nobeefstu

Jules, Please advise of what type music file format. My guess is that you are using WMA files .... that is protected. When you use WMA (protected) files on your Pc ... they work fine because your the registered user. If you distribute your WMA ... they will not play on other PCs because they dont have your registration file. This is a MS thing on protecting WMA file distribution

Sharon Sorry it doesnt fit your special needs ... The only other resort would be for me to program each show link according to your specs. As PTE progresses ... Im sure we will get all these add-in features some day ... then we wont need any add-on utilities to support the needed functions. Good luck

Sharon Autolink can be run from a menu button or autorun.inf ... AutoLink will not play itself. You can use Multiple folders of AutoLinked shows also. Best way when launching from your menu first .... is to have your menu close after execution ... then have AutoLink reopen your menu as its last link. Its is best not to have other unneccessary programs running and other windows left open that dont need to be open ... as these background processes could interfere in launching links (plus why does one need to do other things while watching a autoplaying show ?). AutoLink was not originally designed to play Looping or Non-Closing shows ... so no allowances in time display duration were programed in (plus every one would require their own preferences rather than a preset duration.) You can still ESC out or RIGHT CLICK your closing actions (in PTE settings ) to close your show while its running in Autolink ... the links will continue. Give it a test .. see what results you get.

Sharon, Yes, AutoLink Plus V2 should serve your intended purpose of linking your multiple exes. The utility is programed to link upto 12 shows and a additional menu exe at the ending if needed. If you need more links than the 13 total exes ... I can send you a customized dll file that can handle more shows. A word on distribution : AutoLink has some loading issues on certain OS and XP user configurations ... XP has some config settings that doesnt like to be tricked into running multiple or stacked exes in a single window from what I gather. It has worked on XP pending the users OS config, but in most cases all should be fine if you make sure your shows autoplay and auto close ... thus limiting any user interaction with the linking process ... thats why the menu exe link should be at the end of all links. If you require any help ... let me know. PS additional comment : If you make your looping shows in FULL SCREEN mode you may be able to interact with the exes somewhat without disrupting the next link process... if you use WINDOWED mode shows and user interaction , this will cause disruption in the links.

Matiou Ok, I think I have a liitle more understanding of how your trying to use sounds ( background). It seems you want to use background music to Start New or Continue Playing Existing on a selected Slide. My previous post focused on adding a Sound file on a Slide in combination with your background music selections. When you use the Customize Slide tab for adding Music or any other customization of a Slide ... those entries you make only work for that Slide selection only. So if you add NEW MUSIC in Slide #1 in the Customize Slide ... select the " Play New Sounds files " ( radio button). If you want to have that Sound File to also play on Slide #2 ... go to Slide #2 in the Customize Slide ... select the " Continue Playing current Sound" ( radio button). Note : To continue playing the Sound File from Slide #1 to Slide #2 ... your Sound files overall playing time duration must be longer than that of your Slides Total Display. ( You cannot have a 10 sec Sound file and a 15 sec Slide display and expect that Sound File to Continue Playing on the Next Slide ... as there no Sound to continue to play.) If you want to have that same sound file to Play on the next Slide # ... add it as a Play New Sounds ( not as Continue). Make sure when you use the Customize Slide options ... select or enable the "P" button. And ... as Alrobin says ... dont even think about trying these functions in a Sync Show Setting. You are obviously manually controlling your Sounds Slide to Slide ... as the Sync Show function wont group a multiple set of Slides in different Music Syncs

Matiou Your approach to adding additional sounds can be made to each and any Slide ... however a few things need to be clerified. When you add sounds to the Customize Slide/ Music tab and the Project Options/ Music tab ... you are adding Background music sounds. Here you control their background playing scheme ( Continue, Play New, Radom, etc settings) To add additional or specific Sounds to each or an individual Slide ... use the Sounds ( the edit box which is below the Show Image and Comments Edit box on PTEs main interface ) The settings in the Customize Slide and Project Options tabs do not control or effect the Sounds you enter into the Sounds edit box main interface. Enter your Sound choices using the above decription of use ... and you shoud be good to go ... on Sounds.

