------------------------------------- American Idol (TM) version 1.0 ------------------------------------- Congratulations on your purchase of American Idol! To supply you with up-to-the-minute information, we have included this ReadMe file. Please open this window to its maximum size for better readability. ------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS -------- Section ------- I. Minimum System Requirements II. Installing the Program III. Running the Program IV. Uninstalling the Program V. Troubleshooting and System Performance Tips VI. Technical Support ------------------------------------------------------------------ I. MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------------------ Windows 98/2000/ME/XP with 3D video card Pentium II 266 MHz or faster 64 MB RAM 3D graphics accelerator card with 8 MB of memory 640x480, 16-bit color display 150 MB hard drive space 24x CD-ROM drive Full duplex Windows-compatible sound card Microphone (recommended) 56K Internet connection (required for online features) II. INSTALLING THE PROGRAM -------------------------- * Insert the American Idol CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive. * If the AutoRun feature is enabled for your CD-ROM drive, select Install from the AutoRun screen. * If AutoRun is not enabled, click Start and then select Run from the Windows® Taskbar. * Type "d:\install". ("d:" refers to your CD-ROM drive. If your CD-ROM drive is not d, type the appropriate letter.) * Follow the installation instructions on the screen. * After installation is complete, you'll find the American Idol icon in the American Idol menu in your programs. * You can also click the American Idol shortcut icon on your desktop. III. RUNNING THE PROGRAM ----------------------------------------- * Insert the American Idol CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive. * If you have AutoRun enabled for your CD-ROM drive, click Play on the Autorun screen to run the program. * You can also select Start/Programs/American Idol from the Windows® Taskbar. IV. UNINSTALLING THE PROGRAM --------------------------------------------- * Select Start/Programs/American Idol Uninstall American Idol CD-ROM from the Windows® Taskbar. *Some files or folders may need to be manually removed. To do this, locate the American Idol folder on your hard drive and delete it. V. TROUBLESHOOTING AND SYSTEM PERFORMANCE TIPS -------------------------------------------------- 3D video card support --------------------- If you experience any graphics problems while running the program, make sure that the graphics card on your system has full DirectX 8 support. To verify, perform the following tests before running the program. 1. Run the DxDiag diagnostic utility from C:\Program Files\directX\setup. (You may also type 'dxdiag' at the Run box of the Start menu if available.) 2. With the DxDiag Diagnostic Tool window open, click the Display tab. This window displays the video driver installed onto your system and the memory for the video card. In the DirectX Features section, DirectDraw Acceleration, Direct3D Acceleration and AGP Texture Acceleration must all be Enabled. 3. Test DirectX 8 support by implementing the tests for DirectDraw, Direct3D and AGP Texturing. Click the button for each, one at a time, to perform the tests. If the DirectDraw or Direct3D tests fail, you will need to contact your video card manufacturer to obtain the latest drivers for your video card. Windows Taskbar --------------- The Windows Taskbar may interfere with your ability to view graphics, animations, and program information in certain activities. If you encounter difficulties when the Taskbar appears on-screen, follow these steps to enable the Taskbar's "Auto hide" feature: * Click the Start button, then select Settings, then Taskbar. * In the dialog box that appears, uncheck 'Always on top' and check 'Auto hide'. * Click the Apply button, then the 'OK' button. You also have the option of relocating the Taskbar to different sides of the display screen: * Click and hold down the mouse pointer on a blank area of the Taskbar. * Drag and release the Taskbar on the side of the screen where it causes the least interference. If the program is very slow: ---------------------------- 1. Close any unnecessary applications that may be running. 2. Try reinstalling the product. Improving system performance on Windows 98 ------------------------------------------- These tips are designed to improve your system's performance: 1. Right-click the My Computer icon on the desktop, then click Properties. 2. From the dialog box, select the Performance tab. 3. Click the File System button. 4. Select the CD-ROM tab. Set the Supplemental cache size to "Large". 5. Match the "Optimize access pattern" setting to that of your CD-ROM. (It should be set to "Quad-speed or higher".) 