Samarpan Alchemy Help
Please use the links below to access the different help sections. If you have been asked to give us details of your computer please visit the Diagnostics page.
I can't play .mp3 files
If you are a PC user, Windows Media Player is the default player for MP3 files. If you are a MAC user, iTunes will be your default player.
Make sure you keep the default .mp3 file suffix when saving your downloaded file.
Make sure your appropriate mp3 player is associated with the .mp3 file type.
To do this on a PC, select the .mp3 file you downloaded, right-click on it and then select 'Open With >' and then 'Choose Default Program ...'. Here you should see a list of recommended programs including Windows Media Player. Select Windows Media Player and make sure that the 'Always use the selected program to open this type of file.' check-box is selected before clicking on 'OK'.
If you cannot see Windows Media Player in the options provided above, you may have to 'Browse...' for the file 'wmplayer' in the directory C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player.
If you STILL cannot see Windows Media Player, you may need to download the application. Links to Windows Media Player and a non-Microsoft alternative can be found below.
To associate programs to file types on a MAC, select the .mp3 file you downloaded, highlight it and then hit apple+i to bring up the info window. On the info window you will see an "Open with" section. Select the application you want (in this case iTunes), then select "Change All" and all the files with an .mp3 extension will now open with iTunes in the future.
If you STILL cannot see iTunes, you may need to download the application. Link to Apple's iTunes download centre can be found below.
I can't open .pdf books
A Portable Document Format or PDF file is commonly opened, on most platforms, by Adobe Reader.
If Adobe Reader does not automatically open the .pdf document you have downloaded, then there are a couple of things you can check.
Make sure you keep the .pdf suffix when you saved the document to your platform.
Make sure that Adobe Reader is the default reader for .pdf files
To do this on a PC, select the .pdf file you downloaded, right-click on it and then select 'Open With >' and then 'Choose Default Program ...'. Here you should see a list of recommended programs including Adobe Reader. Select Adobe Reader and make sure that the 'Always use the selected program to open this type of file.' check-box is selected before clicking on 'OK'.
If you cannot see Adobe Reader in the options provided above, you may have to 'Browse...' for the file 'AcroRd32' in the directory C:\Program Files\Adobe
To associate programs to file types on a MAC, select the .pdf3 file you downloaded, highlight it and then hit apple+i to bring up the info window. On the info window you will see an "Open with" section. Select the application you want (in this case Adobe Reader), then select "Change All" and all the files with a .pdf extension will now open with Adobe Reader in the future.
If you cannot see Adobe Reader after following the above instructions, you may need to download the application. A link to Adobe Reader can be found below.
I can't play .avi files
.avi files are files that contain audio and video. If you are a PC user, Windows Media Player is the default player for .avi files. If you are a MAC user, QuickTime is traditionally the default player.
If you are having problems playing .avi files, the first thing to check is that the file you downloaded still has the .avi file suffix after being saved to your platform.
Make sure your appropriate AVI player is associated with the .avi file type.
To do this on a PC, select the .avi file you downloaded, right-click on it and then select 'Open With >' and then 'Choose Default Program ...'. Here you should see a list of recommended programs including Windows Media Player. Select Windows Media Player and make sure that the 'Always use the selected program to open this type of file.' check-box is selected before clicking on 'OK'.
If you cannot see Windows Media Player in the options provided above, you may have to 'Browse...' for the file 'wmplayer' in the directory C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player.
If you STILL cannot see Windows Media Player, you may need to download the application. A links to Windows Media Player can be found below.
To associate programs to file types on a MAC, select the .avi file you downloaded, highlight it and then hit apple+i to bring up the info window. On the info window you will see an "Open with" section. Select the application you want (in this case QuickTime), then select "Change All" and all the files with an .avi extension will now open with QuickTime in the future.
If you STILL cannot see QuickTime, you may need to download the application. Link to Apple's QuickTime download centre can be found below.
I can't play .wmv files
.wmv files are files that contain audio and video. If you are a PC user, Windows Media Player is the default player for .wmv files. WMV files are generally Windows/PC specific, however there is a method of playing .wmv files via Apple's QuickTime application.
If you are having problems playing .wmv files, the first thing to check is that the file you downloaded still has the .wmv file suffix after being saved to your platform.
Make sure your appropriate WMV player is associated with the .wmv file type.
To do this on a PC, select the .wmv file you downloaded, right-click on it and then select 'Open With >' and then 'Choose Default Program ...'. Here you should see a list of recommended programs including Windows Media Player. Select Windows Media Player and make sure that the 'Always use the selected program to open this type of file.' check-box is selected before clicking on 'OK'.
If you cannot see Windows Media Player in the options provided above, you may have to 'Browse...' for the file 'wmplayer' in the directory C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player.
If you STILL cannot see Windows Media Player, you may need to download the application. A links to Windows Media Player can be found below.
To play .wmv files on a MAC, you will need to download some Windows components for QuickTime to be able to process the .wmv format. These components can be downloaded from Microsoft's Windows media, linked below.
Obviouslly, you will require QuickTime to be installed. To download Apple's QuickTime, select the link below.If you are still having issues after following the above instructions, you may need to associate .wmv files to QuickTime. Select the .wmv file you downloaded, highlight it and then hit apple+i to bring up the info window. On the info window you will see an "Open with" section. Select the application you want (in this case QuickTime), then select "Change All" and all the files with an .wmv extension will now open with QuickTime in the future.
I can't use my right hand mouse button
All Macintosh computers come configured with only one mouse button setup, this is the left hand mouse button. In order for you to use the right hand mouse button like a PC you have to press and hold the ALT key and then click the left hand mouse button. The menu will now appear as you expect in a PC.
Configure your Macintosh Mouse
If you do not want to hold down the ALT key and then click the left hand mouse button, we can configure your mouse to work like a PC mouse.
Firstly, go to your Desktop:
Then click on the system preferences icon at the right hand side of the dock:
The System Preferences will now load in a new window, please click on the option "Keyboard and Mouse".
Once you click this icon the window will change to show the Keyboard and Mouse Preferences. If not already selected, please click on the Mouse tab. You will see the following information:
Now, to change the second mouse button, click on the menu which points to the right hand mouse button within the window. When this has opened click on the link Secondary Button.
You have now changed your mouse settings, you can close the window by clicking the red button in the top left hand corner. The changes will be automatically saved.