Comparing similar competitive Software and making wish Lists ... has always been and will be a well discussed and higly debatable topic. But the bottom line is IMHO ... One particular Sofware cannot completely satisfy all the individual needs of each and every user or purchaser. We are so lucky to be blessed by Igor's dedication to PTE ... and us users. Lately, I have not used many of the competitive products out on the market. But I do know all lack some feature or another that their competitors have. Free Upgrades... No Upgrades, Continual Updates ... No Updates, Multiple Versions ... 1 Version, Quality ... Poor Quality, High Prices ... Low Prices, and ETC and ETC and ETC. So do you really want PTE to be the TOP CLONE with all of the above features to satisfy everyone ( multiple versions , multiple pricing, multiple problems, etc) ... or do you just want PTE just custom made to suit your needs ( and then whos needs comes first ? ). I personally believe PTE has been TOP in being progressively developed rather well by Igor to suit all of our many needs . Opinions vary ... Needs vary ... and all Software varies. Make a Choice ( by the way Choices vary too)

zaharia Many new users of PTE usually end up with the same question you have just posted. A few Hints about Navagation Bars : To enable the view and use of the Navagation Bar you must make sure ... 1- You Uncheck the Box to Hide Cursor 2- Check the Box Show Navagation Bar 3- and Most Important ... you cannot use the Auto-Sync settings for your Shows. Why ... you may ask ? Because it would defeat the purpose to "manually" control a "auto" controlled Show ... you cannot have both.

Monty A simple and fast test still would be to just rename the 2 SHOWS that dont work ... to something short, simple and space free (using no numerals or other symbols ). You can even do it there on the Schools computers. It will atleast be a starting point to trace out your issue ... and a very simple way at that.

Monty Are your various SHOWS all accessed thru a pte MENU you have setup ? If so ... are you using spaces, symbols or longfilenames for your SHOWS names? If the answer is YES ... try renaming your SHOWS to a shortfilename and with no spaces or other characters. You will also have to re- edit your button destination links . I mention this remedy ... because this same or somewhat issue has popped up in the past. This problem is all due to how the different OS read filenames . Hope it solves your issue

Boxig I may possibly reconsider doing one last final improved version of the Loader ... since it does serve other uses for other projects PTE users may otherwise have need for. In reply to other features needed in PTE and timelines for their appearance ... everything has its own priority in the main scheme of things I suspect. I personally give great credit to Igor for the attention and improvements hes giving in the Sound features. I would have to persume the main objective or primary ingredient of any Slide Show program ... would be to implement " Premier" picture and sound features to perfection. The added features you speak of are mainly "supplemental" and enhancements to main needs ... not that they dont warrant attention. My way of creating a package is quality first , functionality, ease and speed of use and then supplemental enhancements to expand the overall functionality. Oh well ... Im patient ... for the best. ... and keep up all your program enhancements ... as you know its not as easy a task to keep on implementing improvements.

Hello Mouse, Where have you been ... we havent heard nare a squeak from you in quite awhile it seems ! Hope all is well ... and good to see you back.

Boxig I had given thought to including such a ini generator for the Loader in the past ... however, it would have only been useful for the user who produced their Shows in Full Screen Mode. Their was no way to dectect the Users given Title Bar Name if created in Windowed Mode. I wanted to Loader to be useful for all types. The Loader is somewhat out dated now for any practical use in PTE ... since Igor has addressed and resolved the loading lag issues in the exe execution. And again, most recently with Igors announcement of the loading optimization for all types of Shows loading . So, the Loader at its time of conception served a useful purpose for PTE users then ... but, now the Loader needs to pack up and move on to other things. The add on Tools I create for PTE serve to temporarily give the users the flexability of what PTE may lack at the given time untill Igor addresses our needs. Igor has done and is doing a wonderful job in addressing these user needs ... superbly. (Even though these needs may not be addressed in the users priority order of things as they want them)

