the game Ecco the Dolphin, to bring the main menu up during the game, press the ESC key. This will bring a picture of a dolphin with the menus across the top of the Window.

The keys to play the game are -

Z - Sonar
Z - Map (Hold Down Key) / Clear Map
X - Charge
C - Speed Up
P - Pause / Resume Game
Arrow Keys - Move Around

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Toolbars

Despite what it says in the manual, the version of Corel Draw 4 that comes with the Packard Bell 9000 series computers does not have a toolbar at the top of the screen. The only icon based menu is the floating toolbar down the left hand side of the screen.

Serial Number

This is normally on a piece of paper that comes with the CD, but if you've lost it try this code - CD4-139-437-441

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This program doesn't like the S3 Trio 64V+ Graphic Card. This means that the program will crash as soon as you try to run it. The solution is to,

• Click on Start / Settings / Control Panel.
• Go into System, then Performance.
• Click on Graphics, and set the Hardware Acceleration to Zero.
• Close all the screens down, and the program should now run.

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It is not possible to get past level four on the version supplied with Packard Bell computers, as it is only a 4 level demo 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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If after installing this piece of software it keeps crashing, will not detect the microphone, or gives you error message "APA=SMCONNECT.:RC=10 'Failed to create empty document'", then you need to disable the Software Wave table feature on the Sound Card. This is done as follows,

• 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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Whenever you run any software in either the "Fun & Games or "Kids Corner" sections, you get the message "Invalid INI File" and it leaves you back on the main Windows 95 screen.

This normally means that the RUNCD program in the C:\PBDRIVERS directory has been deleted, and you need to use the Master CD to reinstall the PBDRIVERS directory back on again (Option 2 from the Master CD menu).

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The following error message occurs when trying to insert clipart, from the "Microsoft Clipart Gallery".

"Cannot Insert Object - You may be out of memory or disk space, or the registration for the source application is not correct. Try closing other applications or deleting some documents. If that does not work, try reinstalling the source application again."

The reason why is the clipart program is not resgistered, to resolve this run the artgalry.exe program in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Artgalry\ directory. A message will come up say "This program must be start fron within another application", the program is then registered.

That should resolve problem, if not then try reinstalling Works from the Master CD.

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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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Reinstalling Comm Central

Click on Start, go to Settings and choose Control Panel. In Control Panel double click on Add/Remove Programs, and select the Windows Setup tab. Take the ticks out of the boxes for Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Fax and click on Ok, then click on Ok at the bottom of the screen. This will then remove the items selected and tell you that you will need to restart the machine for the changes to take effect, click on the No button. Double click on the Add/Remove Programs icon again and from the Install\Uninstall tab on the screen select Comm Central from the list, and then click on the Add\Remove button. If the message comes up telling you that you need to restart the machine to have the changes to take effect click on Yes, if it doesn't click on Start, go to Shutdown, select Restart the Computer and then click on Yes.

Once the machine has restarted and loaded back into Windows 95 click on Start, go to Programs, then Packard Bell and select PB Setup (or Start / Tools / PBRestore). Insert the Packard Bell European Master CD into the CD Rom drive and from the list select Comm Central and click on Ok. If the program asks you to confirm the selection you have made confirm it and continue with the installation, selecting all the default settings if it asks you ant questions. Once the installation is complete you may be asked if you want to restart the machine for the changes to take effect, select No from the option.

Then click on Start, go Settings and select Control Panel. In Control Panel double click on Add/Remove Programs and select the Windows Setup tab. Put a tick in the box next to Microsoft Fax, and it will prompt you to install Microsoft Exchange as well, click on the Yes box and a tick will also appear next to Microsoft Exchange, then click on Ok. This will reinstall Microsoft Exchange. If it comes up at this time asking you to configure Microsoft Exchange follow the instructions on the screen filling in details when required remembering to take the tick out of the option for Internet Mail on the intial options screen. Once configured, click on Start, go to Shutdown, and select Restart the Computer and click on Yes. If it didn't ask you to configure Microsoft Exchange at this point then click on Start, go to Shutdown, select Restart the Computer and click on Yes.

Once the machine has restarted Microsoft Exchange should ask you to configure the setup, follow the instructions on the screen filling in details when required, remembering to take the tick out of the option for Internet Mail on the initial options screen.

After Microsoft Exchange is configured you should notice that in the bottom right hand corner of the screen you should have a telephone icon and a fax machine icon, if so then Comm Central has been reinstalled and is working correctly. If there isn't an icon for the fax machine, but there is one for the telephone then double click on the telephone and this will bring up Comm Central, if the fax icon still hasn't appeared click on Start, go to Shutdown, select Restart the Computer and click on Yes.

When machine has restarted you will have both the telephone and the fax icon in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. This means that Comm Central has been reinstalled and configured correctly.

