1¾«‚9x‚‚‚‚ƒ„Magic ScreenSaver (Version 1.02 - June 9/1990) by Bill Stewart & Ian MacDonald Dynamic Information Systems - Calgary, Alberta What Is Magic? Magic is a configurable screen-saver utility for Microsoft Windows. It was written for Windows 2.x & Windows 386, but is Win 3.0 friendly, and will soon be a Windows 3.0 application. If left unattended, Magic fills your screen with colourful animation, as well as providing password protection for your computer. A static screen image left unattended for a long time can damage the computer screen as the image gets burned into the display. A screensaver saves the computer monitor from this damage by blanking or changing the display if the computer is left unattended for a set amount of time. After the set amount of time, the computer enters Sleep mode. In Sleep mode, the screen is blanked and a changing moire colour pattern moves around the screen. Since the moire pattern is constantly changing, no spot on your monitor gets burned in, and the computer doesn't look like it is turned off (as simply blanking the screen would do). Any user action (like moving the mouse or pressing a key) brings back (wakes up) the user's normal Windows display. Screensavers can also provide computer security by requiring a user-selectable password before waking up from sleep mode. This can prevent unauthorized casual access to your computer while it is running. New Features of Version 1.02 1) Magic was written for Windows 2.x and /386, but is now Windows 3.0 friendly. We have made Magic more compatible with Win 3.0's enhanced mode and have fixed most problems running under Win 3.0. Version 1.00 had to be terminated before Win 3.0 was closed so that it wouldn't crash your system. Version 1.02 now exits cleanly from Win 3.0. Version 1.02 makes better use of colour under Win 3.0. Under Windows 3.0, Magic's Control Panel will not open by double-clicking on the icon, although this works in Windows 2.x & /386. The Control Panel can be easily opened from Magic's system menu in Win 3.0. This minor problem will be addressed in the next release. 2) DOS applications are now handled better by version 1.01. Version 1.00 would iconize active DOS programs after the Sleep delay, regardless of user keyboard or mouse activity. This occurred because DOS apps don't report messages to Windows. With Version 1.01, Magic does not try to sleep if a DOS program is the active application. 3) The cursor now disappears in Sleep Mode so that it does not interfere with the graphics. 4) Version 1.02 adds password protection for your computer. If Password mode is enabled, Magic will require the correct password (user-selected) before coming out of Sleep mode. How Do I Install It? Once installed, Magic can run in background without any maintenance from the user at all. Magic is best used as an 'init' program for Windows. That means that it is automatically loaded as Windows boots up and will work as long as Windows is in operation. To install Magic in the Windows boot-up process, do the following: 1) Open the WIN.INI file in your Windows directory with Notepad, or any text-editing program. 2) Several lines down from the top of the file, you will find a line like the following: run = This line tells Windows what programs to run as it boots up. Change this line to read as follows: run = magic.exe [+any other startup programs] 3) Save WIN.INI and Windows will now know to automatically run Magic. All that's left is to copy the files MAGIC.EXE and MAGICLIB.EXE into the same directory (the Windows directory) as your WIN.INI file. 4) Restart Windows and Magic will start up automatically if you did steps 1-3 correctly. How Do I Use Magic? Magic's colourful moire animation in Sleep mode both saves your monitor from damage and shows off Windows' graphics capabilities. While no user configuration (beyond installation) is necessary, you can easily configure Magic to suit your work environment and preferences. In normal operation, Magic appears on the Windows desktop as an icon, but selecting Control Panel... (or double-clicking on the icon) opens up Magic's Control Panel . Compatibility Magic takes very little memory and processing time. It should not interfere with well-behaved Windows applications or DOS programs. In fact, Magic only gets processing time when all other applications are idle, such as when a word processing program is waiting for keyboard or mouse input. Since DOS applications do not report messages to Windows, Magic disables its screensaving whenever a DOS program is active. Users have reported that Magic works well in various configurations of Windows including CGA, EGA, VGA (and higher resolutions), using Pubtech File Organizer, HP NewWave, or off-the-shelf Windows 2.x, /386, and Windows 3.0. Although Magic is not a Win 3.0 application (per se), it is Win 3.0 friendly. Users who have marked it with Charles Kindel's Mark30 utility have not reported any problems. By using this utility, you avoid the warning messages normally associated with a Windows 2.x application