RudiRe I was hoping you could see first hand the differences various screen size setting may affect your Jukebox. But when using any Windowed Mode settings ... your Show will reveal (display within) the current users pc background desktop choices . Only by choosing a Full Screen Mode type show you can hide the current users pc desktop. Since your Show is Windowed Mode, 800x600, and using multiple Objects ... your Shows final view within other screensizes will maintain your Objects original relative placement. If you made your Jukebox 800x600 Full screen ... you run the risk of your mulitple Objects being displaced. Grouping your Objects may correct this issue in alot of cases ... but not always. Since you cant test your Show at different Screensizes ... its hard to determine what Objects may become displaced. So your left with making a choice ... hopefully the best one.

RudiRe Depending on the type of setup you made your show ...I dont believe you are going to be able to change the background color other users PCs desktop settings. As a test .... check your own desktop color settings in your manager. What ever color you or the user has selected as their personal choice background color ... is what is going to be displayed in the different screen size variations. Ways to test easy is ... change your own resolution to 1280 x 1024 and run your 800x600 show ... what color do you see ?

Captain America If you tell me the NAME of your .EXE of which you plan to load and whether its a FULL SCREEN show or a WINDOWED type show ... I will Email you a copy of what the INI should look like. You only need to enter the NAME of your show in one location if its a FULL SCREEN show . You need to enter the NAME of the show 2 times only if its a WINDOWED type show. We wil get you working.

Oh Yes ! Many thanks for this new fast loading optimization !! This is quite a gift ... for all of us PTE users and ore potential viewers.

marlun What you describe in your Shows timing issue using MANUAL SETTINGS is a normal action (or conditon) ... either playing from a CD or on any other PCs hard drives ... this conditon can even exist on your own Pc at various times or loads . You cannot have total SYNCRONIZATION using any navagation bars or any other settings other than AUTO SYNC. The timing of all PCs are different ... and your Show will play differently on all PCs ( even on your own sometimes) using any type of manual settings. Igor created this (magic) AUTO SYNC to address (resolve) the timing differences in PCs. So if you want perfect timing ... you can only use AUTO SYNC.

Boxig Keep up the great work ... your continious effort to enhance and simplify the functions and capabilities of your Utility Tools is becoming very useful to the needs of many users. Currently, I havent personally had much time to review and use in depth your arsenal of Tools ... but I have been keeping up with their progress ... and they are impressive I must admit. Once I get my current projects timetables and schedules sorted out for this new year ... I will be able to keep up with all the new happenings around here in the forum

Jim The making of a Project Template is exactly what you need to do. I believe this is wonderful and valuable feature of PTE is greatly under used by most Users. Creating templates simplifies lots of multiple and tedious settings and tasks ... especially if your project has lots of objects that get reused thru-out your presentation. Create and save one page within your Template with all your objects that you know will be repeatedly used often. One this page, create your various button sizes , text format settings, colors, etc. Now that you have this custom page of OBJECTS preset with your needs ... all you need to do now is use COPY SLIDE to wherever within your presentation. Add , Remove or Customize the OBJECTS according to your current Slide needs. Lots of multiple and repeated tasks are greatly simplified ... greatly reducing your presentation time to setup.

Rick I use W98 on my main processor ... as its been near almost flawlessly free of troubles for me. Thru the years of using W98 I have learned to know the ins & outs of this OS like the nose on my face . .. so I will stick with W98 till iam forced to upgrade to a newer version. Right now, Im more afraid of XP cause I cant fully dig into it guts and tweak and control it the way I want it to ... XP may give you lots of options ... but it wll not let you take control ... its too smart a system for its own good and doesnt fit into my current needs.

