Technical Support:
Frequently Asked Questions
This page provides answers to technical issues you may encounter when running Bigfoot: Reduce, Reuse. Recycle. If your concerns aren't addressed here, please email us at: cgee@hamline.edu.
Q. How do I install and run the program?
Q. What are the minimum system requirements for my computer?
Q. Can I run the program if my system requirements don't
meet the minimum?
Q. I get an error message as soon as I launch the program. What do
I do about it?
Q. None of the movies in the program play. What do I do about it?
Q. How do I install QuickTime 7.0?
Q. What is QuickTime 7.0 and why is it needed to run this program?
Q. The program doesn't play smoothly. Transitions between segments last a long time, movies take a long time to load
and/or are choppy when they play. What do I do about it?
Q. Images look pixilated or splotchy. Can I improve their quality?
Q. How
do I install and run the program?
A. If you
have QuickTime 7.0 (or better) installed on your computer, no installation
is necessary. To run the program, insert the CD ROM into your CD
ROM drive.
To launch the program for Windows users, double-click the "Windows-Start.exe" file.
For Mac users, double-click the "Mac-Start" file.
Note: If your computer doesn't have QuickTime 7.0 and you try to
run the program you will receive an error message indicating that "an
extra has failed." QuickTime 7.0 can be installed from the CD
ROM. To do so, follow the instructions on this page for Installing
QuickTime 7.0.
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Q. What are the
minimum system requirements for my computer?
A. Windows 2000 or XP:
500 MHz processor
Set display to highest color setting (24 or 32-bit colors)
QuickTime 7.0 (or better) (QuickTime is included on the CD ROM)
Macintosh OS X:
500 MHz G3 or better,
Set display to millions of colors
QuickTime 7.0 (or better) (QuickTime 7.0 is included on the CD ROM)
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Q. Can I run
the program if my system requirements don't meet the recommended
minimum?
A. Big Foot may play on computers that don't
meet the minimum system requirements, but the program will probably
perform poorly. .
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Q. I get an error message as
soon as I launch the program. What do I do about it?
A. If QuickTime 7.0 (or better) isn't installed on your computer, as
soon as you launch the program you will receive an error message indicating
that "an
extra has failed." If this happens, don't worry--there
is nothing wrong with the program. However, you must install QuickTime
7.0, which is provided in the CD ROM. Find the QuickTime installer file
for your operating system (Mac or Windows) on the CD ROM, double-click
it, and follow the installation instructions on your screen.
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Q. None of the movies in the program play. What do I
do about it?
A. QuickTime 7.0 (or better) is required to run the movies in Waters
to the Sea. To install QuickTime 7.0 from the CD ROM, see the previous
answer.
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Q. How do I install QuickTime 7.0?
A. Find the QuickTime installer file for your operating system (Mac or
Windows) on the CD ROM, double-click it, and follow the installation
instructions on your screen.
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Q. What is QuickTime
7.0 and why is it needed to run Bigfoot?
A. QuickTime is software made by Apple Computer
that plays multimedia files. You need to have version 7.0 installed
on your computer or none of the videos in the program will play.
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Q. The program
doesn't play smoothly. Transitions between segments last a long time,
movies take a long time to load and/or are choppy when they play.
What do I do about it?
A. The most likely causes of this problem
are either that you are using a computer that doesn't meet the minimum system
requirements or that your computer's hard drive is full and/or fragmented.
Increasing the amount of available disk space on your hard drive by eliminating
uneeded files may improve performance. Software such as Norton's Utilities,
which includes a program called Speed Disk, is available that will "defragment" your
hard drive (rearrange the way files are stored so enhance performance).
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Q. Images look
pixilated or splotchy. Can I improve their quality?
A. The most likely cause of poor image quality relates to the color
settings of your monitor. For optimal image quality, your monitor should be
set for 24-bit colors (Windows), or Millions of colors (Macintosh). Here's
how to check and change this setting:
Windows: from the Start menu, select Settings, then Control
Panel from the list of choices. Double-click the Displays icon in
the Control Panel window. In the Displays window, select the "Settings" tab.
In the drop-down menu under "Color Pallet" select the highest
available color setting (at least 16-bit colors).
Macintosh: In the Apple menu (accessed by clicking and holding
on the colored Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen),
select the "Control Panel" option. In the Control Panel
window, double click the Monitors icon and the Monitors control panel
will open. In the area designating number of colors (the appearance
of this window varies with different versions of the Macintosh operating
system), select the highest available setting (at least Thousands
of colors).
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