General Questions Live Help? Chat with a Support Services person. Chat Now! What your computer should have in order to run the training CDs? Our courses are designed to run on PC Windows based systems only; they are not MacIntosh compatible.   This multimedia course requires some components in order to run properly. If any required components are missing, you will be prompted to install them.   Video, graphics, and sound qualities depend on your individual hardware specifications. This advanced multimedia course is best viewed using the following hardware and software components, or better: Minimum hardware requirements: Pentium III 600-megahertz (MHz) processor or equivalent (1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor recommended) At least 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM (512 MB recommended) CD-ROM drive (32x read speed recommended) Screen resolution of at least 800x600 (1024x768 or higher with at least 24-bit color recommended) Keyboard and Mouse (or other compatible pointing device) Speakers or headphones Software requirements: Microsoft Windows 98 or later Windows 98, 2000, XP (all courses), Vista (most courses are Vista compatible) Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher Microsoft Windows Media Player 6.4 or higher Microsoft Windows Media Codecs 8.0 or higher Windows Media Video 9 VCM (for the newest courses) Adobe Flash Player Latest ActiveX Flash Player (for the newest courses)   For best results, we recommend that you shut down any other applications running on your computer. Your monitor display should also be set to run at 800x600 resolution or higher. If you encounter problems, rebooting your computer may help.   For technical assistance call 1-800-822-9398 (Pacific Standard Time, Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.).   Microsoft, Windows, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation. What is the average time to finish the course? In order to receive your e-mail certificate and be eligible for in-service or college credit, the average and minimum time required to finish a standard course is eight hours. Be sure to view all the related material to ensure full class time participation. In order to receive your e-mail certificate, the average and minimum time required to complete the Patrol Response to Active Shooters Course is one hour. In order to receive your e-mail certificate for the following classes there is an average and minimum time requirement of two hours: Big Rigs Domestic Terrorist Groups Bloodborne Pathogens Emotionally Disturbed Persons Outlaw Bikers: The 1%ers Respiratory Compliance Responding to Robbery, Homicide, & Other In-progress Crimes Rolling Stolen: Stolen Vehicle Identification Vice for Patrol Where do I go to receive help? By clicking on the Help button located on the toolbar within the course, you will be able to chat on-line with an Academic Facilitator. (PST, Mon-Fri, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) For technical questions, contact us at 800-822-9398. (PST, Mon-Fri, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) How is my course participation tracked? Upon entering the course, your log-in information is stored in our secured database. Answers to Interaction Questions and Section Reviews are tracked in our secured database and stored on your own hard drive. You will have the option to update this information to our web server upon course completion. If you do not have an on-line connection, you may save your results to a floppy disk and mail it in. The floppy disk will not be returned to you. Because your progress is tracked, when re-entering the course, you will automatically return to the last page you visited. Can I take the course in sections and return to it later? Yes, you may take the course at your own pace in multiple sessions. Each time you log in, class time tracking renews where you left off. You may also use the Bookmark function to mark a section to which you want to return. Can I take the course on multiple computers? Yes. You may take the course on multiple computers. However, when you move to another computer, you must first save your work to a floppy disk. To do this, click on the "Tools" button on the course toolbar and follow the directions. Our VISTA compatible courses allow the course data to be saved onto an external drive as well as a floppy. All of our courses will be VISTA compatible in the near future. Do I receive a certificate showing I completed the course? Yes, upon completion of the course you must contact Student Services or call 800-822-9398 to receive your e-mail certificate. After you have successfully completed and updated your course data to our server, please allow 3 business days for processing.  If after that time, you have not received an email regarding your course, please email Student Services or call 800-822-9398. If you have received a 100% on ALL questions and have met the time requirements, you will be issued a certificate of completion. Can I retake the course, if necessary? Yes, you may retake the course as often as you like. However, you will only be issued one certificate of completion. Troubleshooting Questions Read step-by-step instructions to help solve basic technical questions regarding your course. In order to successfully run our courses... We strongly recommend that you download all of Windows updates, fixes, and service packs (provide functionality) from Microsoft’s web site, which will keep your computer up-to-date and running smoothly. This will help fix video, sound, graphic, Media Player, and Windows XP problems. Connect to the Internet Open Internet Explorer Select Tools from the menu bar Select Windows Update from the drop-down box Select the "Scan for updates" button In the left-hand side window, a list of updates will appear Select an update and hit the "Add" button Select the "Review and install updates" button Select the "Install Now" button Be sure to read the messages that appear and follow the prompts Continue this process until there are no more updates to install. If you have Windows 98, you can go directly to the following page: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;239937 www.pcpitstop.com is an excellent site that gives free automated diagnostic tests that evaluate your computer. This site can help you resolve hardware and software issues, and ultimately optimize the performance of your computer. I am having problems viewing the videos; they are distorted or not playing correctly. Right click on the desktop Select Properties from the pop-up menu Select Settings tab Select Advanced button Select Troubleshooting tab (Performance tab for Windows 98) Reduce the hardware accelerator driver arrow by a couple of dots, so the point is just below center Select Apply Select OK You may need to restart your computer if on Windows 95 or 98 My navigation bar is cut off. This can occur on an XP machine due to the Windows XP default theme. In order to view the course the way it was designed, the Windows Classic theme needs to be applied. Select Start, My Computer, Control Panel, Appearance and Themes, and Display From the Display Properties window, select the Theme tab, and from the Theme drop-down box select Windows Classic Select the Apply button, and OK Or, change the screen resolution to 1024 x 768. A higher screen resolution reduces the size of items on your screen and increases the size of your desktop. The monitor and display adapter determine whether you can change your screen resolution. I have Windows 98 and receive an error message. Some Windows 98 machines have an ODBC problem with Authorware. Restart the course but DO NOT restart your computer Please do the Windows Updates from Number #1 in this list I am finished with the course, but the "Update to Server" button is greyed-out. To update your completed course information to our server, you MUST have an active Internet connection, prior to beginning the course. To establish an active Internet connection: Save and Quit your course Connect to the Internet Restart the CD Select the "Resume Course" button Return to the "Submit User Information" page and update to our server If the "Update to Server" button is still greyed-out, our host server may be temporarily unavailable. If this is the case, you may: Select the "Create Floppy" button Put a floppy disk into your floppy drive After the floppy is created, Save and Quit to exit the course Go to your desktop and open My Computer icon Right click once on your 3 ½ floppy drive Select Open Find the file that contains the data of the course you just completed (You will not be able to open and read this file) Right click on the file Select Send To: Mail Recipient E-mail this file to StudentServices@TheBackup.com I do not have a floppy disk drive and would like to save the course to a Flash Drive, burn to a CD ROM, or any other kind of external media. Go to your desktop and open the My Computer icon Double click on C drive (Local Disk) Double click on TBUStudent folder* Find the file of the course you just completed Copy and paste into external media location You can also follow these steps and attach the file in an e-mail to: StudentServices@TheBackup.com *If the course you are looking for is not in the TBUStudent folder: Go to your desktop and open the My Computer icon Double click on C drive (Local Disk) Find the Windows or WINNT folder Show files Find the A5W_DATA folder Find the file of the course you just completed Copy and paste into external media location