[Shu-cdromlan] Re: Children's software

[Andy Taylor]

Joy

Have you come across Virtual CD yet?  It seems to me that it would be an
ideal solution to all those "difficult" CD titles.  Virtual CD is known
to work with many "copy protected" games and will also work with audio
CDs too.

Regards

Andy

Andy Taylor MCSE, MCP + Internet
Optology Limited


-----Original Message-----
From: Joy Butler <jbutler@PLCH.LIB.OH.US>
To: CDROMLAN@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2001 08:54:33 -0400
Subject: Re: Children's software

> Tom,
>
> I recently spoke at Tech Connections on a similar topic.  In our
> system, we
> have over 50 PCs dedicated to Children's software.  While we do not
> network
> the software at this time because of the obvious bandwidth crunch, I do
> a
> lot of work in fooling the software into thinking it is running from
> the
> local drive.
>
> I hate CD-ROM disc-changers and jukeboxes for the simple reason that
> they
> break, and when they break, they usually physically damage the CD.  I
> found
> the simplest method to use with educational software is to copy all the
> data
> from the CD onto the hard drive (for 10 discs, I've never gone over 3.5
> Gig's worth of drive space).  I name the folder whatever the name of
> the CD
> was (the name from the properties of the disc).
>
> Then comes the fun part.  Some programs run beautifully from the hard
> drive.
> Just remember to run setup from the copied folder, not the CD. Titles
> from
> Humongous Entertainment (Pajama Sam, Freddie the Fish, Putt Putt all
> run
> well this way).  Other programs need a little more coaxing.  I usually
> run
> Quarterdeck's Clean Sweep when I install a program and then save the
> log
> file to see just what the program does in the install.  I may have to
> change
> several *.ini files or change registry settings.  This usually involves
> putting the path to the copied folder in place of the drive letter.
>
> If you decide to network your software, these principles will still
> hold
> true.  Just put the networked path in in place of the local CD drive
> letter.
> As long as your operating system recognizes where the CD is, you
> usually
> have a way to get the program to find its data.  This does not hold
> true for
> all CDs, however.  Some will not work from anything but the local drive
> no
> matter what you do.  Kicking and screaming doesn't even help.
>
> I've worked with well over 300 Children's titles in the past three
> years and
> the common denominator is that they are all programmed differently.  A
> solution that works for one CD may or may not work for another.  The
> Dorling
> Kindersley products are my favorite programs, however they are a bear
> to
> install in this manner.  For Pinball Science, I actually had to copy
> the
> data onto the hard drive, burn a CD from the copied data and image the
> data
> into CD-Quickshare (the utility we use to image many of our problem
> CDs).
>
> Welcome to the wild and wonderful world of Children's multimedia in the
> library.
>
> If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  I have a
> great list of CD titles I have tested ~ what works and what doesn't,
> staff
> and users guides, cute pictures of PC Pals (although I'm not quite sure
> who
> drew them), advice on headphones, anecdotal stories...
>
> Good luck,
> Joy
>
> Joy Butler
> PC Applications Specialist, Information Systems
> Email: jbutler@plch.lib.oh.us
> Phone: 513-369-3182
> Fax: 513-369-3188
> The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
> 800 Vine Street, Cincinnati OH 45202-2071
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: CDROMLAN - USE OF CDROM PRODUCTS IN LAN ENVIRONMENTS
> [mailto:CDROMLAN@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of Tom Edelblute
> Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 11:04 AM
> To: CDROMLAN@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Children's software
>
>
> I would like to know what the latest people are using in CD-ROM
> networking technology.  We have some educational software that we would
> like to network throughout the system but are having problems getting
> some of the software to run on anything but the local CD-ROM drive.  We
> need a way around this problem.
>
> Are CD-ROM disc-changers still being made?  Is anyone running them with
> Windows NT or 2000?
> --
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Tom Edelblute
> Public Access Systems Coordinator
> Anaheim Public Library   phone: (714) 765-1759
> 500 West Broadway        fax:   (714) 765-1730
> Anaheim CA 92805         e-mail: thomas@anaheim.lib.ca.us
>