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©2012 Prolific Publishing, Inc.

Frequently Asked Questions

Crystal TheFish 95.9 1.1 - Windows Thumbnail

Top Questions
How do I upgrade to the newest version of Marine Aquarium? My Marine Aquarium CD stops installing at 99% I have an old Keycode and it does not work with the new version of the Marine Aquarium. I lost my Keycode OR I made my purchase but have not received my keycode. The Fish swim slowly and/or the Aquarium freezes. Will I receive a CD with my online order?
Before You Buy
Basic Information - Please Read What are the Marine Aquarium system requirements? Will I receive a CD with my online order? Does Marine Aquarium 2 include spyware or viruses? Will the Marine Aquarium work with Windows NT 4.0? Will the Marine Aquarium run on my notebook computer? Will Marine Aquarium run on widescreen and/or multiple monitors? I have the Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP CD with Marine Aquarium on it. Do I have to buy a Keycode? Will the Marine Aquarium run on a Mac? Where can I talk to real people who have used this product?
Accounts & Keycodes
I lost my Keycode OR I made my purchase but have not received my keycode. I enter my Keycode and nothing happens OR I am told to place the CD in the drive. How do I copy and paste my Keycode? I have an old Keycode and it does not work with the new version of the Marine Aquarium. I have to enter my Keycode each time. I have an old BASIC version Keycode. How can I upgrade? I have the Marine Aquarium 1.0 CD, but the program still requests a Keycode. I have the Marine Aquarium 2.0 CD, but the program still requests a Keycode.
Installation
My Marine Aquarium CD stops installing at 99% How do I test the Marine Aquarium on my computer? How do I install the Marine Aquarium once I have purchased a Keycode? I cannot get the Marine Aquarium CD to install across a network. How do I upgrade to the newest version of Marine Aquarium? How do I make the Marine Aquarium my Login screen saver in Windows 2000 or XP? How do I set Marine Aquarium as my default screen saver? The Marine Aquarium CD will not run when I place it in the CD-ROM drive. How do I uninstall SereneScreen Marine Aquarium? My Marine Aquarium is no longer working correctly. How do I re-install the program?
Operation
Marine Aquarium Hotkeys. Marine Aquarium Settings. Where are the other Fish and how do I choose them? Additional settings for Marine Aquarium 2 MD.
Troubleshooting
Basic Information - Please Read The Fish swim slowly and/or the Aquarium freezes. Your Video Card and its Driver Updating Your Video Card Driver. My fish are plain white (no textures). Marine Aquarium displays a black screen but I can hear the bubbles. Marine Aquarium minimizes to the Taskbar. My computer does not hibernate/sleep when Marine Aquarium is running. When I install or run Aquarium I get the error: Missing export D3D... The Aquarium does not fill my whole monitor screen. When Aquarium runs, I have no sound. Running the Aquarium from the desktop shortcut shows gibberish or launches a different program. Creating a system information report using DirectX
Screen Savers & Burn-in

Miscellaneous
What are the types of fish that come with the Aquarium? How do I register my SereneScreen Product? Why is there a limit of seven fish for Marine Aquarium? Can I make my own Fish for the Marine Aquarium?
Top Questions
How do I upgrade to the newest version of Marine Aquarium? This depends on your purchase. If you have purchased Marine Aquarium 2.0 you can simply download the latest version from the product page and use your keycode. This will only work with the Marine Aquarium 2 line. The price for upgrading from Marine Aquarium 1 to Marine Aquarium 2.0 is $5.95. Before making your purchase you may want to check to see if you have already been upgraded. Click HERE for information on how to retrieve your Keycodes. If you purchased Marine Aquarium 1.1 as an online download from this site, please click HERE for information on purchasing an Upgrade Keycode. If you have purchased the Marine Aquarium 1.0 CD (Not the XP Plus! CD), click HERE for information on purchasing a CD Upgrade Keycode. If your email has changed since your purchase or you have lost you original keycode click HERE for information on how to email Customer Support. If you do not wish to upgrade but would like the old Marine Aquarium 1, here is the link for downloading the program: Marine Aquarium 1 for Windows [Back to top] My Marine Aquarium CD stops installing at 99% This is a problem with InstallShield, a utility that guides software installation on Windows machines. The folks at InstallShield have identified this problem and offer a solution on their website HERE: InstallShield fix We recommend changing BOTH the TEMP and TMP variables as outlined in their fix. [Back to top] I have an old Keycode and it does not work with the new version of the Marine Aquarium. Old Keycodes will not work between the separate Marine Aquarium program series (.99, 1.0, 2.0, etc.). In order to prevent piracy, we modified the Keycode system for the release of Marine Aquarium version 1.0 and again with version 2.0. If you wish to use a new version of Marine Aquarium, and you have an old code, you will have to aquire an upgraded Keycode. For more information on upgrading, please click HERE Lastly, Keycodes that we see posted on the Internet are automatically deactivated in our database. You are urged to NEVER give out your Keycode to anyone. If you do, they might post YOUR Keycode to a website or forum. At that point we will be forced to disable the Keycode. We ONLY disable Keycodes that are posted to the Internet, or from customers that could not get the product to work on their computer. