Willow Pond FAQ (FrequentlyAsked Questions)
/ Below are the general questions that people ask us most. If you have a question for us,there is likely an answer for it here. If you can't find an aswer to your question here,please review our more product-specific online supportarea. This FAQ has not been completely optimized yet, but you may very well find theanswer to your question right here.
"I can't get thetelephony stuff in WillowMEDIA (speakerphone, answering machine) to work right.What should I do?" WillowMEDIA's FREE bonus telephony component should work with any Unimodem/V-compatible voice modem (Unimodem/V is a Microsoft standard). If you're unsure of your modem's capabilities or functions (or don't know what Unimodem/V is), you should contact the manufacturer - we have no direct way of knowing whether your modem will work with our software. Essentially, your modem needs to be: - A voice modem
- Unimodem/V-compatible (ask your manufacturer)
- Installed and configured correctly
- Functioning properly
There is some information in the support area of our web site regarding this as well as some information on Unimodem/V. back to top "The answering machinethat comes with WillowMEDIA doesn't allow me to record messages longer than 8-10seconds, regardless of the settings I choose." Some people have indicated that the FREE bonus telephony component's Answering Machine cuts off messages after about 8-10 seconds. This is due to some modems' high sensitivity to hang-up detection and is probably not possible to work around until we come up with a fix for it (which is difficult due to the large number of voice modems on the market right now). Please keep in mind that WillowMEDIA is mainly a multimedia application and the telephony component that comes with it is a FREE, yet distinctive, add-onERROR MSG to the product - if the telephony component doesn't fully work on your system, it's most likely due to an incompatibility or modem quirk than a real issue with WillowMEDIA. Please don't ask us if we've fixed this yet - we'll post any fixes on the web site as soon as they are available. back to top "I have Willow Pond onmy system and am having a problem. Can you help me?" "Willow Pond" is the name of our company - we don't make any products called just "Willow Pond." If you don't describe the problem clearly, we won't have any way of knowing how to help you. Have you tried reviewing the help documentation that came with the product? back to top "I want to buy yoursoftware but I don't want to use the online order form. Do you have other orderingoptions?" Yes, there are printable mail and fax forms available in the store area of our web site. They each contain all the info you need for mailing or faxing an order to us. back to top "What format do yourproducts get shipped to me in?" You will receive a CD with the purchased software. We do not offer our software on floppy disks at this time. back to top "What is thedifference between the trial version of your software and the complete/full version thatis sent to me after I buy?" They are exactly the same except that the trial version times out in 30-days. back to top "I don't want a CD - Ijust want an "unlock" or "registration" code for the trial version -is that possible?" No. We are able to keep costs low for our customers by eliminating software pyracy concerns (which cost most software companies a lot of money in lost sales). back to top "I just ordered yourproduct(s) and saw that I was charged a sales tax but I don't live in your state (or inyour country). Why was my order taxed?" Due to the current confusing laws surrounding the Internet, a lot of people are unsure of when a tax sould be charged and when it can be dismissed. Our accountant has advised us on multiple occasions that we should be taxing all our orders without exception. back to top "Is your software Year2000 compliant?" We have a Year 2000 Compliance Statement page located at /y2k.html. back to top "I just bought a soundcard from you and..." We don't make or sell sound cards or sound card drivers. "...but your name is on the packaging..." back to top "...but your name ison the packaging..." Some of our software (for example, Media Rack), comes bundled with other companies'hardware products (PCs, sound cards, etc.). If you need support for your sound card,CD-ROM drive, or drivers for your hardware, you must contact the manufacturer of thathardware, not us. The fact that our software may appear along with your hardware'spackaging or comes up when you install the disks the manufacturer has provided does notmean we make or support the hardware. If you're not sure who the manufacturer of yoursound card is or how to contact them for support, we please continue reading below... Where to Get Updated Drivers and Support Willow Pond didn't make or sell your sound card, modem, or other hardware product, even if there is no other company name in your hardware packaging. In fact, we may have never even seen your hardware or its drivers! We do not make or sell hardware at all, and we never have. If your sound card or modem does not have a manufacturer name on it, then it is probably a low-cost item from a company that does not intend to support its products. Please don't ask us to supply drivers for your multimedia hardware (see below). In almost all cases, the drivers for your sound card are created by the maker of the sound chips on the sound card or a company they hire to write them. Only a few sound card makers do their own drivers. All audio driver support, including replacement drivers, is only available from either the maker of your hardware or from the maker of the audio chips on your sound card. If all you want is replacement drivers and do not need human support, you can often get what you need from the web site of the sound chip maker (see below). Keep in mind that the chip makers will not provide any support or hand-holding to you. ERROR MSGHowever, if you want human support for trouble you are having with a driver, your only hope is to try contacting your sound card maker. They are the ones who received your money when you bought the sound