============================================================================ BackWeb Beta Version 1.2 ============================================================================ For the latest information see http://www.backweb.com. An important feature offered by Version 1.2 is the ability to have your BackWeb software communicate over the Internet using the communication protocol HTTP. This is most important to users connected to the Internet over a corporate network (LAN) or through some online networks. It does not affect most users of BackWeb over dialup connections with Internet Service Providers (ISPs). For more detail, see below. If you have any questions, contact us via email at user_support@backweb.com Thanks and enjoy. ============================================================================ Introduction - Let Information Find You for a Change ============================================================================ Labor intensive Web surfing is being replaced by the information intensive approach of BackWeb. Let your computer and the Internet do the work for you for a change. Install BackWeb today and you'll be on your way to getting personalized information, entertainment, and software from the Internet delivered automatically to your desktop. BackWeb makes this possible by sending software and data to you in the background, taking advantage of your Internet connection's idle time while you're connected to the net. This means you no longer have to wait for long downloads or go out and search for information. You subscribe to the channels you're interested in once and from then on information is automatically delivered to you. This README file includes the following topics: A. System Requirements B. Installation Instructions C. Uninstalling BackWeb D. Subscribing to BackWeb Channels E. Important note regarding Internet Connection and Communication F. Known issues that some users may need to be aware of G. Technical Support ============================================================================ A. System Requirements for BackWeb Version 1.2 ============================================================================ Operating System: Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 (Version 0.9 is available for Windows 3.11) Minimum Hardware: 486-66 Mhz, 16 MB RAM Disk Space: 4MB for the BackWeb software and 6MB per channel (or you set the amount per channel) Internet Connection: Either direct connection or 14.4 Kbps Modem or higher Web browser: Either Netscape Navigator 2.0 or higher or Microsoft Explorer 2.0 or higher ============================================================================ B. Installation ============================================================================ If you do not have the BackWeb CD, see http://www.backweb.com for download and installation instructions. Before you begin, make sure you are running Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0. 1. In the CD drive, change directory to \CLIENT\CORP\SETUP. 2. Double-click on the SETUP.EXE file to install BackWeb on your computer. 3. Following installation, BackWeb is launched and you are taken on a "guided tour" of the system where you can go through Quick Setup steps to customize BackWeb to meet your specific needs. Quick Setup will enable you to: * Specify whether InfoPaks should be automatically or manually played. * Register to channels of your choice from a Channel Directory. * Specify the maximum amount of disk space per channel that you wish to allow for the storage of InfoPaks. ============================================================================ C. Uninstalling BackWeb ============================================================================ 1. In your system Control Panel, launch Add/Remove Programs. 2. Choose BackWeb from the list. 3. Click on Add/Remove to uninstall BackWeb. ============================================================================ D. Subscribing to BackWeb Channels ============================================================================ Once you have installed BackWeb, you need to subscribe to "channels" to receive information with your BackWeb software. Go to the BackWeb Web site (http://www.backweb.com/) to subscribe to channels or sources of information that interest you. This subscription process is done through the Web, but after that you will receive the information from these channels through BackWeb. ============================================================================ E. Internet Connection and Communication ============================================================================ The following is relevant to users who are connected to the Internet via a corporate network (LAN) and corporate firewall. It is also relevant to users who are connected to the Internet via an online service. In both of these cases, there is a possibility that your Internet connection (either because of the corporate firewall configuration or because of the way the online service communicates with the Internet) does not support the standard communication protocol called UDP. If this is the case, your BackWeb software will not communicate over the network using the Polite Agent mode. This version of BackWeb introduces the option to have BackWeb communicate with the standard communication protocol called HTTP. This will allow anyone with an Internet connection to use BackWeb, regardless of corporate firewalls or online services. It is recommended that you use the Polite Agent mode if possible, as it offers substantial benefits to users - it allows the background communication to happen in a very unnoticeable, discreet way. HTTP is not as "polite," and you will sometimes notice it working even though BackWeb is running in the background. This note is interesting only to those who want to use the Polite Agent mode even though you are behind a corporate firewall: By default, BackWeb requires that your corporate firewall allows UDP packets with destination port 370 to go out from your network to the Internet, and UDP packets with destination port 371 to come in from the Internet to your network. You can select the UDP port through which BackWeb will connect to the Internet from the Advanced Settings dialog in the Connection tab of the Setup dialog. ============================================================================ F. Known Issues ============================================================================ 1. BackWeb software configures your browser to include a registration helper application. If for some reason this setting is missing, you may enable registration via Web sites by the following steps. If you are using Netscape Navigator: Open Netscape Navigator. Select General Preferences in the Options menu. Click on the Helpers tab and Create New Type. Enter 'application' in the Mime Type field and 'x-iad' in the Mime Sub Type field. Enter 'iad' in the File Extensions field. Select the radio button "Launch the Application", and browse for register.exe in the BackWeb program folder. The default location is "C:\Program Files\BackWeb\BackWeb\program". Click OK to close the dialog. If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer: Open the Options dialog in the view menu. Click on the File Types tab. Click on the New Type button. Fill in the following values in the corresponding fields. Description of type: BackWeb Registration Associated extension: .iad Content type (MIME): application/x-iad Default Extension: .iad Make sure to uncheck Confirm Open After Download. Click on the New button to open the New Action Dialog. Enter 'open' in the Action field. Browse for register.exe in the BackWeb program folder. The default location is "C:\Program Files\BackWeb\BackWeb\program". Click OK to close the dialog. Close the parent dialogs by clicking the Close button. If you are using a different browser, you may look for the instructions on how to associate actions with MIME types and extensions. Associate MIME type application/x-iad and the extension .iad with the program "C:\Program Files\BackWeb\BackWeb\program\register.exe". 2. In some cases where the Netscape browser was unable to locate the server of the given URL, it becomes impossible to invoke Web pages from BackWeb. In order to continue, click on the OK button in the Netscape window to close the "Unable to locate server " message box. 3. Plug-in applications launched from InfoPaks may produce sound even when the InfoPak is muted. 4. If you have installed a plug-in or QuickTime / QuickTime VR software during the current BackWeb session, you still may not receive InfoPaks that include such plug-ins. In order to recognize the installed plug-ins, shut down BackWeb (from the File menu) and re-launch BackWeb using the system Start button. Alternatively, you may restart your system so that BackWeb will be automatically re-launched. 5. After installing Microsoft Java VM, you must restart your system prior to playing InfoPaks that include Java applets. 6. Under Windows NT 4.0, BackWeb does not allow interaction with screen saver InfoPaks. The Interaction group in the Screen Saver tab of the Global Options is therefore grayed out. If you wish to interact with a BackWeb screen saver (that's designed to support interaction), you may play it manually from within the BackWeb Window. This will give it the appearance of a screen saver but the properties of a Flash, which can be interacted with. ============================================================================ G. Technical Support ============================================================================ Tech support email: user_support@backweb.com