Answer: Your purchase was for one license, which means that you are entitled to use the program on one machine. We don't wish to alienate customers, but we have documentation that one 'organization' bought one program and copied it onto over 30 machines. We are simply trying to keep our prices reasonable, and yet protect our investment of time and money in our software. Check out our competitors! One competitor charges $495 for their game software. If we charged that, we wouldn't concern ourselves with the piracy of software (in fact, we consider their price piracy!)

Answer: The demo version of our software is a fully-functional program, with the two exceptions. First, when you play the game, you can only play the sample file that we include with the software. Second, you will not be able to generate game files and save them on your computer. There is no time limit on the demo version. We encourage people to use the software for as long as they want, and to share the software with other users. After fully testing the software, simply return to our website and purchase the activation code or the CD containing the software.

     Recently we were forced to remove all of the trial versions (trial versions were fully functioning versions with an expiration date).   We had to address piracy issues with regard to the trial versions of our software.    You can read about it on our Download Strategy web page.

     Not to put too fine of a point on this answer, but most people simply do not read the instruction manual. We have spent a great amount of time incorporating the questions that our customers have asked, into the manuals. However, if you have a question that isn't covered in our manual, please email us (support@decsoftware.com). Be sure to include the order number, the program name and the version number of the program that you are working with. We make every effort to answer our emails within 2-3 hours (on a business day).

Answer: We sell our software worldwide. This type of sales is not conducive to phone support. The cost would be prohibitive, and of course, we would have to pass this on to the consumer.

     99.5% of our questions are either answered in the manual (see question 6 above), or can be answered easily by e-mail.

     Then consider this recent exchange with a customer, who after 15 e-mails, we finally relented and called. Our support person (we'll call him Byron), was placed on hold for over 10 minutes. At this point, Byron was cut off. Ten minutes later (thanks to caller ID) the customer called back. The following is a word-for-word transcript of our On-Star conversation with the customer (the names and order numbers have been changed to protect the innocent).

Byron: OK. What's on your screen right now?

Customer: Wait, I have to get to my computer.

     Five minutes pass. . . phone transfers . . . clicking . . . elevator music . . . . heavy breathing

Customer: OK. I'm at my computer.

Byron: OK. What's on your screen right now?

Customer: Nothing, let me get this computer going.

Byron: OK.

     Five minutes pass.

Byron: What happens when you start the program?

Customer: The little activation box comes up on the screen.

Byron: What happens when you type in the activation code that I sent to you in the e-mail?

Customer: It says code not properly defined.

Byron: Did you use copy and paste, to eliminate any transcription errors?

Customer: Yes.

Byron: What code did you type in?

Customer: 2076.

Byron: That's the order number. When I sent you the activation code, it included the following:

Customer: I see. Would you send that activation code again?

Byron: Sure (under his breath - I've sent it to you 3 times. Once I even sent you an e-mail that only had that number in it, everything else was blank).

Byron: (under his breath again) Why would you use copy and paste for a number like 2076?

Byron: (under his breath again) When is my vacation?

Byron: (under his breath again) I hope she only bought one program.

Byron: Have a nice day!

Answer: If a notebook computer is used in different configurations (say docked or undocked, or perhaps replacing a floppy disk drive with a CD drive) then our licensing software 'sees' the different arrangement as a different computer. Currently, our licensing software specialist is seeking a 'workaround'.

     The safest procedure for notebook computer users, is to decide which configuration that they will use the software in, and supply the MID and Site codes for that arrangement.

1. Search the internet for the music that you want to use.

2. Download the music to that subdirectory.

3. Delete the "QuizShowTheme.wav" file.

4. Rename the downloaded wav file to "QuizShow Theme.wav".

Possible links for music or sound files:

http://www.findsounds.com/index.html

http://www.ilovewavs.com/

http://www.free-stuff.me.uk/free/music/wav_files/

edclift100@hotmail.com

Answer: The Ultimate QuizShow runs best in 800 x 600 pixel mode. You need to reset the display characteristics of your monitor.
     The directions for Windows 98 are (Windows 95 and Windows 2000 are just slightly different.):

Step 1. With your desktop visible, right click on the desktop (anywhere but on an icon).
Step 2. Move down until you have highlighted the 'Properties' menu item.
Step 3. Click the 'Settings' tab.
Step 4. Set the display to 800 x 600 and apply.

 

Step 1. Use a microphone and record the sounds that you want to use, using a program like Sound Recorder.

Step 2. Name these files "yes1.wav" , "yes2.wav", "yes3.wav", "yes4.wav","yes5.wav", "no1.wav", "no2.wav","no3.wav", "no4.wav" and "no5.wav"

Step 3. Copy them to the c:\QuizShow\bin subdirectory. They will overwrite the sound files that are located there.

Step 4. Likewise, the TEAM sounds, "team1.wav", "team2.wav", "team3.wav" and "team4.wav" can be replaced. Follow steps 1-3 to replace these sounds.

Answer: Since all our software is downloadable as fully-functioning programs, it is the user's responsibility to determine if the software is suitable. We do not offer refunds or returns. Of course, we do replace CD's that are damaged during shipping. In addition, we will do everything in our power to get our software running properly on your machine (this offer is not valid for sewing machines!).

     Please, download the software, try it out and then purchase the software if you desire.

Answer: Assuming that you have purchased licenses for both computers, installed the game on both computers and then 'activated' the software on both computers, here is what you need to do (also, let's assume the program is The Ultimate QuizShow):

 

Step 1. Using a program like Windows Explorer, copy the question files (the file and extension will be something like 'sample.qsa' ) from the C:\programs\QuizShow9_0\      subdirectory to a floppy disk.

Step 2. Using the same program on the target computer, copy the question files from the floppy disk to the c:\programs\QuizShow9_0\      subdirectory.

Step 3. Follow the same method to copy any sound files from the from the C:\programs\QuizShow9_0\sounds      subdirectory to a floppy disk and then to the target computer.

Step 4. Follow the same method to copy any graphic files from the from the C:\programs\QuizShow9_0\pics      subdirectory to a floppy disk and then to the target computer.

Answer: Spend 8,560 hours developing your own software package (or hire someone to do it). Believe it our not, we had someone who was irate that they couldn't change the logo to their own throughout the program, just once and be done with it.

We wonder if Microsoft (tm) would let customers do that with Microsoft Word?

Actually, we responded to our clients' requests to allow them to change the logo so that they could play 'their game'. But we also think it's reasonable to maintain our trademark and our copyright for the program.