Cannot Initialise the Modem

When the machine is booting up, you get the error message about it cannot initialize the modem and to check the cable's etc... Before checking/reinstalling the modem, check the startup group to make sure that it isn't trying to load two copies of Comm Central.

Not Receiving Faxes

Double click on the Inbox icon on the desktop, and then click on the tools menu and choose services. Click on Microsoft Fax and choose properties. Click on the Modem tab and choose properties again. In the Answer Mode section make sure there is a dot next to Answer After and then put in the number of rings until the computer kicks in (normally 3).

Sometimes having extra services like BT Call Minder can cause faxes not to be received. If you have this, try setting the number of rings to 2.

Cannot Hear Call

When using Comm Central customer complains that they can not hear anyone who dials into his computer, or anyone who they dial into. Try the following:- Open up the Volume Control program and click the Advance button and make sure that Mic Monitoring is NOT enabled.

Strange Dialing Prefixes

When dialing a number it adds a strange sequence of numbers before dialing the number. Go into Comm Central, make sure you're in the phone section, then goto to global and dialing options. Make sure that the Use Calling Card box isn't ticked and AT&T dialing prefixes is disabled.

Cover Sheets

To get a fax coversheet in Comm Central, first you must move the coversheet files (*.cpe) from the windows directory to the CCENTRAL directory.

To get Microsoft FAX to see the coverpages, you need to reset the ARCHIVE bit of the .CPE (Cover Page) files, this is done by -

• Start/Find/Files And Folders
• Search for *.CPE
• Edit/Select All
• Right click on any .CPE file once, select PROPERTIES
• The Archive flag may have a GREY tick in the box, or no tick at all - click until the tick is black.

No Transport Provider

"No transport provider" when trying to fax from Comm Central. To clear it Shutdown and Restart in MSDOS Mode. Type in CD\EXCHANGE, and then press Enter. Next type in DEL MAILBOX.* and press Enter. Type EXIT, and press Enter to get back into Windows. Double click on Inbox, and let exchange set up the default MAILBOX.PAB, and MAILBOX.PST.

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.

Can't Record Main Greeting

After installing Comm Central 1.5.16 (REFFIUP00890101) it isn't possible to record a main greeting. The solution is to disable the Software Wave Table.

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£ sign

There is a bug in the version of Corel WP 7.0 supplied with the 9000 series PB's. You cannot get a £ sign in the normal way from the keyboard. This is not a configuration problem. PB are aware of this prob and have produced a patch disk (REFFIUP00720101) to cure the problem.

Fractions

Minor point, but if you can't get the fraction symbols in Wordperfect 7, you need to do the following:

• Click on Tools.
• Choose QuickCorrect.
• Type the numbers in the left-hand box of the fraction you want.
• Press Ctrl+W
• Choose the ≤ symbol with the mouse.
• Click "ADD."
• Choose Insert and Close.
• Click Close.

Invalid Page Fault when using "Ask Perfect Help"

When clicking Help | Ask the Perfect Expert, the following error "WPWIN7 caused an Invalid Page Fault in PFNL70.PFC at 014F:36AEBLCB" is received. In Quattro Pro clicking on Help | Ask the Perfect Expert gives the error "QPW caused a Invalid Page Fault in PFNL70.PFC at 014F:36AE50BC".

Solution:

Copying the file PFNL70.PFC from the Corel\Office7\Shared\PFit7 directory on the WordPerfect CD-ROM into the same directory on the hard drive corrected the problem.

Can Only Type in Bold

If you can only type in Bold, clicking the Bold button makes no difference. Then go to Format, Document, Initial Font, and change the style to Italic, and click on Ok. Start typing in Italic, and then go back to Format, Document, Initial Font, and change back to "Regular" style.

Cannot Move Margins

Interesting one this. Customer couldn't move the right hand margin (By clicking on it and dragging it ) after running the Master CD. Turns out that the problem was down to her printer driver (She had a Canon BJ300), so I installed a compatible driver, in this case the IBM Proprinter X24e, and set it as the default printer. And everything worked fine.

Serial Number on CD

If you reinstall Corel Wordperfect from the CD supplied by Packard Bell, it will ask you to enter a serial number. Click on Next and it will tell you it is an invalid serial number. If you click on Yes it will carry on installing. As it is an OEM version, there is no need for a serial number.

Word Perfect Template

The default template opened by Word Perfect is called wp7uk.wpt. If when you open a new file it is not blank, then do the following,

A Required .DLL SHWINB70.DLL Was Not Found

When Word Perfect 7 is loaded it generate the above error message. The solution is to search the hard disk drive (using Start / Find / Files or Folders) for all copies of SHWINB70.DLL. Then apart from the copy in C:\COREL\OFFICE7\SHARED\PFIT7 delete all other occurences.

