1)  Installing BeatBrowser

You should now be the owner of a nice shiny new CD containing the BeatBrowser Jukebox and some other files. Place the setup CD in the drive, it should auto-start. If it doesn't, use Windows Explorer to browse the contents of the CD for a file called 'Setup.exe' and double-click it. Follow the on-screen instructions and unless you have a specific need, just click 'Next' or whatever the default options are. If you get a question box pop up when you are installing stating that a file being copied is older than one already there, just choose the 'Keep' option.

2)  Installing and configuring Winamp

If you are currently using the new Winamp V3, you must install version 2.80 from the BeatBrowser Setup CD as version 3 is totally different and is not currently supported by the Jukebox program. Installing Version 2.80 will not affect your Version 3 installation, it will be treated as a separate application.

Winamp is one of the best free MP3 players on the internet and is required for this jukebox to run. As Winamp version 3 has only just been released, there is no support for it as yet. It is recommended that new and old users install the version that accompanies BeatBrowser on the installation CD. Simply install it and click the 'Run Winamp' button when finished. Although not necessary, it is recommended to turn OFF the displayed winamp sections to avoid them briefly popping up when the jukebox is started, especially if you are using it in a cabinet. A version 2 Screenshot is below:

To turn these sections on an off make sure winamp is running then click somewhere on it to give it control (if its minimized on the taskbar then click on it to highlight it) then press the following:

Alt+T (to toggle the MiniBrowser section on/off)
Alt+G (to toggle the Equalizer section on/off)
Alt+E (to toggle the Playlist Editor section on/off)
Alt+W (to toggle the main section on/off)

3)  Installing the Xing MP3 Encoder (if needed)

This is very simple and requires little explanation. Simply purchase and download the Xing MP3 Encoder from the XingTech website and double-click on the file to install. The installer will guide you through the setup, just select the default options. BeatBrowser will automatically detect the presence of the encoder when it starts and will enable the F5 function key for you to call the CD extraction screen. If you haven't already got the encoder, it can be purchased from here

4)  Installing and configuring SqrSofts Crossfader Plugin (if needed)

If you wish to have the jukebox 'blend' one track into the next like a DJ would do, you will need to download SqrSoft's 'Advanced Crossfade Plugin' from their website. Athough this is not needed for the jukebox to work, it does give a very professional feel and is available from here

This plugin will need a couple of options changed to get it working correctly with Beatbrowser but is very simple to do. Make sure Winamp is NOT running when you install it or it wont get picked up. Now run Winamp (if its minimized on the taskbar then click on it to highlight it) then press Ctrl+P. In the left box you will see 'Plugins' then underneath a sub-heading of 'Output'. Click on this then on 'SqrSoft® Advanced Crossfading' and click 'Configure'. You will be presented with several tabs but we need just 2, the 'fade on stop' tab and the 'Advanced' tab. The items we are interested are shown below ringed in red.

Make sure the options shown above match what you have on the appropriate tabs.
The 'Fade out on stop' option of the 'Fade on stop/skip' tab will only be available if the 'Flush on stop/skip' option is unticked.

When you are happy, click the 'Close' buttons until you get back to Winamp, then you may close Winamp.

5)  Required Windows settings

No special windows settings are required for the Jukebox to operate. However, it is necessary to turn off CD auto-detection in Control Panel for the CD Extraction screen to work correctly or a popup box will appear each time you insert a new CD into the drive. To turn off this feature of Windows, do the following:

Click the 'Start' Button, move up to 'Settings', then across to 'Control Panel'. Double Click the 'System' icon, then choose the 'Device Manager' tab. A list of the Hardware on your PC will be displayed. Look for the line that says 'CDROM' and double click it. A list of drives attached to your PC will be shown. For each drive listed, double-click it then choose the 'Settings' tab. The drive settings will be displayed including one that says 'Auto Insert Notification'. Make sure this box is NOT ticked and then click the 'OK' button. Repeat this procedure for each drive in the list and then reboot.