starting up under Win 3.0. We are not endorsing the use of the Marking utility on Magic, but we use it ourselves, and we have no problems running under Win 3.0. The Control Panel Magic's control panel allows you to change every feature of its operation to suit your preferences. Sleep Preview Window At the top of the control panel is the Sleep Preview Window. This area shows a preview of the graphics that will fill the screen in Sleep Mode. If you change the moire graphics settings, the Sleep Preview Window will reflect those changes. About Magic Below the Sleep Preview Window is the Magic version number and an About button. Clicking on the About button presents more information about Magic, how to contact its creators, and future enhancements. Moire Graphics Control The moire graphics can be configured to your liking with three scrollbar controls and the Mirror button. The number of lines in the moire pattern can be varied from 1 to 150. The MAX setting (beyond 150) sets the moire to infinite length. The speed of the moire animation and the speed of the colour changes can be varied from 1 to 100%. If the colour speed is set low, the colours change very slowly. You can use the mouse to click on the controls' up and down arrows, or you can use the up and down arrow keys. The Mirror button allows you to vary the symmetry of the Moire pattern on the screen. Clicking the Mirror button steps you through the mirroring options. You can choose no mirroring, vertical symmetry, horizontal symmetry, or both horizontal and vertical symmetry. Magic Icon Magic appears as an icon on the Windows desktop. You can select from 3 different behaviours for the Magic icon. Moire - In this mode, the Magic icon show a miniature moire pattern in the icon (except when the control panel is shown). This animation only occurs when your computer is idle, so it does not slow down processing at all. If the computer is busy at all, the icon animation stops until the computer is idle again. Nova - In this mode, the Magic icon shows a star. As Magic approaches Sleep mode, the star collapses to show how close you are to Sleep mode. As the computer goes to Sleep, the star visually goes Nova and explodes to indicate that Sleep mode is starting. Static - As opposed to the other two icon modes, in this mode, the icon is always the Magic application icon and does not animate on the Windows desktop. On/Off Switch Magic resides in background, takes very little memory, and should not interfere with any software running under Windows. However, programmers developing Windows software may wish to have a completely clear system for debugging their own programs. Therefore, Magic has an on/off switch to completely enable or disable Magic without actually closing it. When the switch is in the OFF position, Magic is totally disabled and will not enter sleep mode or look for a Sleep timeout. When disabled, the Magic icon changes to an overworked software developer catching some much needed rest (Z's). Password Protection Magic can be used for computer security, as well saving your screen. If Password mode is enabled, the correct password must be entered before Magic will come out of Sleep mode back to your Windows display. Clicking on the Password... button opens the Password Configuration dialog where you can type in a new password or toggle Magic's Password mode. When entering a new password, all keypresses show up as asterisks (*) for security. You must type the password in both the Password and Confirm fields to ensure that it is correct. When what you type in the Confirm field matches what you typed in the Password field, the OK button will be enabled. Clicking on the OK button stores the changes you have made to the Password settings. The Cancel button disregards any changes and reverts to the previous password (if any). The Always Use Password checkbox allows you to toggle Magic's password mode. If checked, Magic will always require your password to wake up. Leave the box unchecked if you only occasionally want Magic to require a password. To invoke password checking with this mode, hold down the Ctrl key and put the mouse in the Sleep area. You must hold the Ctrl key down until Magic falls asleep to enable password checking. Sleep Time Setting The user can set how long the computer must be inactive before entering sleep mode. Similar to changing the Moire Graphics settings, the user can click on the arrows or use the arrow keys to change the number of minutes of inactivity before entering sleep mode. Going to Sleep on Command You may wish Magic to enter Sleep mode on command. By putting the cursor in the Sleep Area, Magic enters Sleep mode immediately. You can also invoke Password mode by holding the Ctrl key down when putting Magic to sleep manually. The Sleep Area button allows you to select a new Sleep Area. To select a new Sleep Area, first click on the Sleep Area button. The cursor will change to a crosshair for selecting an area. Click down and drag the mouse to select an area (shown inverted) of