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V-Chat Help |  |
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V-Chat Help | |
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This help page contains some answers to many commonly asked questions about V-Chat. We hope that you find them informative and helpful. While none of these suggestions are known to cause any problems, please understand that by using the methods contained in this help section the Angel Society assumes no responsibilty for anything that may happen.
Can I build my own V-Chat room using my own graphics?
Can I get a virus while using v-chat?
Can I use my 3D graphics card with v-chat?
How do I make V-Chat run faster?
Can I use other Chat programs on the V-Chat server?
Can I use V-Chat on other servers?
"Real Life" questions (taken from the V-Chat newsgroups).
The Questions
Can I build my own V-Chat room using my own graphics?
There is no supported method of building your own room graphics right now. What some people have been able to do it take existing room data and edit it in order to change the graphics, and then save the data to a web site. One example of this is Crystal Dome, which is based upon the V-Chat homespace. Once you have created a room, you can publish it onto a website and specify it as the address for room graphics in your room description.
There are a couple of reasons why others may not be able to see your avatar.
If you are running V-Chat 2.0 beta, you need to update to the finished V-Chat 2.0 in order for others to see your avatars correctly as a change was made in the way V-Chat handles avatars between the beta and final releases. The other reason is that it may have been removed from the server. Obscene or otherwise offensive avatars are not allowed in V-Chat.
Can I get a virus while using v-chat?
No. Some people say they can send you a virus while you are using v-chat. They are wrong. Other chatters can not send you files on v-chat. The only files you download while running v-chat are the graphical avatar files (called VWP or PNG files.) These avatar files are constructed in such a way that they cannot contain harmful viruses.
Can I use my 3D graphics card with v-chat?
V-chat does not contain any specific code to take advantage of any 3D graphics cards, it relies on DirectX to provide any graphics acceleration it needs. If your video card supports DirectX then DirectX will take advantage of any features it needs to use in order to provide you with the fastest display it can.
How do I make V-Chat run faster?
All of the following items can help V-Chat perform faster:
Shrink the V-Chat Environment viewing window to a smaller size. Switch to a resolution of 640 x 480 with 256 colours. This is an optimum resolution for DirectX. Go to View/Options: Turn off background sounds, and make sure "switch to lower resolution when moving" is selected. Install a faster video card. The video card in use greatly affects performance.
Can I use other Chat programs on the V-Chat server?
You can use any IRC compatible chat client on the V-Chat server. There are a couple of points to bear in mind at this point and they are...
Can I use V-Chat on other servers?
Yes you can, but while V-Chat is IRC compatible, it lacks the all the commands and features you find in a "standard" IRC client such as Pirch or mIRC. It is worth using V-Chat providing you are creating graphical V-Chat rooms, but not if you want to chat in other people's text only chat rooms.
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Server
Install Service Pack 3 to provide NT with DirectX. Please note your hardware should be on the NT Hardware compatability list, and the drivers should be the most up to date ones available - or any ones directed by the manufacturer as for use with NT DirectX. If you add ANY Windows NT components to your system, if you install ANY new hardware or ANY new systems software you should re-apply the service pack.
Windows 95
Many people have problems installing DirectX, which is required to run V Chat. These are usually linked to problems with the video card. These are the steps someone with a DirectX / Video card problem should follow (based on Microsoft Technet).
These symptoms can occur if your video driver is not DirectX compatible.
- Your computer may stop responding (hang) during the reboot, or it may reboot into Safe Mode.
- When you restart the computer, Windows 95 starts in 16-colour VGA mode.
- When you restart the computer, the Windows 95 logo appears and then the screen goes blank.
- After the computer reboots, you have a black screen or strange horizontal lines running across your display. The system stops responding (hangs) and does not respond to your keyboard or mouse.
This can occur if your video card driver is not DirectX compatible or your video resolution was set to 1024x768 High Colour (16 bit) before running Setup. To resolve the problem, follow the instructions, below. If you can start Windows, skip to Step 2.
1. Boot Windows into Safe Mode. To do this, do the following:
2. Switch the display adapter to VGA. To do this, do the following:
4. Obtain latest DirectX-compatible video driver for your card.
"Real Life" questions (taken from the V-Chat newsgroups).
Q - "I try to run v-chat but can't. It says I have an irc server. We use MSN, I do not know what an irc server is. How do I fix this problem? please help Thanks so much. "
This is a quite common question recently, and when I looked into it, the user was running V-Chat 1.1 and was getting the message that informs chatters that "V-Chat is not currently supported on IRC servers".