It is also recommended that the system be in small font mode for the best results, as the screens were designed for that font size. Large fonts cause the Jukebox to have to resize all buttons, fonts, tables and their positions which means there will be minor differences in the way the screens are presented. This is only a recommendation and will not cause any problems if left on large fonts. It is very easy to switch the system between small and large fonts at any time but will require a reboot after each change. Heres how to check and change if required:

Click the 'Start' button, move up to 'Settings', then across to 'Control Panel'. Double click the 'Display' icon and then the 'Settings' tab. At the bottom of the window you will see a button for 'Advanced' which you must click. The Font size will be displayed in the small box which should be set to 'Small Fonts'. If the fontsize is already set at small fonts, you may exit out as it is correctly set. If it isnt, you will need to pull down the menu at the side and change it to 'Small Fonts' and OK it. The PC will then need to be rebooted for the change to take effect. To change it back, just make sure that 'Large Fonts' is selected in the box and OK it.

6)  Setup Albums Folder

BeatBrowser will ask you in which folder you keep or are going to keep all your MP3 albums so it knows what to load in on startup and where to put new albums. This folder should exist before running the jukebox program as it will ask you to find it, however, you may tell the jukebox this directory at any time using the F9 key. A directory should be setup somewhere on your pc for this purpose, for example "BeatBrowser Albums" or you can use the default "My Music" folder. This folder may be anywhere and on any disc. A typical setup will look like the picture below:

So in the above case, When BeatBrowser asks you which folder contains your MP3 albums you will point it to "F:\Old D Drive\BeatBrowser Albums"

NB. Any folder that contains MP3 tracks under the folder you tell BeatBrowser about will be treated as an album

7)  Configuring BeatBrowser

The Jukebox comes with some features that are automatically turned ON when installed. These can however, be disabled easily by unselecting the appropriate box on the configuration screen. The Configuration screen may be called up anytime by pressing the F7 key providing there is at least 1 album in the jukebox. First lets familiarize you with the screen and then we will go through the various sections:

• Visuals
  This section is for turning on and off various displayed fields on the screen. The 'Show Credits Remaining' option is slightly diferent in that when the Credits are displayed on the screen, it assumes you are using a coin door and so will only allow a track to be selected if we have a credit. While this field is not displayed, the jukebox assumes Free-Play mode.

• Album and Track Font Size
  The size of the font in the Album and Track boxes may be reduced or enlarge as required by setting the options in this box.

• Screen Style
  The jukebox has 4 screen styles, easily selectable and can also be rotated through them by using the F4 Hotkey when on the main screen. The styles can be seen on the Screenshots Page of this website.

• Font Colour
  The font colour applies to the Scrollbar and the displayed fields in the top right corner of the screen.

• Shutdown System on Exit
  Select the 'Yes' option to automatically shut down the whole system on exit, or 'No' to just exit out of the Jukebox program.

• Random Play
  This option tells the jukebox to start playing random tracks after a period of inactivity. The sleep time is the period of inactivity in seconds before random play begins. If this option is active, the timer will start as soon as the jukebox starts or from the time the last manually chosen track stops playing. To disable this feature, simply untick the 'Random Play Active' box.

• Random Album Preview
  This is like a screensaver mode that works similarly to the Random Play mode. After a period of inactivity (in this case, the joystick/keyboard has not been touched), a random album will be selected and the cover/tracks displayed. The rate the next random album is displayed can be controlled by adjusting the 'Pause Time' field.

• Tolerance
  The Tolerance feature is to stop the same track being repeated too quickly. This applies to both manually chosen tracks and Random Play mode. Setting this value to say 20, will mean that 20 different tracks have to be played before allowing any of them to be repeated. A value of 0 will mean you can select the same track again and again, one after the other. The highest value this field may hold is the total number of tracks in the jukebox.

• Xing MP3 Encoder Quality
  This option will be disabled until the Xing MP3 Encoder has been purchased and installed. Once enabled, the Stereo Bitrate may be changed to any of the 6 available settings. The higher the bitrate, the better the quality but the more disk space the tracks will take up. For example, a 3 minute 45 second song when encoded at 128kb/s will result in a filesize of around 3.5Mb whereas the same song encoded at 320kb/s will result in a filesize of around 8.5Mb. The default value is 128kb/s.

• Startup Screen
  If this is ticked, the full intro including the music will be played each time you startup the jukebox. If disabled, the startup screen will display just long enough for the main screen to load. The delay before going to the main screen will depend on how many tracks and albums you have in the current location. The more tracks, the longer it will take to load the main screen.