card, and are the ones who are supposed to stand behind the complete assembled product. NOTE: If you upgrade your operating system (for example, from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95), you must get updated drivers for your sound card to be sure it will work properly. If you try to use old drivers under a new operating system, often your sound card may appear to work initially but will cause unpredictable problems later. Finding Your Sound Card Maker (for support and drivers) If you don't know who made your sound card, you can look for the FCC ID on the card and use it to search the FCC Equipment Authorization Database. All PC hardware makers are supposed to get an FCC ID for their products, so you should be able to find out who made your hardware. Finding Your Sound Chip Maker (for drivers only) If you can't get help from your sound card maker or can't figure out who it is, you may still be able to figure out who made your sound chips and drivers by examining your sound card hardware. Here's what you should look for: - Look for a chip on your sound card from OPTi Inc. These chips often have model identifiers including the numbers "929", "930", "931", "924", "925", "933",
and similar numbers. If your sound card has an OPTi chip on it, even if it also has other sound chips (from Analog Devices or Crystal, for example), the
drivers are probably from OPTi. You can probably download drivers from OPTi's web site at http://www.opti.com/. - If you see a chip on your sound card from ESS Technology, your drivers are likely from ESS. ESS offers a number of drivers on their site, although they do
not support them or guarantee their reliability. You can find these drivers at: http://www.esstech.com/. - If your sound card contains an Analog Devices chip (AD1812, 1815, 1816, for example) by itself, without an OPTi chip, you may be able to get updated
drivers from their web site at: http://www.analog.com/. You can also find Analog drivers at ftp://ftp.analog.com/pub/cpdsound/1815_16_16a/. Analog tends to
move their driver files around a lot so the FTP link may not be responsive all the time. Also, they increasingly are refusing to post their drivers so if you don't
find any on Analog's site, please don't contact us, contact Analog. - Some drivers for sound cards based on Crystal Semiconductor audio chips can be found at: http://www.crystal.com/.
back to top "I just bought a PCwith your software (Media Rack) on it. I can't get it to play an audio CD. What'swrong?" This is likely a problem with your CD-ROM drive, sound card, or its associated drivers, not our software. You can verify this by trying to play CDs from the CD player that comes installed with Windows. We don't make, sell, or support any hardware products so you'll need to contact the manufacturer for support. If you're not sure who the manufacturer of your CD-ROM drive is, or how to contact them for support, we have links on our web site which you may find useful in determining that information. If it looks like the disk is being played but no audio is coming out of your speakers then your problem is likely due to the following: The pass-through cable from your CD-ROM drive to your sound card is not connected properly or your sound card doesn't support pass-through from your CD-ROM drive. Either connect the cable properly (read your hardware documentation or contact the hardware vendor for support) or plug a second set of speakers into the audio out jack on the front face of your CD-ROM drive. If you don't want to use a second set of speakers, you can try conecting a cable from the audio out on the front face of your CD-ROM drive to the LINE IN on the back of your sound card (this assumes your sound card has a LINE IN jack and supports full duplex). If you're unsure about any of this, please contact the hardware vendor. back to top "I just upgraded toWindows95/98 and now the sound on my system stopped working (or sounds different).Why?" The problem you are having is related to your sound card drivers, not our software. You need to get updated Windows95/98-compatible sound card drivers for your system from the sound card vendor. If you don't know who manufacturers your sound card or how to contact them, there are links on our web site which may help you find that information. back to top "Can I buy yoursoftware from a retail store?" Our software is only available directly from us (we're in the U.S.). We accept orders from our web site, through the mail, or via fax. For mail and fax, printable forms and details are available in the store area of our site. The cost and shipping prices are indicated in USD$ - we don't make conversions and require payment to be in USD$ - either via credit card or bank check. After an order is processed, we ship out a CD to you. back to top "Can I buy Media Rackfrom you?" We only sell Media Rack to OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and do not sell it directly to end users (although we do offer support documentation on our web site for it). We also provide an update patch for current users to keep them up-to-date on the latest release. If you would like a very capable media player for your system, we highly recommend giving WillowMEDIA a try. back to top "I somehow 'lost' afile required by your software. Can you send me this file?" You can restore any required files by re-installing our software from the disks provided by the manufacturer who bundled our software. If you were not provided any disks, that's an issue you need to bring up with the vendor you purchased your hardware from, not us. If someone gave you a copy of our software (copying files for you from their own installation directory), you do not have a legal copy anyway and should delete it off your system. back to top "I just orderedsoftware from your web site. When will I get it?" Shipping time estimates are located in the store area as well as the order form. back to top "I just downloaded andtried installing your software but instead of the expected installation, the programstarts installing a Windows Service Pack, Outlook98, a game, etc. What's theproblem?" This