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES CAN WE "RE-ACTIVATE" A KEYCODE. We apologize for any inconvenience. [Back to top] I lost my Keycode OR I made my purchase but have not received my keycode. If you purchased the Marine Aquarium CD, you will not need a keycode. After installing the program from the CD, leave the CD in the CD-ROM drive and start the Aquarium. The program will read the CD for authorization and you can now run the full version of the Aquarium. After the initial authorization, the CD does not have to be in the CD-ROM drive. Keep in mind that this will not work between the separate Marine Aquarium program series (.99, 1.0, 2.0, etc.). PLEASE NOTE - This process will NOT work with the Microsoft Plus! CD or other demo CDs. If you purchased the download version, please go HERE and enter your email to retrieve your keycode. If this procedure does not work, e-mail us the following information where applicable and we can retrieve your information from our customer database: The full name you registered under. The Order Number from your confirmation e-mail. Both the first four AND last four numbers of the credit card you used. Your email address at the time of purchase. Your old Keycode. (If you are upgrading from an older code) The store or website you purchased the product from. The date of your purchase. [Back to top] The Fish swim slowly and/or the Aquarium freezes. Slow animation, jittering, or freezing can be caused by a variety of things. Let's try a few of the basics and see what might be causing the issue: A. IMPORTANT: Be sure that your video card has 16 megabytes or more of video memory and an up to date driver. Do not skip this step! Even if your computer is brand new or you've recently updated drivers, there can still be problems in this area. Click HERE for more information on your video card and how to check it. B. Limit the Aquarium's animation frame rate as follows: 1. Run Marine Aquarium and press the spacebar to bring up the settings menu. 2. Click the "Settings" tab. 3. Check the "Limit frame rate (fps)" box and use the slider bar to set the frame rate below 30. 4. Click the OKAY button. C. Examine the programs in your System Tray (The area just to the left of the clock on the Taskbar). Placing your mouse cursor over the icons will give you item's full name. If you have Windows XP you may have to "Show hidden icons" using the small circle and arrow button to the left of the System Tray. If the icon is Windows or another program waiting to update, run the updates then continue. If the icon is not one of your basic system functions (volume, task manager, mouse, video card, printer, etc.) exit, disable or close the program. Right-clicking will usually give you options. Then, check if Marine Aquarium exhibits the same behavior. D. Double-check your computer for spyware or viruses. If none of the above solutions work, please create a system information report as outlined HERE and e-mail it to us along with a description of your problem. [Back to top] Will I receive a CD with my online order? No. We do not ship CDs with online orders. You may purchase the CD at any CompUSA Store, Fry's Electronics Store (a West Coast electronics chain). You can also purchase the CD online from Encore Software For more details, you can contact our Sales Department via e-mail. [Back to top]
Before You Buy
Basic Information - Please Read Before purchasing the SereneScreen Marine Aquarium we strongly recommend you test the program to see if it works on your computer. You can do this by downloading the program and running the demo version as outlined HERE [Back to top] What are the Marine Aquarium system requirements? To run SereneScreen Marine Aquarium, you will need: Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP (Home or Professional). A Pentium-class CPU (200 MHz or faster). 64 MB of system RAM. A DirectX 6 compatible, 3D Accelerator Video Card with 16 MB or more of on-board RAM. 2 MB of free Hard Disk Space. DirectX 6 or better installed on your computer. The latest drivers for your video card. These are best found at the video card manufacturer's site. The Windows update feature is not sufficient for this task. For more information, click HERE [Back to top] Will I receive a CD with my online order? No. We do not ship CDs with online orders. You may purchase the CD at any CompUSA Store, Fry's Electronics Store (a West Coast electronics chain). You can also purchase the CD online from Encore Software For more details, you can contact our Sales Department via e-mail. [Back to top] Does Marine Aquarium 2 include spyware or viruses? None what so ever. We do not send out any product or support spamming in any manner. Just a clean download of our Screen Saver. However, there are a companies and software pirates that grab popular online products and alter them to include invasive spyware and even viruses. If this has happened to you, please let us know the address of the web site that sold your offered you our product. You can contact us by e-mail. Also, there is a free product called AdAware, that we ourselves use. This program gets rid of all sorts of spyware, etc. on your machine you might not know about. AdAware can be downloaded from: LavaSoft Afterwards, if you are still interested in Marine Aquarium 2, please download it from our site where we guarantee a download free of any other annoying ads or programs. [Back to top] Will the Marine Aquarium work with Windows NT 4.0? No. Marine Aquarium will not work on Windows NT 4.0. Marine Aquarium requires DirectX 6 or better to run and Windows NT 4.0 does not support DirectX. [Back to top] Will the Marine Aquarium run on my notebook computer? Only notebooks with a GeForce2Go, Rage Mobility or S3 Savage chip will run the Marine Aquarium. The NeoMagic chip will not work. [Back to top] Will Marine Aquarium run on widescreen and/or multiple monitors? Yes! We have a special version of Marine Aquarium 2 that supports both widescreen and multiple monitors. Marine Aquarium 2 MD can be downloaded from the following link: Marine Aquarium 2 MD If you have an old version 1 Keycode and would like the old widescreen version, click HERE to download it. The installation instructions for both versions is the same as Marine Aquarium 2 and can be found HERE [Back to top] I have the Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP CD with Marine Aquarium on it. Do I have to buy a Keycode? Yes. The 3 fish Marine Aquarium that comes in the Microsoft Plus! and Microsoft Plus! Superpack CD is only a demo. Jim Sachs, the creator of the Marine Aquarium screen saver is not affiliated with Microsoft and does not receive a dime from sales of the Microsoft Plus! CDs. Some time ago, Microsoft spotted our Marine Aquarium and was so impressed at the way the program utilizes Microsoft's Direct 3D technology they contacted Jim who agreed to create a 3 fish version as a show piece for the Microsoft Plus! CD. In return, Jim's product is exposed to millions of Windows XP users who can purchase the full Marine Aquarium program if they are so inclined. We apologize for the inconvenience. [Back to top] Will the Marine Aquarium run on a Mac? Yes. We are proud to offer a version of the SereneScreen Marine Aquarium for both MAC OSX and OS9. Click HERE for more information. [Back to top] Where can I talk to real people who have used this product? Check out the Fan Site, complete with wish lists and discussion forums. SereneScreen fan site. [Back to top]
