MAVIS BEACON TEACHES TYPING VERSION 11

PLATFORM: WINDOWS 95/98/NT4.0

READ ME
We have outlined some helpful troubleshooting tips for the most common
problems associated with Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing.

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Windows 95/98/NT
Pentium 166
32 MB RAM
4x CD-ROM drive
170 MB free disk space
SVGA with 640x480 resolution or better, 2 MB of Video RAM
Windows compatible 16 bit sound card
Optional:
Color printer at 300 dpi or better is recommended
28.8 kb modem for Internet access
20 MB of hard disk space for AOL Service software installation
* Windows NT Service Pack 4 must be installed to enable DirectX support for Mavi
s
Beacon Teaches Typing. If you are unfamiliar with Service Pack 4,
please contact Microsoft for additional information.

FREE BONUS CONTENT

Register to receive these additional typing content files. The 50 FREE
CUSTOM LESSONS will challenge your fingers with a large number of
varied content and lesson venues. These files were created with the
beginner in mind. Modify these custom lessons to reflect your level of
proficiency by selecting the MODIFY option located to the right of the
CUSTOM LESSON DESIGNER.

INSTALLING / UNINSTALLING
1) Installing
If the installation is canceled for any reason, restart your computer
before trying to install again.
Installation uses most of your system resources. On a minimum
specification computer this may cause the install to run longer than 20
minutes.
On some systems equipped with hard-drive of a capacity of 2 gigabytes
or larger, the Mavis Beacon installer may incorrectly report the amount
of hard-drive space available prior to the install. If you receive this
message and have sufficient space to complete the installation,
disregard this message and continue with the installation.
2) Compact Installation
If you take the CD out of the drive while the program is running, you
may receive one of several error messages. Be sure to have the disk in
the CD-ROM drive at all times during the running of Mavis Beacon
Teaches Typing.
If your installed version of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is performing
below your expectations, please re-install using the Typical
Installation option.

3) Deep Directories
Under certain custom circumstances, installing to deep directories
(more than 128 characters) may inhibit the proper uninstalling of
directory names. Refer to your Windows documentation concerning
manually deleting directories.

4) Install Directories
Installing Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing to a directory that contains
non-alphanumeric characters may produce an error condition. Avoid using
non-alphanumeric characters during installs.

5) Uninstalling
Uninstalling the Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing under Windows NT 4.0 may
produce any error message similar to "This application uses
CTL3D32.dll, which is not the correct version. This version of
CTL3D32.dll is designed for Win32s or Windows 95 systems." Bypassing
this error will return you to the uninstalling of the program. If you
would like to manually delete this file, please refer to your Windows
NT documentation or contact Microsoft for additional assistance.
Mavis is easy to uninstall. If you have important lesson information
saved, be sure to back it up to diskettes or tape. If you uninstall
Mavis Beacon from your hard-drive, be sure all files in the Mavis
Beacon 11 subdirectory are deleted.
Please do not uninstall while the program is minimized. Mavis will not
uninstall properly in this case.

TROUBLESHOOTING
1) Instability / Crashes
An IBM-PC Pentium 166Mhz is the minimum system on which Mavis Beacon
Teaches Typing will run. If you are experiencing slow access time with
the program on your computer, uninstall Mavis, and then install to your
local hard-drive using the Typical installation option. The program's
access time should improve.
We recommend you do not use Mavis while multitasking with other
products. Multitasking with Mavis may cause the program to become
unstable. Close other programs you may have open.
Exit Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing prior to changing your system
settings. If you change system settings while the Mavis application is
open, this may produce unpredictable behavior in the program, such as
an error message or a crash. It may also cause the icebergs to be
misaligned in the Penguin Crossing game.

