RELEASE NOTES ===================================================================== APC PowerChute Personal Edition for Windows 98, Me, 2000 and XP ===================================================================== System Requirements The system requirements for PowerChute Personal Edition are as follows:- CPU: Pentium or higher. RAM: 32MB. Free hard disk space: 12MB. I/O ports: Minimum of one Universal Serial Bus (USB) port. Operating systems: Microsoft Windows 98 (build number 4.10.1998) - or - Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition (build number 4.10.2222A) - or - Microsoft Windows Me (build number 4.90.3000) - or - Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4 (Professional) - or - Microsoft Windows XP SP1 (Home and Professional) (Version 2002, build number 2600) Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher (Netscape may also be installed). Graphics: Resolution of 800x600 with 16-bit colors (65536 colors). USB Hubs: Self-powered USB Hubs: An external USB hub expands a single port to 4 or 7 ports. If the hub gets its power directly from the PC through the USB cable, it is said to be "bus-powered". If the power is supplied externally, in other words if it has its own power cord to plug into an outlet, the hub is considered "self-powered". If the hub is self-powered, the external power cord must be plugged into a battery backup outlet on the UPS. Configured in this manner, the UPS will be able to sustain power to the hub during an outage. Failure to do so will result in a loss of power to the USB hub which will inhibit the operation of all downstream peripherals. USB Extension Cables: USB was designed to operate in the local desktop environment. Full speed USB devices can be connected up to 5 meters (~16.5 feet) apart. Low speed USB devices can be connected up to 3 meters (~10 feet) apart. The APC USB UPSs are low speed peripherals and should be connected directly to the PC or hub to ensure reliable operation of the PowerChute Personal Edition software. The USB Standards Committee and APC do not approve the usage of extended USB cables. Their usage will not harm USB equipment but overall system reliability could be affected. Online Help: The context-sensitive help (which is displayed when you press the information button or F1 on the main application) displays a page with the title 'The page cannot be displayed' when the software is installed to a long path (i.e. greater than 56 characters) on your system. This is due to a problem with the help facility being used. To avail of help, install to a path that is shorter than 56 characters. Keyboard Access: It is not possible to navigate through the application using the tab keys. Use your mouse to navigate around the application. Netscape Issues: For computers that have Netscape configured as the default browser, you may get a dialog indicating that Windows cannot locate a web link when you visit a page through the application. You may launch Netscape and type the web address manually or use Microsoft Internet Explorer as your default browser. Multiple Setup Execution Issues: Problems may arise if you try to run the installer twice in quick succession. When you launch the installer, wait until it is finished before trying to run it again. Error Messages From USB Devices: Ensure that all USB devices connected to your computer via the USB port are powered up before booting up your computer. This will prevent driver error messages from appearing and reduce compatibility issues between devices. Acceptance of the APC Battery BackUP Driver on Windows 2000/XP: On some systems, during the install you may be asked if you want to accept the driver 'APC Battery BackUP' as Windows indicates that it is not signed. This message should not be presented as this driver is signed and approved by Microsoft, and is safe to use. Press the 'Continue Anyway' button to accept the driver. On Windows 2000 or XP, PowerChute reports "Managed PC Shutdown cannot be provided": Users who log onto their system using accounts with restricted privileges might see this displayed. However, despite the message, a managed shutdown is provided during an extended power problem. The Microsoft Windows power icon: PowerChute software enhances the native power functionality of Windows, on installation it replaces the Windows power icon in the systray on the taskbar with its own icon. On Windows 2000 and XP when PowerChute is uninstalled from your system, the Windows power icon is displayed when you reboot your computer but on Windows 98 and Me you will need to re-apply the 'Show power meter on taskbar' setting in the Power Management Properties dialog box in order to display the Windows power icon. Symantec's Norton SystemWorks (2000, 2001 or 2002) issues: If you have SystemWorks installed on your system and Windows does not shut down correctly during an unattended shutdown, you should disable the SystemWorks icon in the Windows system tray. Select Options for Norton SystemWorks and, in the General tab, disable the 'Use the Norton Tray Manager' option. Compatibility issues with Symantec's Norton AntiVirus Corporate Edition: The Corporate Edition of Norton AntiVirus can have compatibility issues with PowerChute Personal Edition. We do not recommend that you have both of these applications installed at the same time. Possible issues with Windows Display Properties: On certain Windows Operating Systems if you have large font settings or high contrast settings applied, you may notice that it can affect the appearance of PowerChute Personal Edition. To rectify this, we would recommend that you use the default Windows Display Properties. Animated graphics in PowerChute Personal Edition: In order for the animated graphics to function correctly in the software, ensure that the "Play animations in web pages" check box is enabled in Internet Explorer (Tools - Internet Options - Advanced tab - Multimedia). ===================================================================== All trademarks, product names, and corporate names are the property of their respective owners and are used for informational purposes only. =====================================================================