Congratulations on your purchase of Barbie(TM) Fashion Designer(TM)! We have included this ReadMe file to supply you with up-to-the-minute information about the program. (Please open this window to its maximum size and turn Word Wrap on for better readability.) You may want to print these eight pages of notes for future reference. Table of Contents Section 1 ...... Barbie Fashion Designer Last-Minute Information A) Theme Workshop B) Design Workshop C) Accessory Workshop D) Fabric Design Workshop E) Color Workshop F) Preview G) Runway H) Closet I) Print Workshop J) Print Pattern K) Coloring Book L) Creating Garments Section 2...... Install and Uninstall Tips Section 3 ...... System Performance Tips A.) Improve Disk Access Performance B.) Increase or Add SMARTDrive Cache C.) Virtual Memory Setup D.) Increasing File Handles Section 4 ...... General Troubleshooting Tips A.) If the Program Runs Slowly B.) If Display or Graphics Problems Occur C.) If Recorded Sounds Are Not Audible D.) If Difficulties are Encountered While Printing Section 5 ...... Compatibility Issues A.) Third-Party Shells B.) Screen Savers C.) MATROX Video Card D.) TRIDENT Video Card E.) DIAMOND STEALTH Video Card F.) Ensoniq Sound Cards Section 6 ...... Barbie Fashion Designer Last-Minute Other Issues Section 1: BARBIE FASHION DESIGNER LAST-MINUTE INFORMATION --------- Quitting the application: The quit icon does not prompt you before quitting. Please note that the stop sign at the bottom of the left hand screen will immediately take you back into your system. A) THEME WORKSHOP B) DESIGN WORKSHOP C) ACCESSORY WORKSHOP: Skate pads for elbows that are available in the Vacation Fun theme accessories are not available in the Mix and Match accessories. This is also true of in-line skates and arm bands. In-line skates and ice skates do not appear in the 3D runway or preview screen. There is no firefighter hat in the accessory workshop. D) FABRIC DESIGN WORKSHOP E) COLOR WORKSHOP: Shoelaces can not be individually colored in the color workshop. The boot shoelaces will always become the same color as the shoe. F) DRESSING ROOM: G) RUNWAY: Barbie will always have the same hairstyle on the runway and in the dressing room regardless of the theme of her outfit. H) CLOSET: Please note that the entire closet is organized by theme. The display window will only reveal the outfits in the theme that is currently chosen. The reset button in the closet does not bring you back to where you were after you use the spotlight to reveal all the outfits in the closet. Leave the closet and return in order to enter outfits in individual theme categories again. I) PRINT WORKSHOP: Color printouts from the Epson Stylus II printer have unintended stripes over the solid color of any garment. Cleaning the print head will greatly improve the quality of printouts. J) PRINT PATTERN K) COLORING BOOK L) CREATING GARMENTS: Seam sticker adhesive residue on scissors can make cutting difficult. It is important that an adult clean safety scissors after each use. Section 2: INSTALL/UNINSTALL TIPS --------- Please note that there may be no icon displayed for Barbie Fashion Designer in your startup menu in Windows 95. A shortcut icon for your desktop can be created to allow for easy access. Look for this option in your install. The install does not support more than 8 characters for the directory name, even in Windows 95. 1. If you have difficulty installing on a computer with a Diamond Speedstar Pro Video card under Windows 3.1 or 3.11, please change your video driver to Microsoft's(R) SuperVGA 640X480X256 color video driver. Check with the manufacturer or your systems vendor for updated drivers. 2. Once you have installed BARBIE FASHION DESIGNER, make sure you uninstall it before installing it again on the same system. 3. In Windows 95, the default directory name can only be changed to a name with 8 characters. Section 2: SYSTEM PERFORMANCE TIPS --------- These tips are designed to improve your overall system performance. A.) IMPROVE DISK ACCESS PERFORMANCE With MS-DOS 5.0 or older, you'll need to use a separate utility for disk optimization. If you're using MS-DOS 6.0 or newer, use the following steps to defragment and optimize your disk: 1. Exit Windows. At the C:\ prompt, type "defrag C: /f" and press ENTER. This process will take a few minutes. 2. Restart Windows and run the program. B.) INCREASE OR ADD SMARTDRIVE CACHE Change the SMARTDrive cache size to make more memory available. If you have more than 8 MB of RAM, skip this process. 1. Go to the Program Manager. 2. Select Run from the File menu. 3. At the command box, type "sysedit" and click OK. 4. The Sysedit window will appear. Click on the Autoexec.bat window to bring it to the front. 5. Locate the line that shows smartdrv.exe and type in the appropriate size. If you have 8 MB of RAM, add 1024 1024. Your SMARTDrive setting should look like this: smartdrv.exe 1024 1024 (you have typed in 1024 1024). Note: Leave any other options on the smartdrv.exe line as they are set. For example: (before) smartdrv.exe /q (after) smartdrv.exe 1024 1024 /q 6. If you've made changes, select Save from the File menu. 7. Select Exit from the File menu. 8. Exit Windows and restart the computer. C.) SET UP VIRTUAL MEMORY (Note: If you are running any disk-compression software, refer to that software's manual or call the software manufacturer for assistance in setting up a permanent swap file.) 1. Run Defrag as described above in Section 4-A. 2. Double-click the Control Panel icon in the Main group. 