These instructions refer to a beta-test version of the offline media disc and are no longer up-to-date.

The current instructions can be found in the User Guide available at the online school:


The offline media companion disc is designed to remove the need for broadband internet. Installing the off-line media is quite straightforward.

Installation
Put the disc into your computer and the installation process will ask you if you wish to install. If it doesn't start automatically, click the setup.exe file on the disc or alternatively you can skip installation altogether and run the .exe file you'll find in the data directory of the disc. That will take you directly to the registration step you'll see described below.


You have two options with the off-line media: you can install the media to your hard drive, which frees you from needing the disc in the disk drive or you can skip the installation and run the media from the disc.


In any case, you will be given the option to install a desktop shortcut and you can use this to launch the program any time.


Registration
The first time you run the program it will ask you for some registration information.

This registration information is the media key that you will find in your courses overview area at bobtait online.


Make sure you are connected to the Internet (even dial-up is sufficient) and then follow the instructions on the registration screen. After clicking the continue button, enter the key into the field click the Activate button and the disc will be registered. The program needs to be restarted for the registration to take effect.



Use the desktop shortcut to start the program again. You can now access the video tutorials and help files from the disc.


Synchronisation
In order to access the off-line media the disc still needs to synchronise itself with your enrolment. This extra step checks you have the latest version of the disc (with latest textbook updates, media content etc) and it also ensures that the disc remains available for your entire enrolment period.

You'll need to be connected to the internet for the synchronisation. Once that's done however, the disc will be available for use offline until the time your enrolment expires. You can activate the synchronisation by clicking the button marked "Sync" in the toolbar.

If you are connected to the internet and have an active enrolment in this course a confirmation message will appear.

If a newer version of the disc is available then the sync message will let you know:

If your enrolment should be extended for whatever reason, simply click the sync button again and the disc will update to reflect your new enrolment period.

The front page of the media viewer will also be updated to let you know how many days you have left in your course enrolment. That's also handy to keep you aware of your enrolment period as you work through the material.

You can check for updates to the disc at any time by clicking the version number you'll see on the start page of the application.

This will launch a version check and you will need to be connected to the internet for it to work. A new window will appear giving you information on whether your version is up-to-date or whether a newer disc is now current.


Using the Disc
To access the material you simply click the relevant entry on the table of contents panel on the left hand side of the application. If this panel is hidden, you can show it by clicking the "Contents" button on the tool bar.

The "Home" button redisplays the start page in the main window of the application.

To explore the other features of the online course, use the video tutorials which you will also find listed in the contents panel window.

If you have any problems please don't hesitate to let us know.

Cheers,

Rich

Post updated to include installation instructions.