Rick Im sorry to hear your experience with AutoLink and AutoPlayer have been so unsuccessful as I recall our previous contacts ... however , many Users have had great success with AutoLink. As answer to some of your questions as to my way of setting up things: If upon Reading all the FAQS and other information splayed about the menu interface you will have noticed the KNOWN ISSUES ( yellow color text): -Autolink and AutoPlayer will not work in FOLDERS such as : C:\Program Files ( This folder you have mentioned has spaces within it naming ... my FAQS states this often, as it not possible to function in those or any locations with " name spaces" at all. -Autolink and AutoPlayer "will work" in any DRIVE ROOT and not just C:\Autoplayer\Shows . I have selected the ROOT as to avoid the above FOLDER naming conditions ... SPACES ... and as to avoid more USER errors. -AutoLink and AutoPlayer Abort function : Basic info about how to stop a LINKED program run: When you normally play your Show ... you must ESC to close that Show. However if running in AutoLink ... ESC only closes your Running Show ... not the LINK between all the Shows. Therefore you MUST hit ESC agian ... and it must be during the LOADING window between the SHOWS ... otherwise your only closing the SHOW and not ALL the SHOWS. Remember here ...they are all LINKED together as a GROUP not as a single Show ... so hitting ESC just once isnt going to work. -The WINKEY is a key (hot key) function to bring up any Shows (minimized to taskbar) that may not have been fully flushed out the LINK during ABORT. This is a just another "precautionary" function to make sure all Show Links have been cleared out and closed after an ABORT has been performed. -Copying and not Moving a Show was to assure all Users their ORIGINAL Shows are left safe and secure. If they clear,remove or delete something in AutoPlayer ... its GONE. I think alot more users would be happier with their COPIES gone and not their ORIGINALS. - As for your LOADING ISSUES of LINKED SHOWS ... you may have your XP setup running serveral background processes. The LINK detection to LOAD the next LINK fails due to these processes interfering somehow. I have only had very few comments about failure rate ... only from XP and ME. I suspect its all in the PC setup the USER has configured. I also mentioned users using ACTIVE DESKTOPS ... This may cause failure also. So again, Rick, Im sorry with your unpleasant experience with AutoPlayer. Maybe one day XP users will enjoy all the programs we all like to use. Happy New Year

Happy New Year ... to ALL !!! As promised ... I have recently uploaded my AutoPlayer... a belated Holiday Gift from me to you. Available from Beechbrook Cottage Site : http://beechbrook.com/pte/ AutoPlayer ... plays your Shows in a chain-link ... in a unique player-style interface. Extremely easy and fast to use. 8 Shows to a Link Group 4 Groups 2 Link Modes Full Screen Loading Auto Play or Menu Play Settings Auto Play any single group Error Checking during Set-Up and Play more ... much more Note: AutoPlayer incorporates AutoLink functions ... but it is vastly different than my AutoLink V2 program also available. AutoPlayer has limited features if used on CD media whereas AutoLink V2 doesnt. Please read all use and faqs to fully enjoy this utility. Give it a Spin !!! Hope you all enjoy

Pete Your senario has gotten all of us at one time or another. Follow Guido's advise ... plus ... Its always best to gather all your Pictures and show resources into a single working folder ... parts splayed about your pc will become moved or changed sooner or later. Disaster will then follow. To SAVE your current .PTE project file .... remove the missing file name and insert a new or another file in its replacement. SAVE the file. Best to use a odd photo ... so you can easily track down the real one to replace as originally intended.

The news is out ... but the project is still in the PC drawing table ! I had hoped to have my latest UTILITY for PTE ... ready for you by the HOLIDAYS ... as a gift from me, to all the forum members here ... but ... its not quite ready for gift wraping quite yet. So you will have to wait till early in the NEW YEAR to get it ... Oh well ... I guess I can tell you what it is ... a AutoLink Player - A unique and very, very easy to use presentation player for linking your PTE shows togther. Shall I say more ? .... naaaaahhhhh ... except Wishing you and your family a merry and festive HOLIDAY SEASON !!!