Accounts & Keycodes
I lost my Keycode OR I made my purchase but have not received my keycode. If you purchased the Marine Aquarium CD, you will not need a keycode. After installing the program from the CD, leave the CD in the CD-ROM drive and start the Aquarium. The program will read the CD for authorization and you can now run the full version of the Aquarium. After the initial authorization, the CD does not have to be in the CD-ROM drive. Keep in mind that this will not work between the separate Marine Aquarium program series (.99, 1.0, 2.0, etc.). PLEASE NOTE - This process will NOT work with the Microsoft Plus! CD or other demo CDs. If you purchased the download version, please go HERE and enter your email to retrieve your keycode. If this procedure does not work, e-mail us the following information where applicable and we can retrieve your information from our customer database: The full name you registered under. The Order Number from your confirmation e-mail. Both the first four AND last four numbers of the credit card you used. Your email address at the time of purchase. Your old Keycode. (If you are upgrading from an older code) The store or website you purchased the product from. The date of your purchase. [Back to top] I enter my Keycode and nothing happens OR I am told to place the CD in the drive. There are three things that can cause this error. 1. Some characters in the Keycode can be easily confused (i.e. O and zero, capitol I and the number one, etc.). We recommend that you copy and paste your Keycode into the registration space to avoid any possible input errors. For more information on the copy and paste procedure see HERE 2. You may be attempting to use your Keycode in another version of the Marine Aquarium. Check your confirmation e-mail to see which version you purchased and make sure this is the version you downloaded. 3. Your copy of Marine Aquarium may have been corrupted during download or installation. Try downloading a new copy of the program and reinstalling it. Be sure to deactivate your anti-virus software for the duration of the download and install. For full installation instructions, click HERE [Back to top] How do I copy and paste my Keycode? To copy and paste your Keycode, do the following: 1. Hold down the left mouse button and pass the cursor over the Keycode. This will highlight the code in black. 2. Let go of the mouse button and move the cursor to the center of the highlight without pressing any buttons. 3. Press the right-most mouse button and select "Copy" from the pop-up menu. 4. Start Marine Aquarium. 5. After the program start up, press the space bar. This will bring up the registration window. 6. Put the cursor in the registration window, press the right-most mouse button again and select "Paste" from the pop-up menu. The Keycode should appear in the registration box. Be sure to eliminate any spaces before or after the code so you can have a clean paste. 7. Press the Enter key. The program should start right up. [Back to top] I have an old Keycode and it does not work with the new version of the Marine Aquarium. Old Keycodes will not work between the separate Marine Aquarium program series (.99, 1.0, 2.0, etc.). In order to prevent piracy, we modified the Keycode system for the release of Marine Aquarium version 1.0 and again with version 2.0. If you wish to use a new version of Marine Aquarium, and you have an old code, you will have to aquire an upgraded Keycode. For more information on upgrading, please click HERE Lastly, Keycodes that we see posted on the Internet are automatically deactivated in our database. You are urged to NEVER give out your Keycode to anyone. If you do, they might post YOUR Keycode to a website or forum. At that point we will be forced to disable the Keycode. We ONLY disable Keycodes that are posted to the Internet, or from customers that could not get the product to work on their computer. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES CAN WE "RE-ACTIVATE" A KEYCODE. We apologize for any inconvenience. [Back to top] I have to enter my Keycode each time. On a computer with multiple user profiles, only profiles that have administrator access can effect changes to the computer's registry, where our Keycode is stored. Not having Administrator access to the computer means that Marine Aquarium cannot register itself correctly. You will have to change each user profile to accept registry changes and then enter the Keycode into each profile. To change the user profile in Win 2000/XP: 1. Click on the START button and select "Control Panel". 2. Double-click "User Accounts". 3. Select the task "Change an Account" and then click on the account to be changed. 4. Click on "Change my account type" and read the instructions for changing each profile to "Administrator" status. [Back to top] I have an old BASIC version Keycode. How can I upgrade? Before the new Keycode system, we allowed customers to purchase a BASIC version of the Marine Aquarium that included only three Fish and some limited settings. For marketing reasons we no longer offer this as an option. Also, only the old DELUXE users were given the opportunity to upgrade for free. If you would like to upgrade please send US$10.00 in the form of a personal check or money order to: Prolific Publishing, Inc. SereneScreen Sales 3100 W. Burbank Blvd. Suite 101 Burbank, CA 91505-1308 If this is an international order it must be an International Postal Money Order. IMPORTANT - Be sure to include your e-mail address as well as your full name. We will e-mail your code to you as soon as we receive your payment. Just a reminder, before you send money, the new Marine Aquarium is much improved over the old .99 series, requiring more from your computer. We suggest you download the program and run the demo version as outlined HERE Thank you for your continued support. [Back to top] I have the Marine Aquarium 1.0 CD, but the program still requests a Keycode. The CD you have acts as the Keycode. However, it will not work between the separate Marine Aquarium program series (.99, 1.0, 2.0, etc.). We still honor the free upgrade from the 1.0 CD to Marine Aquarium 1.1. If you would like to download and install version 1.1 click HERE After installing the program from the CD or the download file, leave the CD in the CD-ROM drive and start the Marine Aquarium. The program will read the CD for authorization and you can now run the full version of the Marine Aquarium. After the initial authorization, the CD does not have to be in the CD-ROM drive. PLEASE NOTE - This process will NOT work with the Microsoft Plus! CD or other demo CDs. For more information click HERE For information on upgrading to Marine Aquarium 2.0 click HERE. [Back to top] I have the Marine Aquarium 2.0 CD, but the program still requests a Keycode. This can happen if Marine Aquarium was corrupted during installation. To solve this you will have to reinstall Marine Aquarium as outlined below: 1. Make sure you have your CD handy. 