Microsoft KB Archive/80359

= Troubleshooting Readme File for Multimedia Works for Windows =

Article ID: 80359

Article Last Modified on 11/16/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Works 2.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Works 4.0a
 * Microsoft Works 4.5a

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This article was previously published under Q80359



2.00 WINDOWS kbsetup kbref



SUMMARY
The following is the complete MSWORKS.TXT file for Works for Windows, multimedia edition, version 2.0 found in the MSWORKS directory.

 For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

132992 Windows 95 Multimedia Questions and Answers



Welcome to Works!
Multimedia is a new technology, and the new combinations of hardware and software can present a wide variety of potential performance and configuration problems. This file contains a number of tips on performance and system configuration that you'll want to check if you have any problem running Works, or if you're just interested in getting the best performance out of your system. Microsoft's Product Support Technicians are always available to help you out, but if you check here first you might find the answer right away.

Sound Problems
If you don't hear any sound when you play animated movies from the Works online reference or tutorial, you'll want to make sure that you have a sound card installed, a speaker hooked up, and the volume set at a comfortable level. You can perform a sound check by selecting the Sound option from the Windows Control Panel.

Improving Performance
Works for Windows, multimedia edition, version 2.0 uses a lot of your system memory and speed to display the animated movies and the online reference. You can improve your system performance by:

 Adding more extended memory to your system. Running Works without the SmartDrive device driver that Windows may have installed on your system. (To disable SmartDrive remove the DEVICE=SMARTDRV.SYS line from your CONFIG.SYS. For more information see Appendix D: Command Lines in the CONFIG.SYS in the Windows 3.0 User's Guide.) Setting up a permanent Windows SwapFile on your hard drive (if you're running on a 386). See &quot;Setting Up a Permanent Windows SwapFile&quot; Chapter 13 in the Windows 3.0 User's Guide. Normally Windows creates its own temporary SwapFile, but if your hard disk is full or fragmented, this temporary file occasionally becomes unavailable. Make this SwapFile at least 2048 Kb. Using a 16 color driver for your display, even if you have a 256 color card, when running on a 20 MHz or slower system with only 2 meg of RAM. (To change the display driver, run the Microsoft Windows Setup program from DOS or Windows and select the standard VGA driver.) Defragment, or &quot;clean up&quot;, your hard disk by running a disk defragmentation program. Third-party utility and disk optimization programs often provide a defragmenting program.</li></ol>

Troubleshooting
If you're not getting any sound from your system, make sure that your speaker or headphones are plugged into the sound jack on your sound card, and not into the sound jack you may have on the front of your CD-ROM drive.

If you're running Works on a 386 with only 2 meg of memory and are encountering out of memory errors, or if the audio is broken up and animations are slow, you should check to see if you're running in Standard mode Windows. Choose About Program Manager... from the Program Manager Help menu to see which mode you're running in.

If you're in Standard mode, make sure that you're starting Windows by typing WIN at the DOS prompt. If Windows defaults to Standard rather than Enhanced mode on a 386 then it's probably because you don't have enough memory free. Try removing SmartDrive from your CONFIG.SYS file, if it's installed, or cutting down the size of any RAM drive you may have set up. (See Appendix D of the Microsoft Windows 3.0 User's Guide.)

When running in Enhanced mode on a 2 meg 386 you may still encounter memory problems or sound breaks. Make sure that when you start Windows you have a permanent SwapFile of at least 2048 Kb. (See Chapter 13 of the Windows 3.0 User's Guide)

Sound breaks on any config with a 256 color card are usually the result of a low memory situation and can usually be fixed by switching back to a 16 color driver; this means Works will need less memory to display the graphics and can use it to keep the sound and animation flowing smoothly.

Things to Note
If you wish to leave the Works tutorial temporarily to run another application that plays sound, quit the tutorial first. Otherwise the other application may not be able to play any sound.

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