the screen as the Sleep Area. Letting up the mouse after dragging turns the cursor back into a pointer. Clicking down (and holding down) on the Sleep Area button shows the selected Sleep Area. If you let up the mouse outside of the button, you will not enter selection mode. If you enter Sleep Area selection mode by accident, just click without dragging and the previous Sleep Area will not be replaced. Keeping a Display on the Screen You may also wish to leave a display on the screen and not go to sleep, regardless of Magic's timeout. By putting the cursor in the Wake area, Magic will be inhibited from going to sleep. All the techniques mentioned above for the Sleep Area button are applicable to the Wake Area button. Who Made Magic? The Magic ScreenSaver is a shareware program by Bill Stewart and Ian MacDonald of Dynamic Information Systems. As shareware, you are entitled to try Magic out for 15 days free, upload it to online services, and give copies to associates, subject to the following conditions: 1) A lot of time and effort went into writing and testing Magic. If you don't use Magic, you'll throw it out. If you do use it, pay the modest shareware fee of $20 to the authors. You will become a registered user of Magic and receive notice of all upgrades. Paying the small shareware fee for something you find useful encourages the free exchange of information currently enjoyed by the software community. Not paying is both unlawful and uncool. 2) You may give Magic to others, but may not distribute Magic for direct or indirect profit by any means. 3) You may not alter MAGIC.EXE, MAGICLIB.EXE, or this documentation in any way. When distributing Magic, you must include this documentation with the package. 4) While every effort has been made to test Magic in various environments, neither the authors nor Dynamic Information Systems are liable for any damages caused directly or indirectly through the use or misuse of Magic. We do not guarantee compatibility with future versions of system software, Windows, or any other products, although future versions of Magic will be upgraded to stay current with changes in DOS and Windows if we receive user support through shareware. To register as an authorized user of Magic, send a shareware payment of $20 payable to Bill Stewart or Ian MacDonald at the following address: Unit 4, 3530 15th Street SW Calgary, Alberta CANADA T2T 4A3 Our aim is nothing less than to make Magic the ULTIMATE Windows screensaver. Therefore, we appreciate and encourage all user feedback that will help us improve the product. For any questions, comments or complaints, you can contact us by mail, voice, or online services as detailed below: Dynamic Information Systems Unit 4, 3530 15th Street SW Calgary, Alberta CANADA T2T 4A3 Voice: (403) 243-0296 CompuServe: 71621, 1163 Connect: STEWART1 AOL: Zenmaster3 There are additional benefits to becoming a registered user of Magic. We are rapidly upgrading Magic to include many new features: 1) While the Moire animation is a nice screen saver, we aren't satisfied! We are creating a modular version of Magic that will use various graphics modules. Several exciting graphics modules for Magic will be available free to registered users with the release of the new modular version. 2) This new modular interface will allow user-written screen saver modules. Using this interface, you will be able to create your own alternative screen saver graphics. This opens the way to options like using your company logo, custom pictures, and anything your imagination comes up with as a screensaver under Magic. 3) Only registered users can get the Magic screensaver development kit, including screensaver guidelines, example source code, and a programmer's manual. 4) Registered users can receive minor upgrades for free and will receive substantial discounts for new versions. 5) For programmers with multiple monitors, Magic will soon be able to blank the auxilliary monitor, as well as show graphics on the main monitor in Sleep Mode. We appreciate your support, Bill Stewart Ian MacDonald Dynamic Information Systems Area will not be replaced. Keeping a Display on the Screen You may also wish to leave a display on the screen and not g€“v±r³mifb<_M [c Xe T9P;L ;Qxtp!mnifìb]ùYTÖPîK îwrˆn‘jlf{aÒ ]ç X”$Tš$O%KîK %¢%vµ%rÖ%nê%iö&e'`¡*\Â*Wì+Sÿ+P‚9LîK €“x±x³xÔxxxvvVsXsGsIsss:q<qÚf <Ð0ý<<<<ÚÜp0 p2 p’ p” pH pJ pK mM mc me m¬ m® d Y:q <Ð0ý<ÐÐ< <Ð0ý  pi ps pØ p p pÛpÝp7p9g;gQdSddd<Ð0ý<<ÐÐ <Ð0ýr!o#oGoIoÈoÊo«o­okolonooƒoêoìoooÐÐ<<ÐÐ÷xùxxxÔxÖxîxðx÷xùxxxxxˆxŠoÅoÇoÐÐ<ÐÐ<ÇÌrÎrirjrlr{o}oÐ oÒ oç oé o»!o½!o-$o/$oÀ$oÂ$oÔ%oÐÐ<<ÐÐÔ%Ö%xê%xì%xô&xö&x'x'x:(x<(xm)xo)xŸ*x¡*xÂ*xÄ*x‚+x„+xê+xì+xý+x<ý+ÿ+x-x-x .m".mã.må.mP/mR/mó/mõ/mÏ1mÑ1ja2jc2j€2g’2gê<< <Ð0ý<’2£2x¤2u¦2uÊ3uÌ3ué3r4r4r)4r+4rB4r[4rn4r4r4rƒ4r5o 5o <<<<< 5-6p/6pt7pv7p8p8p†8pˆ8p)9p+9eH9cJ9cX9cg9c„9cƒ4r5< <Ð0ý <Ð0ý Ë ìê*$2Bill Stewart or Ian MacDonald at the following address: Unit 4, 3530 15th Street SW  Helverta CANADA T2T 4A3 Our aim is nothing less than to make Magic the ULTIMATE Windows screensaver. Therefore, w