2. First remove any previous versions of the Aquarium from your system. For more information on how to do this, click HERE 3. Re-boot your computer. 4. IMPORTANT: Before re-installing, be sure your anti-virus software is deactivated for the duration of the install. 5. Place your Marine Aquarium CD in the CD-ROM drive. 6. The CD will automatically run the Aquarium Setup Wizard, which will install Aquarium on your computer, simply read and follow the instructions for installation. 7. Once the installation process is complete, there should be a new icon on your desktop that looks like a pair of orange and white fish. 8. Double-click on the fish to run Aquarium to start the program. At this point Aquarium will read the CD for authorization and unlock the program. 9. While the Aquarium is running press the space bar to bring up the Settings menu. 10. Don't forget to reactivate your anti-virus software when you are finished. Please let me know if you have any problems with this procedure. [Back to top]
Installation
My Marine Aquarium CD stops installing at 99% This is a problem with InstallShield, a utility that guides software installation on Windows machines. The folks at InstallShield have identified this problem and offer a solution on their website HERE: InstallShield fix We recommend changing BOTH the TEMP and TMP variables as outlined in their fix. [Back to top] How do I test the Marine Aquarium on my computer? There is no separate "demo version" of Marine Aquarium. We built the Marine Aquarium to act as a demo unless you entered a valid keycode. To properly install SereneScreen Marine Aquarium, and activate the demo mode, follow the instructions below: 1. IMPORTANT: Before installing, be sure your anti-virus software is deactivated for the duration of the download and install. 2. We also recommend uninstalling any previously installed copies of Marine Aquarium to avoid conflicts. For more information on how to uninstall any version Marine Aquairum, click HERE 3. Download the newest release of Marine Aquarium from HERE 4. After downloading the program, find the folder you downloaded to and double-click on the Marine Aquarium installer file. This will run the Setup Wizard, which will install Marine Aquarium on your computer, simply read and follow the instructions for installation. 5. Once the installation process is complete, there should be a new icon on your desktop that looks like a pair of orange and white fish. Double-click on the new Fish icon to bring up the registration box. 6. Type TESTFISH in the registration box. This will unlock the demo mode and display three Fish. 7. Don't forget to reactivate your anti-virus software. 8. Let the Marine Aquarium run for a little while to be sure everything is working properly. If you have any problems consult the graphics or troubleshooting sections of our FAQ. [Back to top] How do I install the Marine Aquarium once I have purchased a Keycode? Once you have purchased your keycode you can activate the full version of the program. To properly install the Marine Aquarium, and activate the full version, follow the instructions below (If you have already installed the newest demo version, skip to step #6): 1. IMPORTANT: Before installing, make sure you have your keycode handy and be sure your anti-virus software is deactivated for the duration of the download and install. 2. We also recommend uninstalling any previously installed copies of Marine Aquarium to avoid conflicts. For more information on how to uninstall any version Marine Aquairum, click HERE 3. Download the newest release of Marine Aquarium from HERE 4. After downloading the program, find the folder you downloaded to and double-click on the Marine Aquarium installer file. This will run the Marine Aquarium Setup Wizard, which will install Marine Aquarium on your computer, simply read and follow the instructions for installation. 5. Once the installation process is complete, there should be a new icon on your desktop that looks like a pair of orange and white fish. 6. Double-click on the fish to bring up the registration window. 7. Copy and paste your keycode into the registration space to avoid any possible input errors (Some characters can be easily mixed up i.e. the letter O and zero, capitol I and the number one, etc.) and press enter. PLEASE NOTE: Version 1.1 keycodes will not work with Marine Aquarium 2.0. Please click HERE for information on upgrading. 8. Once the program is running, press the space bar to change your settings. 9. Don't forget to reactivate your anti-virus software when you are finished. [Back to top] I cannot get the Marine Aquarium CD to install across a network. To use the CD version of the program, the computer you are installing to needs to have a CD-ROM drive. (See the System Requirements HERE) When Marine Aquarium is first run the program looks for the CD to register the program. Using a network CD-ROM will not work for this purpose, but a portable CD-ROM drive will suffice. [Back to top] How do I upgrade to the newest version of Marine Aquarium? This depends on your purchase. If you have purchased Marine Aquarium 2.0 you can simply download the latest version from the product page and use your keycode. This will only work with the Marine Aquarium 2 line. The price for upgrading from Marine Aquarium 1 to Marine Aquarium 2.0 is $5.95. Before making your purchase you may want to check to see if you have already been upgraded. Click HERE for information on how to retrieve