Word Perfect 7 caused an Invalid Page Fault in Module WPWIN7

Lauching WP7 gives the above error message. Solution is to rename the default template file called WP7UK.WPT on the UK version (WP7US.WPT on US) which is located in C:\COREL\OFFICE7\TEMPLATE directory with a new extention (i.e. WP7UK.OLD). This should solve the problem by creating a new default template which is stored in this file.

Word Perfect Help Error in Office 97

When using the short cut keys in Microsoft Office 97 you get the following message -

"Word Cannot Find Word Perfect Help File (Wdwph8.hlp)

The solution is to go to the Tools Menu, Options, and in the General Tab remove the tick from "Help for Word Perfect Users"

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Stopping Navigator Loading at Startup

To stop Navigator loading at Startup, firstly click on Start / Settings / Taskbar / Start Menu Programs / Remove. Look for the line called Startup, and double click on it. Click on the Navigator line and then the remove button.

If this doesn't work click on Start and then Run. In the run box type in SYSEDIT and click on OK. Look for the C:\WINDOWS\WIN.INI file and then remove C:\NAV\SPLASH.EXE from the run= line.

If that still doesn't work Click on Start / Programs / Tools and look for PBSETUP. A screen with appear with FMEDIA options, click on the continue at the bottom, and this will bring up the NAVIGATOR options, where you will be able to stop it loading on startup.

Deleting Navigator

As long as Navigator isn't loading at Startup, then it is perfectly okay to delete the C:\NAV directory using Windows Explorer, as it will not affect any other programs.

Audio Station

Some versions of the Master CD does not restore the Voyetra directory on the PB900x machines. This is normally shown by the Audio Station not working in Navigator. To restore the directory follow these steps,

• Boot using the Master CD, and choose option 2 from the menu.
• Select the directory C:\PBTOOLS\YOYETRA and press ENTER.
• Chose option 6 from the menu. At the DOS prompt type - (pressing Enter after each line).
  • C:
  • CD\WINDOWS\COMMAND
  • XCOPY C:\PBTOOLS\VOYETRA /S 8
• Then Reboot the computer.

Passwords

To clear any Navigator passwords, delete the file C:\NAV\NAV.INF

Online Manuals

Here is how to access all the online PBell manuals, without using the Navigator program.

Run D:\BOOKS\MVIEWER2.EXE

Loads the Multimedia Viewer. Click on FILE and OPEN and you get a list of MVB files covering such things asPentium Users Guide, Getting Started, MSMoney, Troubleshooting, Remote Control etc.

Incidentally, you can also run the Navigator tutorial (should you so desire), without Navigator loaded.

D:\TUTORIAL\LAUNCHER.EXE

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

Kidspace and Drawers

If you find that when saving files ,in an application, in Kidspace that files do not automatically get stored in the drawers. Then do the following,

• Click on the glasses icon on the bottom right of the work surface (this will name all icons).
• Click on Preferences.
• Click on Modify Applications.
• Click on Select and then on the application icon.
• Take the tick out of Disable automatic document collection for this application.
• Click on Done.

Log In Prompt

If you keep getting a log in prompt for Navigator, do this to clear it -

• Go into Navigator
• Click on the users tab at top left
• Click on change security
• Type in a user password if one was set
• Choose the option to disable users in navigator and click done.

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If you get a the error "A 16bit communication application is trying to access your modem". This is caused by the new 32bit communications driver being used by PB.

The Solution is to Edit the System.ini and change the line:-

comm.drv=pbcomm.drv
TO
comm.drv=comm.drv

Save the changes and then reboot the computer.

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This message appears when you try to access the modem. Before running through the full modem diagnostics check the following -

• If you use Comm Central or Microsoft Fax, it could be there is a fax stuck in the Outbox. To clear it Shutdown and Restart in MSDOS Mode. Type in CD\EXCHANGE, and then press Enter. Next type in DEL MAILBOX.* and press Enter. Type EXIT, and press Enter to get back into Windows. Double click on Inbox, and let exchange set up the default MAILBOX.PAB, and MAILBOX.PST.
• Check for any other Comms Software running in the Background, ie Voice View Autodetect or PSWin, and close it down.

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When printing a fax all you get is a black sheet of paper. To cure this go into the printer's properties and change the graphics setting to monochrome instead of colour or automatic.

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If you get the message "DLL file AWCODC32.DLL not found" when booting up into Windows 95, it is actually the Fax Codec file that is missing and is required by Comm Central. Reinstalling Comm Central will fix the problem.

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Most sound problems in Windows 95 on the 9000 machines can normally be traced back to the Software Wave table. Known problems are -

Comm Central, Creative Writer, Netmeeting, Dragon Dictate, Talk to Me, MS Works, Autoroute Express, Funschool 5, Quake, Toy Story, Star Trek Generations, Voicetype, 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.

To disable the Wave table -

• 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.

The only downside of this will be that My First Encyclopedia will no longer work, as it needs the Software Wave table.

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