3D Sea Aquarium Screensaver Support

Screensaver Installation / UnInstallation

To Install: Double-click on the .exe file you downloaded. (3D Sea Aqaurium.exe)

To Uninstall: Go to the Windows Add/Remove Programs and choose 3D Sea Aquarium

1) START
2) ALL PROGRAMS
3) CONTROL PANEL
4) ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS

Or you can use the shortcut: Click Start | All Programs | 3D Sea Aquarium | Uninstall 3D Sea Aquarium

Starting the Screensaver

3D Sea Aquarium can be started by your Windows Operating System or by you as a separate program.

1) Manually Run the Screensaver:
       A) Click the 3D Sea Aquarium desktop icon if you chose to create one during installation
        B) Click START | ALL PROGRAMS | 3D SEA AQUARIUM | 3D SEA AQUARIUM

2) Operatings System:
      3D Sea Aquarium is automatically installed as a Windows screensaver. When your computer is left idle Windows will automatically start the screensaver.

        Tip:   A shortcut to the area where Windows list the screensavers can be accessed by RIGHT-CLICKING on the desktop (where you probably have a wallpaper image and a screen of icons).  Choose PROPERTIES from the pop-up menu.  This will open the DISPLAY PROPERTIES window... click the SCREEN SAVERS tab.
Description of the Windows Screen Saver tab:

Ending the Screensaver
To end the 3D Sea Aquarium, press any key on your keyboard or Right-click the Mouse and select the on-screen "X" symbol.
Movement of the mouse will not end the screensaver nor will a left-click. This is explained later.

Display Properties Window - Screen Saver Tab

Settings Button: When you choose a screensaver, most of them are configurable.  To adjust settings of a screensaver click the SETTINGS button.  3D Sea Aquarium works the same way and there are many different options to choose from

Preview Button: Start the screensaver and view your setting adjustments

Wait Text: Indicates how many minutes the computer will have to stay idle before a screensaver is started.

If you are satisfied with all changes you made, click on the OK button and the selected screen saver will start after the set waiting period has expired.

MORPH: Here you can choose the color of tank, adjust the lightness/darkness of the tank and control the speed at which the color of the tank changes... or lock the colors so the tank does not change colors.    Light Slide Bar: Increase/Decrease light    Morph Speed Bar: Speed of color change    Lock Color: If checked, colors will not change SOUND: Here you select to listen to bubbles (2 sounds) or play your favorite MP3 files.   You can also adjust the volume of each.  NOTE: The bubbles will not play if you are playing an MP3 file.  The LOAD buuton will open the MP3 window (See Below) BUBBLES: Choose from three different type of bubbles.  Trying them out is much easier than explaining them.  The slide bar will position the RISING bubbles in a certain spot in the tank. SCENE: Here you can choose from different scenes. The original screen saver comes with 3 scenes. Others will be avaiable. Use the ADD SCENE to import other scenes... again, available at a later date. FISH: Choose from 10 different fish.  Only 10 fish can be displayed in the tank at any one time.  Click on the fish picture to add one of those fish.  Click on the button with a number on it to remove one of the fish. Use the ADD FISH to import other fish... again, available at a later date. REGISTER BUTTON:  Enter the regstration code in the text area then click the Register Button. RESET VALUES: This button will reset all values to the default settings. Same as if you first install the screen saver. OUR WEBSITE: Click this button to visit our website at www.nexusmedia.net DISPLAY SETTINGS: See Below RUN: This button will run the screensaver in full screen OK: Exit the Configuration Window

DISPLAY WINDOW This window can become very important if you are having difficulties running the screensaver.  The Display Settings button will open this window. 3D Sea Aquarium is a very technically advanced screensaver and the use of a 3D Video Card is required.  Less costly computers probably do not have this special card and the screensaver will not be able to run. For those of you who do have a 3D Video Card but are still experiencing problems, please use the Display Window. It is here you can adjust the Display Mode.  For example, the screensaver will start in AUTOMATIC mode, this means it is going to use the settings you already have. Let's say, 1024 x 768 resolution running in 32-bit color.  You find that the screensaver is a bit choppy or jerky.  Your 3D card probably does not have enough "uumph" to run the screensaver smoothly with the setting. So you can go into the Display Window and select a different setting.  The quality will go down a tiny bit but you should be able to find a setting that will work.

MP3 LIST A very cool feature.  It is here you can create a playlist to use as the screensaver runs.  Include as many MP3 songs as you will.  I think the buttons are self-explanatory here. The Rand check box will randomly play songs from your list. Clicking the LOAD button in the SOUND section from the main configuration window will open the MP3 LIST window.

RIGHT-CLICKING while the Screensaver is Running: When you right-click when the screensaver is running yoou will see four (4) icons appear and a cursor (pointing finger). Hand # 1:  This icon (hand) will feed the fish.  Select it with the cursor then move any where on the screen and left-click to drop food and watch the fish attack it. Hand # 2: This icon (hand) second from the left, will tickle the fish.  Select this icon with the cursor then touch a fish and see him wiggle. Gears: This icon, the third from the left, will open the configuration window so you can make adjustments. Red Circle: The right-most icon, Left-clicking this will end the screensaver.

TROUBLESHOOTING

If you have an NVIDIA chipset based 3d video card then visit www.nvidia.com and download drivers for your Windows version. If you have an ATI video card then visit www.ati.com

Q: Your screensavers don’t work on my computer!
A: There are the few most common reasons why our screensavers may not work:
1. your DirectX version is less than DirectX 9 version
2. you don't have the latest drivers installed for your 3D video card
3. you have non-standard, tweaked, corrupted or messy driver settings for your 3D video card.
4. your computer doesn't meet the hardware requirements
5. you don’t have a 3D video card at all!

The most helpful solution to this problem is to install the latest drivers for your 3D video card and leave the default drivers settings intact.

Q: A required .DLL file, D3D9.DLL, was not found.
A: This message means that the screensaver is trying to use Direct3D, but the DLL file containing the core functionality for it is missing. See below how to install DirectX and 3D video card drivers.  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/downloads/

Q: What is DirectX and how do I install the latest DirectX version?
A: Microsoft DirectX is an advanced suite of multimedia application programming interfaces (APIs) built into Microsoft Windows; operating systems. DirectX provides a standard development platform for Windows-based PCs by enabling software developers to access specialized hardware features without having to write hardware-specific code.  Simply put, DirectX is a Windows technology that enables higher performance in graphics and sound when you’re playing games or watching video on your PC.  At the core of DirectX are its application programming interfaces, or APIs. The APIs act as a kind of bridge for the hardware and the software to "talk" to each other. The DirectX APIs give multimedia applications access to the advanced features of high-performance hardware such as three-dimensional (3-D) graphics acceleration chips and sound cards.

Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me), Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP support DirectX 9.0c; the latest version that Windows 95 can support is DirectX 8.0a.

To download the latest version from Microsoft, go to their DirectX download page:  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/downloads/

Windows NT Users:  Sorry, DirectX is not supported by Windows NT

Q: Error message: 'Failed to create Direct3D Device Interface. Unrecognized error value'.
A: You get this message because your computer or laptop doesn't have a 3D video card. Our screensavers require 3D video cards with at least 8Mb of video memory onboard.

Q: When the screensaver is running, it looks  "choppy" or "jerky"
A: Check the system requirements! Try using the Display Settings options to change your Display Mode (explained aboved)

Increased hard disk activity due to AntiVirus background scanning or scheduled internet downloads. Since hard disks are CPU dependent - this might cause "choppiness" while screensaver is running.

Programs running as a background process could affect the performances of 3D Sea Aquarium.

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