your Keycodes. If you purchased Marine Aquarium 1.1 as an online download from this site, please click HERE for information on purchasing an Upgrade Keycode. If you have purchased the Marine Aquarium 1.0 CD (Not the XP Plus! CD), click HERE for information on purchasing a CD Upgrade Keycode. If your email has changed since your purchase or you have lost you original keycode click HERE for information on how to email Customer Support. If you do not wish to upgrade but would like the old Marine Aquarium 1, here is the link for downloading the program: Marine Aquarium 1 for Windows [Back to top] How do I make the Marine Aquarium my Login screen saver in Windows 2000 or XP? Microsoft has a specific procedure for changing the Windows Logon screen saver. It is outlined on the Microsoft Support website HERE. [Back to top] How do I set Marine Aquarium as my default screen saver? To set Marine Aquarium as your screensaver follow the instructions below: 1. Right-click on your desktop. This will bring up a small menu window. 2. Select "Properties" from the menu. This will open the "Display Properties" window. 3. Click on the tab along the top marked "Screen Saver" 4. Using the scrolling menu, select Marine Aquarium. The Marine Aquarium logo should appear in the small computer monitor at the top of this window. 5. The length of time until the screen saver activates can be adjusted at the left. [Back to top] The Marine Aquarium CD will not run when I place it in the CD-ROM drive. Some computers do not read the automatic start function on CD-ROMs. If you placed the CD in your CD-ROM drive and nothing happens, you may have to run the auto-installer manually. 1. Place the CD in the CD-ROM drive. 2. Double click on the "My Computer" icon. This will bring up a window with all of the computer's drives in it. 3. Find the CD-ROM drive and right click on it. From the small menu select "Explore". This will bring up another window that shows the contents of the CD. 4. Find the icon that looks like a little computer called "Setup.exe" and double click on it. This will start the auto-installer. [Back to top] How do I uninstall SereneScreen Marine Aquarium? The simplest way to uninstall any Marine Aquarium program is to use the Uninstall option through the Start menu under Programs/SereneScreen or use the Add/Remove utility located in the Windows Control Panel to remove all Marine Aquarium programs. This should clean your system of any Aquarium data. However, if you want to be doubly sure, you can go through the longer uninstall process below: 1. First remove any previous versions of the Aquarium from your system. Click on the Start button then select "Find" or "Search" and search for the file names of the products you installed. When the list of files displays in the Find window, right click on each of the fish icons and choose delete. Here is a list of the file names for each Marine Aquarium product: Marine Aquarium 0.99 - fish.scr Marine Aquarium 1 - Aquarium.scr Marine Aquarium 1.5 - MAEncore.scr Marine Aquarium 2 - MarineAquarium2.scr OR Marine Aquarium 2.scr Marine Aquarium 2 MD - MarineAquarium2MD.scr Marine Aquarium Time - MarineAquariumTime.scr Marine Aquarium Time 2 - MAT2.scr Marine Aquarium Time 2 MD - MarineAquarium2MD.scr Marine Aquarium Crystal "The Fish" - AMCrystal-theFish.scr Microsoft Plus! Marine Aquarium Demo - plusaqar.scr 2. Click on the Start button then select Programs/SereneScreen/Aquarium/Uninstall SereneScreen Aquarium. 3. IMPORTANT: Download the SachsRemove utility from HERE This utility will delete all entries associated with the any version of our program from you computer's registry. Once the download is complete, double click on the program. Then click "YES" and "OK". 4. Re-boot your computer. Your Computer should now be completely free of all Aquarium data and programs. [Back to top] My Marine Aquarium is no longer working correctly. How do I re-install the program? There are several cases where you may need to uninstall and reinstall the Marine Aquarium. Please consult the Graphics and Troubleshooting sections of our FAQ first for a solution there. However, corrupt downloads, new system settings, new video card drivers, or other such circumstances may make the Marine Aquarium stop running properly. If you cannot find another solution and would like to do a full re-install of the program we suggest the following steps: 1. Perform the long version of the Uninstall process outlined HERE 2. Install the program as outlined HERE These two steps will give you a clean slate as it were, allowing the Marine Aquarium to adjust to your system's current settings. [Back to top]
Operation
Marine Aquarium Hotkeys. ESC - Exit program. A - About window. H - Help window. B - Bubble sound on/off. F - Full screen/windowed mode. M - Enable/disable Exit on Mouse Move. S - Show frame rate information. W - Wireframe/normal mode. 'Space' - Settings menu. Up/Down Arrow - Main Lights up/down. Right/Left Arrow - Background lights up/down. L - Automatic light changes on/off. R - Restore default settings. [Back to top] Marine Aquarium Settings. All of the options below are found under the Marine Aquarium 2.5 menu under the "Settings" tab. To bring up the menu, press the spacebar on your keyboard while Marine Aquarium 2.5 is running. Exit on Mouse Move - If this is checked; you can exit the Marine Aquarium by moving your mouse or pressing a non-hotkey (see above) on your keyboard. If this option is not checked, you can only exit the program by pressing the ESC key. Disable Monitor Sleep Mode - Some monitors will shutdown after a period of time. This option allows the Marine Aquarium to override this shutdown and continue playing the aquarium on your monitor. Always on Top in Windowed Mode - When the Marine Aquarium is in Windowed Mode (See "W" hot key above.) this option will place the aquarium window over any other program you are running. Starfish Allowed on Glass - If this box is checked and the automatic lighting is on (see below) the starfish will climb onto the "glass" of your monitor and show off its belly. Limit Frame Rate - Forces the frame rate (animation speed) of the Marine Aquarium to the frequency you select. If your the Marine Aquarium is jerking, or running slowly, you may need to reduce the frame rate below the default 62 by using the slider bar. Windows Resolution and Color Bit - Controls the Desktop resolution and Color depth settings that the Marine Aquarium uses when it runs full screen. Resolution Dropdown menu - "Default Desktop Resolution" will match the aquarium display to your current desktop settings for color depth and resolution. 