3. Double-click the 386 Enhanced icon in the Control Panel group. 4. Click the Virtual Memory button on the right side. 5. Make sure the current setting for Size is set to at least 6000 KB if you have 8 MB of RAM. Also make sure Type is set to Permanent. If these settings are not currently set, click the Change button. 6. Under New Settings, make sure the Type is Permanent and the Size is set according to #5 above. The bigger the swap file size, the better performance you will have. We recommend setting the size to at least 8000 KB (but not more than 16000 KB). This will improve your overall system performance. 7. Click OK. Follow the prompt to restart Windows. D.) INCREASE THE NUMBER OF FILE HANDLES Change the number of file handles available to DOS. 1. Go to the Program Manager. 2. Select Run from the File menu. 3. At the command box, type "sysedit" and click OK. 4. The Sysedit window will appear. Click on the Config.sys window to bring it to the front. 5. Locate the line that shows "files=" and change the number of files to 80. The line should now read: files=80 6. If you've made changes, select Save from the File menu. 7. Select Exit from the File menu. 8. Exit Windows and restart the computer. Section 3: GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS --------- A.) IF THE PROGRAM RUNS SLOWLY: 1. Close any unnecessary applications that may be running. 2. Be sure you are running Windows in enhanced mode and that the Virtual Memory settings are active. Refer to the performance tips above or your Windows documentation. B.) IF DISPLAY OR GRAPHICS PROBLEMS OCCUR: If you experience display or graphics problems while running Barbie Fashion Designer: 1. Make sure that your display setting is at 640x480 resolution and 256 colors. Refer to your system or Windows documentation. 2. Contact your video card or systems vendor to obtain the latest version of their video driver unless your video card is specified below in Section 4. 3. Make sure no other applications are running while Barbie Fashion Designer is running. C.) IF SOUND PROBLEMS OCCUR: 1. The music volume may be louder on some computers. If you are running Windows 95 you can adjust the MIDI volume down in the Sound control panel. If you are running Windows 3.1, the sound card should have a control panel to adjust the MIDI volume. D.) IF DIFFICULTIES ARE ENCOUNTERED WHILE PRINTING : 1. Make sure your computer is not connected to a network printer. This program may have difficulty printing on a network system. 2. On the Canon BJC-4100, printer drivers older than v3.64 may cause printing errors. Please call your systems or printer vendor for assistance. Section 4: COMPATIBILITY ISSUES --------- A.) THIRD-PARTY SHELLS If you are using a program shell other than the Windows Program Manager (e.g., Norton Desktop) and are experiencing trouble installing or playing BARBIE FASHION DESIGNER, try changing the shell back to the standard Windows Program Manager. Refer to your shell documentation or call your shell vendor if you need assistance. B.) SCREEN SAVERS If you are running a screen saver in the background and experience video and sound problems during the program, disable the screen saver and the problem should be solved. Refer to your user documentation on how to disable the screen saver. C.)MATROX VIDEO CARDS If you are using the MATROX video card you may experience some problems, such as slow response. D.) DIAMOND STEALTH VIDEO CARDS If you are using the DIAMOND STEALTH video card, you may experience a palette shift if your screensaver is turned on. E.) ENSONIQ SOUND CARDS If you have the Ensoniq sound card and are not getting sound inside the game, follow the steps below: (for Windows 3.1 only) 1. Click on the Control Panel icon in the Main program group. 2. Click on the Drivers icon. 3. Select Soundscape DVD MIDI, WAVE, AUX and choose the Setup button on the right. 4. Find the section "Wave Playback DMA" and set Wave A to "O". 5. Click on the Test button and verify that the status line at the bottom says "Driver OK". 6. Choose OK. 7. Exit the Control Panel and restart Windows. For further information, contact your system vendor or Ensoniq at (610) 647-3930. F.) PRO AUDIO AND VIBRA 16 AUDIO CARDS Users may experience problems with music playback with the Pro Audio Spectrum 16 and Sound Blaster Vibra 16 audio cards. Check to make sure the latest drivers are installed and the card is configured correctly for MIDI playback. For assistance with drivers, contact the manufacturer or your systems vendor. -------- For other questions about Barbie Fashion Designer, contact: Mattel Media Customer Service and Technical Support 1 (888) MATTEL9 1 (888) 628-8359 In Canada call: 1 (888)MEDIA11 [1 (888)633-4211] In Australia call: 1-800-800-812 You can also contact Mattel on the World Wide Web at: http://www.mattelmedia.com/barbie/fashiondesigner Or write to: Consumer Affairs-Technical Support Mattel, Inc. 333 Continental Blvd. El Segundo, CA 90245 Archived by OldGamesDownload.com on 7th October, 2019