FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS PAGE Q. I have a computer in our reception area at the moment. Can I use this for the Dentist Channel as well as do word processing and reception work? A. Yes provided you have a recent version of Windows (2000, XP etc) and the storage (20-30 gigs) and graphics handling capacity (some form of graphics card is recommended (the more recent the better). We recommend that you download the trial and test it. There is no limitation in terms of the software which we provide to run the service the only limitation is your available hardware. Q.How do I do that? A. You will need to set your graphics card to extend the display onto two screens if you want to work at the same time. Under normal circumstances you cant word process on your single screen and also play them on an extension with only one monitor in the office area. However there is a practical work around as graphics cards come with two ports and instead of setting the card to clone mode you can set it to extended desktop. You play the channel on the screen that is extended and use the normal screen to do word processing etc whilst the video plays out on the port that is attached to the splitter. This sends your video to the extension screens around the building. You will of course need to set your icons to launch the channel on the correct part of the screen otherwise the Channel will launch on the desktop and not be able to be moved. At the same time you need to dissable Windows popups which come when you launch the channel on XP Q. Do I have to buy my equipment from THE DENTIST CHANNEL? A. No we do not sell equipment. The service runs on standard computing equipment. If you want us to recommend a supplier who has installed equipment for this service before please email here for details and we will put you in touch for a quote including installation if required. Q. I want to put ten flat screens around my practice what would I need? A. In an ideal situation ten flat screen monitors, ten flat mounting brackets, vga splitters, ten lengths of monitor cable, one dedicated computer with graphics card, broadband internet access on all the time. Q. Can I turn off my broadband service and if I do what will happen? A. Nothing if you turn off during normal office hours. However the channel schedule assumes that it can download the clips it requires during the night. If the Internet connection is off it will catch up when it is turned on but will slow down your normal processing speed whilst it catches up. Items delivered offline like the news tickers could be delivered late and if advertising is sold it might not be delivered on time - we recommend that you leave the service on all the time to avoid timing problems. Most computers fail when they are turned off or on due to the power surge. Your computer and router will last longer without failure if you leave it on all the time. It is a false economy to turn today's computers off to save the electrical costs which are marginal compared to a hard drive or system failure cause by the power surge. Q. When I double click the Dentist Channel icon I get a bleep or nothing happens? A. Check your graphics card has the right drivers by going to START/PROGRAMS/LANDLIBSYS - then SET UP AND TEST. Click the button marked Check your driver compatability. If you do not get sound and video bars as detailed on that page you should then load the driver as detailed on the display. Q.I get a bleep but nothing happens when I launch the program and I have checked the video display and it should work OK? A. The bleep sound is caused by the security settings on Windows XP advising you that you are connecting to the service. It bleeps once when you start up and once when you connect. If no service is being shown it will have placed a popup bar at the top of the screen where the programming should be running (this is usually a yellowish colour) - sometimes this is difficult to see. You should right click on this bar and it will ask you if you do want to connect to the service. This is Windows seeking to protect you from security attack and is part of the Windows firewall protection. You need to confirm that it is OK to connect. This option is required every time you connect unless you dissable the feature in the firewall. We are currently rewriting the security access to avoid this unnecessary inconvenience and it will be part of a free upgrade planned shortly for all our customers. Q.The display starts briefly for a moment but then I get an error message or graphics that look like a slideshow. This would not be a windows error message but one from the television set - something along the lines of "Out of memory" or "Out of range"? A. This is caused by not using the right video splitter. Error messages and effects of this type are caused by there not being enough signal being delivered to the monitors. Sometimes hardware suppliers fit a splitter cable instead of a VGA splitter box to the graphics card. The cable will split the signal but does not power up the signal. The result is that the signal reduces every monitor that is connected. If the signal is too weak the effect is the screen cannot display the picture properly. You need to get a proper vga video splitter box that splits and amplifies the signal back to the correct level for the number of monitors fitted. Graphics cards assume that you will only have two monitors. If you have more then this is where the problem lies. If in doubt look on Google under "video splitter" Q.I get the sound but dont get any proper pictures - I do get graphical images in time with the music like the ones I have seen on Windows Media Player for audio tracks? A. This suggests that the video driver needs testing. Check your graphics card has the right drivers by going to START/PROGRAMS/LANDLIBSYS - then SET UP AND TEST. Click the button marked Check your driver compatability. If you do not get sound and video bars as detailed on that page you should then load the driver as detailed on the display. Q.The first time I try to connect it takes a long time and nothing seems to happen - but a white page appeared or a Landscape Layout or Dentist Channel message appears on the bottom tool bar. A. The first time you connect with Windows XP the security settings can take a long time to activate and setup. If you see the Landscape Layout or Dentist Channel tool bar message at the bottom of the page after a minute or so and nothing still appears to be happening and there is no display of the channel you should close it and reboot to try again. Rebooting (turning the computer off, waiting a few seconds and then on again) clears the memory and should activate the Channel OK. Q.Help - I'm stuck with the channel playing and cant get out of the full screen page. A. The screen forces to full page. You close it by placing your mouse over the Dentist Channel logo in the bottom right hand corner. Click the exit graphic that appears. Clicking the screen in use and then the keys ALT + F4 will also close the program if operating on an extended desktop.