16/32 bit - Forces program to display at 16 or 32bit color depth regardless of desktop settings. Automatic Lights - To prevent your monitor from burning in, the Marine Aquarium will cycle the lighting from light to dark across the tank. Un-checking this box will give you full control of the lighting. Delay Slider - Determines the length, from light to dark, of the lighting cycle when in Automatic lighting mode. Lights Slider - Manual setting for the lighting when not in Automatic lighting mode. Bubbles - Controls the bubble column and sound. Column - Activates/Deactivates bubble column. Bubble sound will still be present and is controlled by the sound settings below. Sound - Bubble column sound. Volume Slider - Controls bubble volume. Always On - Bubble sound will always be heard when the Aquarium is running. When Active - Bubble sound will only be heard when the Aquarium window is visible. Helpful when Aquarium is in Windowed mode (see "F" hotkey above.) Off - Turns off bubble sound entirely. [Back to top] Where are the other Fish and how do I choose them? The Marine Aquarium can display up to seven fish at a time, from a library of colorful exotic breeds. To access and use this library, please follow the instructions below: 1. Press the space bar while the program is running. This will bring up the Settings window. 2. Click on the "Fish" tab. This will take you to the Fish selection page of the Settings window. On the right you will see a visual library of colorful Fish to choose from. On the top left are a number of slots showing the Fish currently chosen for your tank. The bottom will show vital information on each Fish. 3. By left-clicking on a Fish you can see its information in the bottom left. By double-clicking, you can set the Fish as one of your tank choices, filling one of your slots. Double-clicking the "X" (OFF) will leave that slot blank and the Marine Aquarium will have one less fish on the screen. If you double-click the "?" (RANDOM) the Marine Aquarium will pick a fish for you at random, every time you open the program. 4. Checking the option "Don't Duplicate Random Choices" will make sure that no random choices are the same. [Back to top] Additional settings for Marine Aquarium 2 MD. There are some additional options in the Settings menu for Marine Aquarium 2 MD, our multimonitor and widescreen version of Marine Aquarium 2. For more information on this special version, click HERE. Start Window Mode - This sets the windowed mode of Marine Aquarium 2 to a specific Anamamorphic setting. The Anamorphic settings are as follows, though they may require slightly different numbers on your specific monitor: 1.0 fills any screen. If the Aquarium is set to widescreen and you have a widscreen monitor, there will be no distortion. 0.8 will "Letterbox" the Aquarium image, placing a black bar at the top and bottom of the screen. This setting will allow the widescreen mode to appear without distortion on a normal ratio display. 1.2 will "Sidebox" box the Aquarium image, placing a black bar on the left and right of the screen. This setting will allow the normal mode to appear without distortion on a widescreen display. Use Widescreen - Sets Marine Aquarium to widescreen mode, which uses an additional Fish (for a total of eight) and expanded background art. Select Monitor - Use this scroll menu to specify which monitor you are changing the options for. Anamorphic Factor - These settings can be different for each monitor and are the same as the “Start Window Mode” settings above. Black - Blacks out the specified monitor. If you are seeing black on one monitor and not the others, most likely this option has been checked for one of your monitors. [Back to top]
Troubleshooting
Basic Information - Please Read The graphics used in the SereneScreen Marine Aquarium require a fairly up-to-date computer with a strong graphics card. Our realistic graphics use the same system resources as some video games. If you do not have your computer set up for this kind of activity, do not worry, 99% of all graphics problems can be solved by simply updating your computer's video card drivers. Click HERE for more information on your video card and how to check it. The best way to test the Aquarium's compatibility is to download the program and run the demo version as outlined HERE [Back to top] The Fish swim slowly and/or the Aquarium freezes. Slow animation, jittering, or freezing can be caused by a variety of things. Let's try a few of the basics and see what might be causing the issue: A. IMPORTANT: Be sure that your video card has 16 megabytes or more of video memory and an up to date driver. Do not skip this step! Even if your computer is brand new or you've recently updated drivers, there can still be problems in this area. Click HERE for more information on your video card and how to check it. B. Limit the Aquarium's animation frame rate as follows: 1. Run Marine Aquarium and press the spacebar to bring up the settings menu. 2. Click the "Settings" tab. 3. Check the "Limit frame rate (fps)" box and use the slider bar to set the frame rate below 30. 4. Click the OKAY button. C. Examine the programs in your System Tray (The area just to the left of the clock on the Taskbar). Placing your mouse cursor over the icons will give you item's full name. If you have Windows XP you may have to "Show hidden icons" using the small circle and arrow button to the left of the System Tray. If the icon is Windows or another program waiting to update, run the updates then continue. If the icon is not one of your basic system functions (volume, task manager, mouse, video card, printer, etc.) exit, disable or close the program. Right-clicking will usually give you options. Then, check if Marine Aquarium exhibits the same behavior. D. Double-check your computer for spyware or viruses. If none of the above solutions work, please create a system information report as outlined HERE and e-mail it to us along with a description of your problem. [Back to top] Your Video Card and its Driver The video card is the graphics workhorse of your computer. If it is not strong enough (lacks enough memory), it won't be able to perform smoothly. The same is true if the video driver your computer is using is out of date or corrupted. To check your video card's memory and driver do the following: 1. Close all programs that are running. 