2) Video Corruption
Video palette corruption may occur during the opening animations or
transition screens in the program. If you are running Mavis Beacon in
non-full screen mode, try changing your video resolution to 64,000
colors instead of 256 colors. Example: if you are currently running
640x480x256 colors, change the resolution to 640x480 HiColor(16bit) or
640x480x64k. If you are not familiar with making this change, please
consult your video card manual or call the manufacturer for assistance.
If you encounter graphic corruption after your screensaver has been
running over Mavis Beacon, it is recommended that you temporarily
disable your screensaver to resolve the issue. To disable your screen
saver, click on START, select SETTINGS and choose CONTROL PANEL. Double
Click on Display and select the Screen Saver tab located at the top of
the window. Once the window is available, select the type of screen
saver as NONE, and try Mavis once again.
If you encounter an error when running Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing in
full screen mode, try disabling DirectX hardware acceleration. To
access this option, click on START, select SETTINGS, and choose CONTROL
PANEL. Once the Control Panel window is visible, double click on SYSTEM
icon. Select the PERFORMANCE tab and click on the button labeled
GRAPHICS located at the bottom of this dialog. Adjust the ACCELERATION
control to NONE and restart your computer. Try Mavis Beacon Teaching
Typing once again.
If Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is displaying incorrectly, you may
choose to run the Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing in non-full screen mode.
You may choose to turn off the FULL SCREEN option. This option is
located under USER in the SETTING menu located at the bottom of the
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing program. In the USER screen, turn the FULL
SCREEN option OFF. Restart Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing once again.
If this does not alleviate the issue or if the above option is not
available, try disabling full screen mode by modifying the file called
Mavis10.ini. Click on START, choose FIND and slide over to FIND FILES
OR FOLDERS. In the FIND: ALL FILES window, type in Mavis10.ini in the
NAMED field and make sure that the LOOK IN field is pointing to the
hard-drive where Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is installed. Once you
have opened the mavis10.ini file, find the line which states
SwitchMode=1 and modify the setting to read, SwitchMode=0. Save your
changes and try running Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing once more.

3) General Settings & Behavior

The System Settings are not user specific. For example, if you turn the
Audio Off, it will stay Off for each new user.
If you wish to take an Intermediate or Advanced lesson, you must start
as a Beginning Typist and advance as the program allows (pressing the
right arrow in the Lesson Area is a quick way to advance through lesson
levels).
If your name gets cut off in the progress chart screen, sign in as a
new user and abbreviate the name. The limit of the name field is 19
characters.
While typing in the standard QWERTY environment, all 10-key lesson
statistics will be presented in WPM. For accurate statistics for number
practice, modify the user setting to 10-key mode (click on SETTING and
select USER from the pop-up list. Choose the 10-key mode option from
the USER SETTING screen).
When typing in 10-key mode, the Space Junk game will not be available
in the Game Hallway. This game is specifically designed to use letter
patterns only and is not compatible with numeric content.
If running the application in non-full screenmode and if the Windows
Taskbar is hiding the Mavis taskbar at the bottom, set the Windows
Taskbar to Auto Hide.

4) Custom Lessons
Be sure the text is saved as ASCII/text only. You may visit the Mavis
Beacon Web Site at http://www.mavisbeacon.com for more information on
importing a custom text lesson.
The word count may not be accurate when using custom content. Mavis
assumes an average word length of 5 characters; an imported text file
may have different characteristics.
Be careful when naming custom lessons, Mavis will accept duplicate
names. The lessons will be different, but will have the same name. Try
to use different names for each lesson.

5) Performance - Far Off Adventures

The Far Off Adventures game may present some performance issues on
minimum specification machines. If you are having difficulty finishing
the game and you suspect a performance issue, consider temporarily
turning off the Background Music and Sound Effects. These two options
are located under the Audio Tab in Settings menu.

AUDIO / SOUND
1) Sound Doesn't Play
If you are having trouble hearing the audio on some or all of the "Your
Body At Work" videos with Windows 95, you may need to install the
proper sound driver. From the Program menu, select Settings/Control
Panel, and select Add New Hardware. Click Next in the Installation
Wizard until the Wizard asks whether or not to detect your new
hardware. At this point, choose the "No" option. From the list
presented of new hardware categories, select "Sound, video and game
controllers", then click Next. Scroll down and select, "Microsoft Audio
Codecs" on the left, and "IMA ADPCM CODEC" on the right. Click Next,
then Finish, and reboot when prompted.
Mavis Beacon will not function without the presence of a soundcard and
will produce an error condition. Please refer to the minimum
requirements listed on the package for more information.
If you receive the message "Voiceover will not play" please close the
program and restart your computer.

2) Sound is Choppy
On lower end machines, the sound may be choppy or uneven. To remedy
this, either turn off the Music Background, the Sound Effects, or the
Mavis Voiceover. Try a combination to get better results. Click
Settings on the menu bar at the bottom and click Audio.

CONTACTING TECHNICAL SUPPORT

We are here to assist you with any issues regarding this product. The
Learning Company Technical Support Center can be reached via e-mail,
U.S. mail, fax, or phone.
When contacting technical support, please provide as much information
as you can about your computer system and the problem you are
experiencing. Include your phone number so we can reach you if we need
more information.
Check our Web site, http://www.mattelinteractive.com, for answers to
frequently asked questions and other technical support information.
E-mail us at help@tlcsupport.com
Mail correspondence to:
Mattel Interactive Technical Support Center
1700 Progress Drive - PO Box 100
Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100
Attn: Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing version 11
Contact us by fax at 319-395-9600
Call 319-247-3333 between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. EST (GMT-5), Monday
through Friday (excluding holidays), to speak to a technical support
agent. Please be at your computer when you call.