6. Click Apply, then OK. 7. Restart the computer for the changes to take effect. Screen savers: -------------- If you are running a screen saver in the background and experience video or sound problems during the program, disable the screen saver and the problem should be solved. Refer to your screen saver documentation for instructions on how to disable the screen saver. If sound problems occur: ------------------------ If you experience sound problems while running the program, contact your sound card or system vendor to obtain the latest version of your sound driver. If display problems occur: -------------------------- If you experience graphics problems while running American Idol, contact your video card or systems vendor to obtain the latest version of the video driver. Make sure the system is running in High Color (16-bit) mode in 640x480 resolution. To change the display settings: 1. Click the Start button, then select Settings, then Control Panel. 2. Double-click the Display icon. 3. Choose the Settings tab. 4. Select High Color (16-bit) for the color palette and 640x480 for the desktop area. 5. Click the Apply and OK buttons. (The system may need to restart.) Reinstalling American Idol: ----------------------------------------- If you have deleted or uninstalled any part of the program and are having problems reinstalling, follow these steps to manually re- install American Idol: 1. Insert the CD into the CD-ROM drive. 2. Select the Start button. 3. Choose Run from the Start menu. 4. At the Open box, type "d:\install". If your CD-ROM drive is a different letter than d, type that letter in place of d. 5. Click on OK and follow the prompts. VI. TECHNICAL SUPPORT ---------------------- Video drivers and system settings --------------------------------- Information about your system's video drivers can often assist our Technical Support staff in diagnosing problems that are encountered when running the program. To get information about your system's video drivers: 1. Right-click the My Computer icon and select Properties. 2. Click on the Device Manager tab. Windows 2000 & XP users click on the Hardware tab, then Device Manager. 3. Double-click on Display adapters. Device Manager also displays settings for hardware devices that are not fully supported by Windows or are using device drivers that need to be updated. Contact the system vendor or manufacturer if any subkeys, such as those under "Display adapters" or "Sound, video and game control- lers", are displayed with a red X or yellow exclamation mark. (Click the plus [+] sign to see the subkey.) Calling Technical Support ------------------------- Please have the following information ready when you call: 1. The product name and version number located at the top of this ReadMe file. 2. The processor and clock speed of your computer (e.g., Pentium II 266 MHz). 3. The brand name of the sound device installed in the computer. 4. The brand name of the video card installed in the computer. 5. The amount of free memory (memory available to run the program) that the computer has. Double-click the My Computer icon, then click the Help menu, and choose About Windows 98, About Windows ME, About Windows 2000, or About Windows XP. From the dialog box that appears, write down the Physical Memory available. 6. The complete and exact error message reported by the program (if any). Technical Support ------------------------- If you have a problem with this product that you cannot resolve, please contact our Technical Support department. Call 310-649-8021 Monday-Friday, 8 am to 4:45 PM Pacific Time. Automated support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Fax: (310) 258-0755, 24 hours daily World Wide Web address: http://support.vugames.com/ Or write to: Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing 4247 South Minnewawa Ave., Fresno, CA 93725 ------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for purchasing American Idol! American Idol(TM) 19 TV Ltd and FremantleMedia Operations BV. Based on the TV program 'American Idol - The Search for a Superstar' produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 TV Ltd. Licensed by Fremantle Brand Licensing. http://www.fremantlemedia.com/ Windows® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Pentium® is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. American Idol uses Miles Sound System. Copyright © 1991-2002 by RAD Game Tools, Inc. American Idol uses Smacker Video Technology. Copyright © 1994-2002 by RAD Game Tools, Inc. RenderWare is a registered tradmark of Canon Inc. Portions of this software are copyright 1998-2002 Criterion Software Ltd. and its Licensors. Copyright © 2002 Vivendi Universal Games, Inc., and/or its wholly owned subsidiaries. All rights reserved.