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Q158595: Mac Encarta 97: Readme.txt: Memory Use

Article: Q158595
Product(s): Microsoft Home Multimedia Titles
Version(s): 1997 edition
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 24-MAY-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Encarta 97 Encyclopedia for Macintosh 
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SUMMARY
=======

The following article contains the Memory section of the Microsoft Encarta 97
Encyclopedia Readme.txt file and discusses ways to optimize memory usage for
Encarta.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Readme File:

-----------------

Encarta 97 Encyclopedia will run on any Macintosh with 8 MB of RAM.
However, if 4,352K of memory are not free when you launch the
application, a warning message will be displayed indicating there is
insufficient memory available.

TIPS ON FREEING MEMORY
----------------------
Most users with 8 MB of RAM will not experience problems, but if your
system software takes more than 3,840K, you may need to adjust memory
usage to make Encarta run properly. Some general suggestions follow:

TURN ON VIRTUAL MEMORY.
  Virtual Memory allows you to increase the amount of available
  memory by using space on your hard disk to simulate RAM. Although
  using virtual memory may slow down overall performance, the extra
  available memory will allow applications like Encarta to be
  allocated more memory on launch or allow more applications to run
  simultaneously. To turn on Virtual Memory, open the Memory control
  panel, switch the Virtual Memory radio button to On, and then
  restart your computer. You may also wish to investigate third-party
  virtual memory utilities, such as RAM Doubler from Connectix
  Corporation.

  NOTE: Enabling Virtual Memory actually reduces the overall memory
  requirements and launch time for large native Power Macintosh
  applications like Encarta. For this reason, most Power Macintosh
  users will want to enable Virtual Memory. If you wish to take
  advantage of the increased memory available to applications, Apple
  recommends setting Virtual Memory to 50% more than the amount of
  physical RAM. To maximize performance, you should set Virtual
  Memory to the minimum amount of 1 MB more than physical RAM. If you
  choose to disable Virtual Memory on your Power Macintosh, be aware
  that the system will automatically raise Encarta's memory
  requirements by 5,480K.

RUN ONLY ONE APPLICATION AT A TIME.
  If other applications are running, close them and then relaunch
  Encarta.

SWITCH TO 256 COLORS.
  Running in Millions or Thousands of colors requires more memory to
  display images in Encarta.

REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF MEMORY BEING USED BY YOUR SYSTEM SOFTWARE.
  To do this, return to the Finder and select About This Macintosh
  from the Apple menu. The Largest Unused Block needs to be greater
  than 4,352K to run Encarta. If the only item listed in the About
  This Macintosh dialog is System Software and the Largest Unused
  Block is less than 4,352K, you need to reduce the amount of memory
  consumed by your system software. Refer to your Macintosh
  documentation for details on how to do this, but some general
  suggestions follow:

  a. Open the Memory Control Panel and check the Disk Cache setting.
  To maximize the memory available to Encarta and other
  applications, reduce the cache to 96K or less. For more details on
  Disk Cache settings, check the PERFORMANCE section.

  b. Remove unused fonts and sounds. Be careful when removing fonts
  however, as some applications may not work properly if the correct
  fonts are not available. Encarta 97 Encyclopedia requires the
  following fonts: Arial, Times New Roman, Symbol, MS Reference, and
  HM Phonetic.

  c. Third-party system extensions such as screen savers, fax
  software, desktop pictures, menu-modifying utilities, and other
  system enhancements increase the amount of memory used by your
  system software. Removing some or all of these extensions will
  increase the amount of memory available to applications. Be sure
  that you save anything you remove from your System Folder and place
  it in a separate folder on your disk so that you can replace it
  later. Apple's Extension Manager (included with System 7.5 and
  later) or an equivalent third-party utility can be useful for this
  purpose. You must restart your computer for changes of this type to
  take effect.

LOW MEMORY SYMPTOMS AND SOLUTIONS
---------------------------------

The following are examples of some typical low memory symptoms and
possible solutions to these problems:

SYMPTOM: ERROR MESSAGE READING, "YOU ARE LOW ON FREE SYSTEM MEMORY."

REASON: Some system components used by Encarta Encyclopedia require free
system memory. This is the amount of free memory left available by your
system, Encarta Encyclopedia, and any other applications you may be
running. This memory can be used by system components like QuickTime,
QuickTime VR, Sound Manager, Apple Guide and Desktop Printing, or used
to launch additional applications like Internet Config and your Web
browser. You can determine the amount of free system memory available
while running Encarta by switching to the Finder and selecting the
"About this Macintosh" item under the Apple menu. Largest Unused Block
tells you how much memory is free for the system's use.

SOLUTION: Turn on Virtual Memory. Virtual Memory allows you to increase
the amount of available memory so that Encarta can be allocated its
preferred memory allocation of 6,144K on launch and still leave free
memory for the system. To turn on Virtual Memory, open the Memory
control panel, switch the Virtual Memory radio button to On, and then
restart your computer.

WARNING: Reducing the preferred size for Encarta's memory requirements
may cause the program to perform poorly. For example, Encarta may not
be able to play video clips, open collages or enlarge images if it runs
out of memory. If you allocate less than 4,352K, these problems are
likely to result.

SYMPTOM: INCORRECT OR ODDLY-SIZED CHARACTERS DISPLAYED IN ARTICLE TEXT.

REASON: Encarta uses a variety of fonts to display special characters
within article text. If there is not enough memory to load one of these
fonts, the Macintosh uses font substitution to attempt a "best fit" from
a font that is already available in memory. Encarta 97 Encyclopedia
requires the following fonts: Arial, Times New Roman, Symbol, MS
Reference, and HM Phonetic.

SOLUTION: First check to see if the correct fonts are located in your
System Folder. If they are missing, reinstall Encarta 97 Encyclopedia
from Encarta 97 Disc 1. If all the required fonts are properly
installed, there may be inadequate free system memory for the custom
fonts to be displayed. In this situation, try the techniques described
above to increase free system memory.

SYMPTOM: WHEN ENLARGING AN IMAGE, I GET AN EMPTY BOX OR AN ERROR
MESSAGE READING, "UNABLE TO LOAD IMAGE."

REASON: A single image needs up to 300K of memory to display in 256 color
mode and 900K in Millions of colors. If the enlarged image also has
sound that plays with it, even more memory is required.

SOLUTION: Close any extra windows, list boxes or minimized features
you may have open (More Info, Outline, Pinpointer, MindMaze, Collages,
etc.) and try again. If this has no effect, you can quit and relaunch
Encarta or try any of the tips described earlier in this section to
free up more memory for the Encarta application.

SYMPTOM: WHEN PRINTING, PAGES ARE BLANK OR PARTIAL PAGES ARE PRINTED.

REASON: Printing requires creating a duplicate layout for the printer
since it has different margins than the screen. Some of the articles in
Encarta Encyclopedia are thousands of words long and having two copies
of a long article or large image in memory at the same time can use up
all of the available memory.

SOLUTION: Close any extra windows, list boxes or minimized features
you may have open (More Info, Outline, Pinpointer, MindMaze, Collages,
etc.) and try again. If this has no effect, you can quit and relaunch
Encarta or try any of the tips described earlier in this section to free
up more memory for the Encarta application. One way to work around a
printing problem is to copy the topic to the clipboard, quit Encarta,
then paste it into your word processing program and print from there.

Additional query words: 1997 multi media multimedia multi-media mmtitles kbmm macmm

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbHWMAC kbOSMAC kbHomeProdSearch kbEncartaSearch kbEncartaEnCyc1997Mac
Version           : :1997 edition

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