2. Click on the START button and select RUN. 3. In the box that appears, type in "dxdiag" (not the quotes, just what's in them). 4. This will bring up the DirectX Diagnostic tool. Wait for it to fully load. 5. Click the "Display" tab. 6. All the information on your video card is in the upper left under the heading "Device". You'll want to write down the following information: Name Manufacturer Chip Type Approx. Total Memory If the Approx. Total Memory is below 16MB (megabytes), your video card does not have enough video memory to run Marine Aquarium and you should contact us to let us know. 7. All of the information about your video driver is on the right-hand side under the heading "Driver". You'll want to write down the following information: Version Date If the date is more than six months old, you will want to update your video driver. As outlined HERE. IMPORTANT: If you have a laptop, you will want to go to the laptop manufacturer's website to find a new driver. [Back to top] Updating Your Video Card Driver. It is important to make sure you have the latest driver for your video card from the manufacturer. We have found that outdated drivers are the number one reason for many graphics problems. IMPORTANT: If you have a laptop, you will want to go to the laptop manufacturer's website to find a new driver. PLEASE NOTE - The Windows update function is often not sufficient for updating your video card drivers. Video card manufacturers update their drivers once every THREE to SIX months. These new drivers can usually be found on their websites. Using the information you gathered HERE about your video card, you should search the Internet for the manufacturer's website and download the driver from there. Read the installation information on the manufacturer's site very carefully. There is no standard way to install updated drivers, though many companies are including auto-installers with their driver downloads. If this update does not solve your problem, please create a system information report as outlined HERE and e-mail it to us along with a description of your problem. [Back to top] My fish are plain white (no textures). The first thing to try is to run the program. Then press the space bar to bring up the Settings menu. Make sure the option "Exit on Mouse Move" is NOT checked. Then click the "OK" button and press Ctrl and the "T" key at the same time. If it works, go back to the Settings menu and change a few of the fish selections to save the new graphic setting. If this does not work, the problem may be your video card driver. Please see the driver update section. [Back to top] Marine Aquarium displays a black screen but I can hear the bubbles. There are two reasons that this can happen: 1. If Marine Aquarium runs for a while then goes black, this can be caused by the monitor going into sleep mode. Check your Power Options in the Windows Control Panel. 2. If Marine Aquarium goes black as soon as it activates, this can be a problem with your video card's driver. Click HERE for more information on updating your video card driver. [Back to top] Marine Aquarium minimizes to the Taskbar. We have found that Marine Aquarium can be minimized by Windows when another program steals priority from your system's processor. This can be caused by any combination of the following: 1. Programs running in the background. Nearly all computers have programs and utilities running in the background, not noticed, but requiring resources to operate. Some of these programs are less obtrusive than others. Examine the programs in your System Tray (The area just to the left of the clock on the Taskbar). Placing your mouse cursor over the icons will give you item's full name. If you have Windows XP you may have to "Show hidden icons" using the small circle and arrow button to the left of the System Tray. If it is not one of your basic system functions (volume, task manager, mouse, video card, printer, etc.) exit, disable or close the program. Right-clicking will usually give you options. 2. Windows or another program is trying to update. Be sure that ALL programs on your system have been updated or do not update automatically. 3. Viruses and Spyware can steal a lot of system resources; in fact this is one of the symptoms of being infested with this malevolent software. Update and run your antivirus program. Do a full system scan to be sure that your computer is clean. For Spyware, we recommend AdAware from LavaSoft. AdAware has served us well for years and they have a free version on their site. Also, Microsoft has recently released their anti-spyware program. Information on it can be found HERE. You should run a Spyware scan even if you have a Spyware blocker or filter of some sort. No one program can catch everything. [Back to top] My computer does not hibernate/sleep when Marine Aquarium is running. This problem has been identified as a Windows XP issue. More information can be found on the Microsoft support site HERE. [Back to top] When I install or run Aquarium I get the error: Missing export D3D... Your computer may not have Direct X, or may have an old version of Direct X. Direct X is a graphics language program required for running the Marine Aquarium. Click on the following link to Microsoft's Direct X website and download the latest version. If you know that you already have Direct X installed on your computer, than you may want to run the program's self-diagnostic tool as outlined below: 1. Click on the "Start" button and select "Run". 2. Type in "dxdiag" and click OK. This will open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. The version of DirectX you are running will be displayed toward the bottom of the first page. 3. Go through each tab and click the buttons with the word "Test.." in them. This will take you through a series of diagnostic tests. 