Phonics Alive - literacy software - frequently asked questions

FAQ: [INDEX] - [2] - [3] - [4] - [5] - [6] - [7] - [8] - [9]

Mystery keyboard commands

Each program has a set of "mystery" keyboard commands. These are documented in the various "read me" files on the CDs, and also in the operating manual.

For all programs, to access the Admin page, hold the command key (Mac) or control key (WIN) and click the "admin" button in the main menu.

Win	Mac	Action
PA1 - Phonics Alive! v1.1c, PA2 - The Sound Blender! v1.2a
control-shift "Delete Name"	command-shift "Delete Name"	Deletes the preferences file.
PA1 - PhonicsAlive! v3.2+, PA3 - The Speller! v2.0+, PA4 - Grammar! v2.0+, PA6 - Typing! v1.1+
control-shift "Add Name"	command-shift "Add Name"	Changes the results location. Useful when changing network configurations.
control-shift "View results"	command-shift "View results"	Rebuilds the data in the results database. As with all databases, sometimes it may get "dirty" or slow. Use this command to rebuild the database. Note: This command must ONLY be used when no one else is using the results file. This process will lock the file and will not allow anyone to save or view results until it is completed. Depending on network configuration, this process can take some period of time to complete, anywhere from 1 minute to 15 minutes depending on the number of students. (15 minutes is an estimate for 400 students results)
PA1 - PhonicsAlive! v3.2+, PA3 - The Speller! v3.0+, PA4 - Grammar! v3.0+, PA6 - Typing! v3.0+
control-shift "Reprint Certificate"	command-shift "Reprint Certificate"	(Windows NT, 2000 and XP only!) Sets the read only flag on the xobjglu16.dll and objglu32.dll files. This allows users other than Admin or Poweruser to use the program.

Screen savers

Screen savers are an executing program, and as such we recommend turning them off when using our programs.

Anti-virus programs

Active anti-virus programs may cause issues. In particular there is one function that is offered by some anti-virus programs that can cause significant performance issues. This is the "Scan files on access/open" option. In general this tells the anti-virus program to scan every file that is opened by your computer, and in the case of a multimedia CD can cause massive performance problems, as it effectively has to read the files twice.

Also, some anti-virus programs may stop you from writing to places such as your system preferences folder or Windows directory, which at this time is vital for the initial installation of all of our programs. Changes do not (usually) occur to these files in the course of normal usage.

Printing

In the case of printing problems, the first thing to check is that you have a correctly installed default printer. Then try printing from another program such as Notepad in Windows or Simpletext under MacOS. You can do this by opening the "Read Me" file on any of our CD's and then trying to print. If you still cannot print anything, then check that your printer is installed correctly by following the manufacturers instructions.
The majority of support questions that we have received have been solved by correcting installation issues with the printer.

If you can print from another program but still cannot print results or certificates from inside our programs, then the issue might be a little more complicated. In this instance, the first step is to check that you have the latest printer driver from the manufacturer of your printer.

If you are still having problems (and it is a Postscript printer) you could try changing the binary/ASCII mode switch in the printer driver, as sometimes that has been the cause of strange printing issues.
If you have tried all of the above, and are still having problems, please contact us and we will endeavour to work it out.