V-Chat 1.1 used the MIC protocol for chat, and MS have decided that for technical reasons they could not continue to support that protocol on the V-Chat server.
Q - "Can someone help me get started. I downloaded vchat and later DirectX 5. When I am using Internet 4, I try to get vchat going but I get a message saying "Microsoft Vchat 2.0 requires DirectX Version 3.0 or greater to be installed." Any ideas as to what I should do? Thanks in advance for any help."
This usually means one of two things. Either you have not installed DirectX or the Computer Video card or the drivers currently installed for the card are not DirectX compatible.
To check if DirectX is installed on a computer you should:
Q - "I have a friend who cannot see when actions are being performed by other avatars. However, I can see their actions. I have kindly suggested turning the monitor on, looking in the right direction, or investing in a pair of glasses, but so far have not found a solution. They have the latest version of V-Chat. They have a super-duper Pentium II machine, with far too much HD, MB and MHz. They also have a 56k modem connection. The only thing I have not asked them to check is DirectX, but I will do this"
Q - "What Chat server is being used for MS V-Chat 2.0"
V-Chat will run on any IRC/IRCX compatible chat server. The ones that are currently in use by Microsoft for V-Chat are running on MS Exchange server, version 5.5
Q - "For some reason, every time I get into a v chat room my avatar won't stop spinning. What can I do about this."
This behaviour has been reported once or twice but as yet no solution has been found. Or even, no exact reason for the problem has been found either!
It does seem to be related to people who are using exotic keyboards and or control devices on their computer. Ask the user to email Vchadmin@microsoft.com with details of the problem, and their computer specification including details of all attached devices, if the problem occurs all the time... etc.
Q - "How do I set up my own V-Chat server?"
This is a rather specialist question & help. You can set up any IRC/IRCX compatible server for use with V-chat; Exchange server chat component works well, and Exchange is the server MS use for their Chat servers. MCIS chat server, also from MS should also be capable of swinging the trick too. Set these up following the instructions that are enclosed with them. What makes a chat room a v-chat room is the URL contained in the room description. This points to an address that the V-Chat 2.0 Client can go to to get room data and graphics (log on to vchatsrv.microsoft.com and get a room list for an example of this) . This is all you need to do to set up your own vchat server.
Q - "I downloaded vchat2.0 and after I installed it and tried to run the program I get an error message that says the VCHAT20.EXE file is linked to missing export MFC42.DLL:6453. What's up?"
Check that the file MFC42.DLL is present in your windows/system directory. If it isn't then it needs to be replaced... this can usually be achieved by installing V-Chat. If the file IS there then it may corrupt, or an old version of the file.. in both cases, the remedy is the same... rename the current MFC42.DLL file in the windows/system directory to something else, for example, OLDMFC42.DLL, and then re-install V-Chat. The other possibility is that other versions of the file, in other directories, are in the path... go to the START menu, select FIND then FILES OR FOLDERS, and search for MFC42.DLL.. rename any copies you find outside the Windows/system directory.
Q - "I have downloaded vchat and can get to the Homespace area but can not enter any rooms. I get this message :Server Login failed (Closing Link: Username[Login.ISP.Net.address] ( for some reason)). What does that mean? Any help would be appreciated."
This message means that the person, or in this case, the whole ISP, has been banned from the V-Chat server... this is usually done to people who represent a significant threat to the majority of users on the server... If you receive a message like this, then e-mail vchadmin@microsoft.com
Q - "I am using WIN NT 4.0. I installed vchat 2.0 and ran it. It said "must have DirectX 3.0 or higher". I found out that win NT users had to get service pack 3 to upgrade DirectX to 3.0. Well, I installed service pack three. I ran it again...same message. I uninstalled it and then reinstalled it after using service pack 3.....same message. I don't know what to do. I have searched Microsoft's WebPages high and low."
Windows NT does not use the normal DirectX model, but rather attempts to emulate it in such a manner as not to violate NT's secure and robust architecture... You need to be logged into your Workstation (not the domain it is attached to) as a user with administrator rights to install Service Pack 3, which upgrades NT's Direct X emulation to DirectX 3. Before installing DirectX close down all applications and utilities that are running... update your recovery disk using the RDISK utility and then install the service pack in accordance with the instructions in the accompanying readme file. When SP3 is installed, it will re-boot your computer... Log on again as someone with administrator rights and install V-Chat. It should now run.
If you are still having errors when running V-Chat, then you should check your video adapter is :
on the NT compatibility list.
using up to date drivers.
that the drivers are DirectX compatible.
You may also need to re-install the Video Drivers.
All help information is provided by the Angel Society. Please do not reproduce or link to this document without permission.