4. When you get to the "Display" tab make sure that "Directdraw" and "Direct3D" are enabled. If Direct3D is "Not Available" right click your desktop and click "Properties." Go to the "Settings" tab, click "Advanced." Go to the "Performance" tab and make sure hardware acceleration is set to Full. 5. If you find any problems you will need to download and reinstall DirectX from the link above. [Back to top] The Aquarium does not fill my whole monitor screen. The geometry on your monitor for the screen mode the Aquarium is using may not be edge-to-edge. Try adjusting your monitor settings. These are usually located on the front of your monitor. Your monitor should save these changes and they should only be in effect when the Marine Aquarium is running. If you still cannot get the display to fill the screen you may have to override the refresh setting in DirectX. Check your monitor manufacturer's web site and see what the optimal refresh rate is for the resolution you want to run. 1. Click on the "Start" button and select "Run". 2. Type dxdiag and click "OK". 3. Click the "More Help" tab. 4. Click the "Override" button. 5. Enter the optimal refresh rate for your monitor. DirectX limits some programs to 60hz by default. [Back to top] When Aquarium runs, I have no sound. Try to remove and reinstall your Audio Compression software. 1. In Windows98 or ME click on the Start button then select Settings/Control Panel/Add-Remove Programs. 2. Click Windows Setup, scroll to and select Multimedia then click the "Details" button. 3. Uncheck "Audio Compression" and click "Apply". 4. Re-check "Audio Compression" to re-install (at this point you might be asked to insert your Windows disk) and click OK. If you are running another operating system or the Aquarium sound still does not work, we suggest you uninstall and reinstall your sound card driver. The latest version should be available on your computer manufactures web and/or your sound card/chip manufacturer's site. Also, check the site for specific instructions on how to uninstall and reinstall. To check which sound card you have click on the "Start" button, select "Run" and type in "dxdiag" then click OK. This will open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Click the Sound tab. Your sound card will be listed under the Device heading. [Back to top] Running the Aquarium from the desktop shortcut shows gibberish or launches a different program. AutoCAD or some other program has changed the association of the .scr file type. Here is a way to work around that: 1. Open your My Documents folder and select "View" ("Tools" for Windows XP) from the Menu Bar then click on "Folder Options..." 2. Click the "View" tab, uncheck "Hide file extensions for known file types" and click the "Apply" button. This will allow you to view the file extensions for all files. 3. Close your My Documents window. 4. Delete the SereneScreen Aquarium icon from your Desktop. 5. Copy and Paste the Aquarium.scr file to your Desktop from your C:WindowsSystem (System32 for Windows XP) folder. 6. Right-click on the new Aquarium icon and select "Rename" from the menu. Change the Icon's name to Aquarium.exe. You can now run the Aquarium manually by double-clicking this Icon. [Back to top] Creating a system information report using DirectX Sometimes we need to know more about your system so we can more accurately diagnose a problem. Please use the following procedure to gather this information: 1. Close all programs that are running. 2. Click on the START button and select RUN. 3. In the box that appears, type in "dxdiag" (not the quotes, just what's in them). 4. This will bring up the DirectX Diagnostic tool. Wait for it to fully load. 5. Click the "Save All Information..." button. 6. Save the file to your My Documents folder or somewhere else that you will be able to find it easily. 7. Make a list of the programs in your System Tray (The area just to the left of the clock on the Taskbar). Placing your mouse cursor over the icons will give you the item's full name. 8. E-mail the DirectX report to us along with the System Tray list. We will look through this information and see what the trouble might be. Thank you for your patience. [Back to top]
Screen Savers & Burn-in

Miscellaneous
What are the types of fish that come with the Aquarium? Marine Aquarium currently includes the following Fish: Addis Butterflyfish Blue Chromis Damselfish Bluering Angelfish Clown Triggerfish Copper-Banded Butterflyfish Emperor Angelfish Flame Angelfish Forceps Butterfly French Angelfish (juvenile) Koran Angel Longfin Bannerfish (Wimplefish) Percula Clownfish (common) Picasso Triggerfish Powder Blue Tang Purple Sailfin Tang (juvenile) Queen Angelfish (teenager) Red Volitan Lionfish Redfin Butterflyfish Regal Angelfish Regal Tang Rock Beauty Angelfish Royal Gramma Basselet Squarespot Anthias (male) Threadfin Butterflyfish Three-Stripe Damselfish Yellow Tang Marine Aquarium also includes a starfish that crawls along the bottom of the tank and on the "glass" of your monitor! More information and a full color guide to the Fish can be found at the SereneScreen fan site [Back to top] How do I register my SereneScreen Product? If you purchased a CD from a retail store or from Encore Software, you can register this product using the link below: Encore Software Registration Page Products purchased directly from our website as an electronic download do not need to be registered, all of your information was entered into our database at the time of purchase. However, if did not check the "I would like to receive email updates, notices, free offers and gifts." option when you made your purchase then you will receive none of these services. [Back to top] Why is there a limit of seven fish for Marine Aquarium? Several reasons. A real saltwater aquarium of this size could not support more fish, and it also gets visually crowded. The second reason is the graphics overhead for more fish slows the system down too much. We know that many people have very powerful graphics cards, which are producing 100 frames per second, but most do not, and we want the Aquarium to be a satisfying experience for the largest possible audience. [Back to top] Can I make my own Fish for the Marine Aquarium? We do not permit people to create or add custom fish for Marine Aquarium at this time. There are many reasons for this, but the most important is that while we trust an artisan would be motivated, and capable of creating a truly wonderful masterpiece, there are others that might not, and if a version were to get out that was less than the highest quality, it would reflect poorly on us. If you are interesting in creating fish or wildlife for our company, we are always seeking talented artists. Please e-mail us samples of your work. Thank you for your support. [Back to top]

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