Hardware

• Microsoft Windows-based computer  - There are no special hardware requirements for our programs.
• Sound card or audio interface  - A good quality sound card is strongly recommended (although not required) for best quality sound. DirectX will take advantage of sound card hardware features. This relieves some of the load on the PC system processor.

Software

The following are the required software levels to run the program. Note: DirectX and .Net Framework are NOT installed automatically by Windows Update. So you must download and install them yourself. If you do not have the correct levels of DirectX and .Net Framework, Sound Mill will likely not start.


• Operating System  - Microsoft® Windows® Vista, XP or 2000.
• Microsoft Windows Media Player 11  - For Windows Vista, For Windows XP , Windows Media Player (WMP) version 11 drivers, are used to play non-Wav formats (ie MP3, etc). WMP version 10 should work according to Microsoft documentation but it is not officially supported for Sound Mill since all of our testing is done on WMP version 11.
• Microsoft DirectX 9.0c  - Free download , version 9.0c (must be version 9.0c End-User Runtime March 2008 or later ) .
  
  Special Notes about DirectX
  1. Heed Microsoft's WARNING: The DirectX runtime cannot be uninstalled. Microsoft recommends users create a "System Restore" point before installing. This is the only way to back out the install if you experience problems.
  2. Windows Vista comes with both DirectX-10 and DirectX 9.0c (a.k.a. DirectX 9.0Ex) pre-installed. These are two distinctly different technologies and DirectX-10 is not backward compatible with DirectX 9.0. You must upgrade the DirectX 9.0c component by installing from the download link above. Yes, it is confusing. Microsoft admits calling them both DirectX is, and I quote, "misleading" (what were they thinking?).
• Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5  - Free download , must be version 3.5. (3.0 is not sufficient)
• Microsoft Windows Installer 3.0 or later  - Free download, latest version is 4.5. Required to run the program installer .msi file. If our program installer starts successfully, you probably have the right version.
• Browser - Any CSS2 compatible browser is required for Help documentation. (Internet Explorer 5.x or later, Firefox 1.0 or later, or your favorite modern browser)

Checking your current installed versions

• Windows Media Player 11  - Go to WMP Help -- About.
• DirectX 9.0c  - Go to Start -- Run, type "dxdiag", then look on the System tab for "DirectX Version".
• .Net Framework 3.5  - Go to the Add or Remove Programs list [Vista], [XP] . Look for "Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5" in the Current installed program list. It must be version 3.5.
• Windows Installer 3.1  - Go to the Add or Remove Programs list [Vista], [XP]. Look for "Windows Installer 3.0 or higher version".

Before you install, set a Windows Restore Point

DirectX and the .Net Framework should be considered as service packs to your system. As such, it is always a safe practice to set a Windows Restore Point before installing them. It only takes a few seconds.

Here are instructions for setting System Restore points. [ Vista], [XP]