issue (along with a workaround) is outlined on the "known problems" pages of our Web site (in the support area). The issue is actually not related to our software - it's got something to do with one of the installation "wrappers" we use from other vendors. Generally, people with Windows98 final are seeing the problem more frequently than others. Less than 0.1% of people who download the trial run into this problem. We're looking into it. back to top "After I install yourtrial software (or shortly thereafter), I get an error that tells me I have an"INVALID LICENSE KEY". I thought the trial versions were supposed to last for 30days." This issue is outlined on the "known problems" pages of our Web site (in the support area) You can try the suggestions on that page. If the suggestions don't help, please fill out our online bug report form (located in the "contact" section of our web site) and try to give us as much information about your system configuration as possible. As stated on the "known problems" pages, a small number of users are experiencing the "invalid license key" error with the trial version. This error doesn't exist in the full version we ship out on CD. We're still trying to figure out what the cause may be. Please don't ask us if we've fixed this yet - we'll post any fixes on the web site as soon as they are available. back to top "Why doesn't the'PITCH CONTROL' option in WillowTALK work when creating a custom voice?" The speech engine we were originally shipping with WillowTALK supported pitch-shifting of the voices but the engine we include with the current version doesn't. We couldn't remove the slider without affecting future speech engines we might use or speech engines which may already be installed on the person's system (WillowTALK supports almost any SAPI-compliant speech engine that's properly installed on Windows95/98). cheap hotel in NaxosWe are looking into workarounds for this for future releases. As far as additional voice profiles, it's also dependent on the speech engine we install with. However, you may be able to get WillowTALK to work with another products voices as long as those voices are SAPI-compliant and properly installed on the system. in some instances, though, errors may occur or WillowTALK may crash trying to use non-bundled speech engines. We know for sure our version supports some of the Windows95/98 speech engines available from L&H as we used to ship WillowTALK with an L&H speech engine. back to top "I just installed theupdate for Media Rack which you provide on your web site and now I get a small pop-up boxevery time I launch the program. Why?" There is a disclaimer about this pop-up advertisement on the same page we make the update available. Media Rack is not free software. When you bought your PC or sound card, our software (Media Rack) came bundled with it. We make licensing deals with OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to bundle our products. They pay us only a few cents per unit they ship with a contractual obligation that support for the products would be handled by them, not us. In essence, since we make our updated products available to OEMs, they should be providing the updated software to you, not us. Since we are not obligated to support our OEM products directly, and actually doing this for free, we need some way to reclaim our costs (bandwidth, development, support) and the best way to do that is by advertising other products we sell directly using a very small, unobtrusive ad. The ad is a simple pop-up that doesn't nag you while you are using the product, the update is fully functional in every way, and doesn't expire. The ad doesn't even come up when you use Media Rack as your CD autoplay device. If you don't like the ad, you have 2 options: Re-install your previous version of Media Rack on top of the upgrade or contact the manufacturer/vendor who bundled our software and ask them for an upgrade. Even though they are the ones contractually obliged to provide you with available updates, they probably will refuse to do it. So, that leaves us - and we aren't even obligated to do it. We just thought we were doing something useful for Media Rack's customer base and need some way to reclaim our costs. back to top "Can you send me moreinformation on your products?" All the information we provide to the general public about our products and company, as well as pricing and ordering information, is available on our Web site. There is nothing we can send you that isn't already on the site. back to top Alojamiento de lujo Moravske Toplice"I sent you an e-mailand/or used your contact form. Why aren't you responding?" We're not a large company and we've recently seen a great surge of interest in our WillowTALK product. It has become so popular that we receive a flood of daily emails. We try to answer as many e-mails as possible but sometimes we're only able to keep up with 80-90% of the flow (especially after weekends). Because of this, we are sometimes backlogged and take a few days to respond. On a few occasions, it has taken us longer than a week to respond. If you have recently contacted us and have not received a response in a significantly long period of time, please re-visit our contact form and give us another chance to answer (please indicate when you last contacted us and repeat the message or question). Also, your question may be answered in one of our many online FAQs (perhaps even this one). We highly recommend you read this document thoroughly as well as visit our online support area. back to top "I think I found a bugin one of your products. How do I tell you about it?" First, be sure it's a bug. You can verify this by checking the documentation that comes with the product as well as reviewing the FAQs in our online support area. The issue may even be addressed within this generalized FAQ. Also, if you have other software on your system with functions similar to our product, you should test those functions in comparison with ours. If products other than ours display the same result, it may be an issue with your hardware an you'll need to contact your hardware vendor (PC, sound card, or CD-ROM manufacturer) for support. Once you've verified that it is a likely bug in our product, you should fill out our online bug report form. Please don't use any other forms on our site to report bugs. back to top "Can I enquire aboutthe status of my order?" Sure. For now, just use our contact form and include your transaction ID with the note. If you don't know your transaction ID or somehow lost it, please provide us with additional information to help us locate your order in our transaction database such as full name, e-mail address, day of order, etc. back to top "I'm a publisherand/or Web site owner and would like your permission to include your evaluation and/orfree software with our book/magazine/site. How do I contact you for permission?" Please use our contact form and let us know exactly wht you need/want from us. If you need a paper-based permission form, you can e-mail it to us after the initial contact or fax it to us (with instructions) at 781-461-9681. Please be sure to include your full contact information in case we need to get in touch with you. Also, please tell us specifically which product(s) we publish that you are interested in. back to top "Can I be a resellerfor Willow Pond?" Bulk pricing information for our products is available on our Web site. For quantities much larger than 50 units, you'll need to talk to us directly. Please use our contact form and provide us with all your contact information and what you are interested in doing. You sould also review our bulk pricing policies located in the store area of our Web site. back to top "Does WillowPHONEwork over the Internet?" No - WillowPHONE is a telephony product. It is not an "Internet phone" and basically functions by using your phone line just like a regular phone except for the fact that it's running through your PC and voice modem. back to top "How is WillowPHONEdifferent than the speakerphone that comes with WillowMEDIA?" There is no difference other than WillowPHONE is now freeware and doesn't time out (unlike the version that comes with the trial version of WillowMEDIA). back to top "Can I get anequalizer for Media Rack?" Sorry but we don't have an equalizer at this time for Media Rack. The only equalizer we have is for WAVE playback in WillowMEDIA (another product on our web site). back to top "Does WillowTALKsupport any languages other than English?" Not at this time. back to top "Do you produceKaraoke Arranger? If so, how much is Karaoke Arranger and how can I order it?" We used to sell a Karaoke product to OEMs, but no longer do. We no longer support that product. We may make it available as a download sometime soon from our website, though -- please check back again soon. back to top "Hi. Can you recommenda good sound card for my PC?" Not really. Please consult your PC vendor, hardware retailer, or appropriate published material (magazines, books, etc.) - maybe ask a knowlegeable aquaintence, friend or family member. back to top "Does WillowTALKsupport mIRC (or other IRC clients)?" Not at this time. back to top "I bought WillowTALKa while back and recently upgraded my web browser to the latest version (4.x). Now WillowTALKwon't read from my web browser. Why?" The version we ship from our site (2.01) works with the latest browsers so you may have purchased your copy from another vendor (who was shipping an older version, 2.0). You probably have Version 2.0 and only 2 voices, right? - from L&H. If you want to try our version, you can download a free 30-day trial from our web site. We don't have an upgrade option yet for non-Willow Pond customers, though, so 2.01 needs to be purchased directly from us. We're looking into other options so please check back again soon if you're not able to purchase the latest version from us at this time. back to top "I am having a problemwith a download link. Can you fix it?" Please tell us exactly what the download URL is. Before you contact us, you need to be able to answer the following questions: What exactly is the problem? Are you receiving an error or is the download simply timing out? Is the download process completing and you're getting an install error or does there appear to be a problem with the download process itself? back to top "I got an error from apage on your web site. Can you fix it?" Please tell us exactly what the download URL (http:// address) is. We are not psychic and can't possibly know which page you are talking about out of the hundreds available from our Web site(s). When you contact us, please provide that information. back to top "Can you tell me howto Make Media Rack the "default" CD player (Auto Play device) in Windows95/98?" Make sure CD Player is checked off in the 'Select Menu' (on the main menu). Then, choose 'CD'->'Auto Play' from the main menu. A dialog box will pop up with at least 2 options. Make sure Media Rack is set as the default Auto Play device. back to top "Do any of yourproducts run on Windows NT?" We don't currently support NT. You may manage to get our software to install under NT, but it's not supported at this time. Future support is uncertain but we'll do it if we can - it's just not a priority right now. back to top "I have Media Rack (itcame with my PC/sound card) and saw you have an update oin your site. Should I downloadand install the update?" Only if you want to. People should only update if they perceive they are having a problem with an earlier version. Please note that some issues may not resolve themselves with the update. To returnd to your previous version prior to the update, just re-install Media Rack from the disks that came with your PC or sound card. back to top "I downloaded theupgrade for Media Rack and now get 'Dynamic Link' error when I launch Media Rack.Why?" A few people have reported this problem - we're not sure what the error could be at this point. The best suggestion would be to re-install the previous version of our software from the disks provided by the manufacturer who bundled our software. back to top "Do you sell any faxsoftware?" Not at this time. back to top
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