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In our continued efforts to improve support for all our customers we have created Panic Button, the support newsletter.

This newsletter is designed to update everyone on the top most (top = reoccurring/popular) troubles that people are experiencing, and the solutions or work arounds that we can provide at this time. Please keep in mind that this is a generalized list and that all the info is subject to change due to updates after the date of posting. As always if you have any questions you can always contact us at support@stardock.com. If these solutions do not work for you please do the same.

This writing does not address all current bugs or software troubles our customers might be having. If you have something specific please send an email to support@stardock.com. The intention here is to have a rolling FAQ for the online comunity.

If there are any corrections to be made they will be posted as edits to the bottom of this message so please always scan to the bottom of the article to see if any have been posted.

Cheers!




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1: Icon Packager

IconPackager 4 was released yesterday. This is a new product on the store, “IconPackager 4”. IconPackager 4 is $19.95.

There is also an “IconPackager 4 (Upgrade)” with Product ID ESD-SDS-W424 for $9.95.

Users who purchased IconPackager since February 1, 2007 get it for free. There’s an email going out to those customers right now so you should have it already if this applies to you. Be sure to check your spam filters if you purchased after Feb 1st but have not gotten an email. If you still find nothing please contact sales@stardock.com.

Both items can be found at http://www.stardock.com/products/iconpackager/purchase.asp

And both products have been added to the list of eligible products to upgrade to Object Desktop from, at http://www.stardock.com/products/odnt/odnt-upgrade.asp

This update corrects multiple bugs as well as the activation issue that many people were experiencing. If you are able to please update to this version of the software.

Should you still be having troubles with Stardock Central or Impulse asking you to register or activate please try the following.

Impulse: Click the "?" help button in the top right corner
-Click Open XMLs Folders (Public)
-Click anywhere in the window that opens up then press Crtl+a to select everything
-Press delete to delete all the files in that folder
-Close the folder
-Close Impulse and then restart it again.

Stardock Central:
-Go to Tools->Settings
-Click the Internet section
-Click the "Refresh XML Data" button
Run this program: http://sd.stardock.com/mike/apps/clear_cache_sdc.bat

2: Sins of a Solar Empire

Registration is easy and simple though our systems but from time to time people have reported some troubles.

When purchased online you are not required to create a Stardock.net account. However to use Impulse or Stardock Central you will need one. Since Stardock Central is slowly being phased out we suggest using Impulse to download the game and all the updates. Once you have downloaded and installed Impulse it will ask you to log in or create an account. If you have only purchased the product you will likely have to create an account. Be sure to use the email address you purchased with.

You can get Impulse from here: http://impulsedriven.com/about.asp
Both the web version and the full version are very much functional however we recommend downloading the larger file if you can so that more of the data is stored locally.

A validation email is sent out for all new accounts and you must reply to it from your email address to activate the account fully. With out this no downloads or registrations are possible. If you never got the email be sure to check your spam filters. If you can’t find it at all either support or sales can assist you with that.

To manually register the product in Impulse (if you are having troubles still) click on the registration tab near the top left. There you use the drop down boxes to navigate to your product (in this case Category: My Games, Product: Sins of a Solar Empire) your game, then put in your email address, and serial number. After that press Add Registration and you are all set!

If you get the error that your serial number is in use by another email address you may have purchased a used product –OR- there was a mistake at the retailer. This is not totally uncommon due to return mistakes or theft. Simply return to the retailer for an exchange of the same title. You can always contact support@stardock.com to verify the information as well. Other steps are possible but they are all done on a case by case basis. If you purchased a used game please know that according to the User License Agreement that the product cannot be resold or traded once purchased and registered. The game is still playable right out of the box but most updates and online play are not possible. For more details please see the Sins website at sinsofasolarempire.com or contact support.

3. Twilight of the Arnor

The game Twilight of the Arnor is an expansion to the game Galactic Civilizations 2, and the expansion Dark Avatar.

In order to run or even download Twilight you will need to have both GalCiv2 and the Dark Avatar expansion present on your account; they also must be installed on your machine. Both games are a requirement for Twilight to run. If you do not have one or the other prerequisites for Twilight here is the store page that highlights all the different purchases available to you:

http://www.galciv2.com/Purchase.aspx

4. Double Accounts

If you have one email account with Stardock.net and another account with PayPal you might experience the “Registered under multiple accounts Error: 5”. You will have to contact Support to have your accounts merged. If you have different names on either account you might have to provide confirmation of your identity.

5. Impulse

Impulse connection issues from behind proxy servers were difficult for some time. Since then new proxy tools have been implemented and they are customizable. In Impulse under the Stardock Logo button in the top left click on preferences and then connection. There you can enter in your account info for your server settings.

6. Deskscapes

A large FAQ section has been added for Deskscapes since the 2.0 update. Since the update Deskscapes now work on all versions of Vista. The free trial will only play the dreams that are packed with it and no others. If you already are an Object Desktop subscriber you already have access to 2.0 version. Vista ultimate owners need only download the 1.2 version avail able on the website to run Stardock’s dream files.

Version 1.2: http://www.download.com/DeskScapes/3000-2336_4-10657476.html?part=undefined&subj=dl&tag=button&cdlPid=10766813

Deskscapes FAQ: http://www.stardock.com/products/deskscapes/faq.asp

7. Windows XP 64bit

Stardock will no longer be developing with XP64bit in mind. No further updates will include this software. Support is still continued with the products that will work for XP 64bit of course.


As a side note I also wanted remind our customers that due to the "first come first serve" of our email que system it is still a really good idea to get your ticket in right away if you are posting on the weekends. Once we return on Monday the oldest tickets are taken care of first. To save yourself time do not send a reply in if you are still waiting for an answer. Our system will update the ticket time as to when the last email was sent in or out. So if a reply is sent a day after you send the first email then the timer is reset to 0 and it starts over again.

As always you can contact by phone or email.
support@stardock.com
1.734.927.0677

Remember not to Panic!

Your Support Staff,
Seabass
Highlander
Milksama
Shirley


EDIT:

If you are having trouble with the activation of Icon Packager where it is asking you over and over again to activate upon you making changes there are two solutions.

1) If you have both the stand alone product on your account as well as an Object Desktop subscription remove the serial number of the stand alone product and put in the Object Desktop serial number. You can do this through the Impulse registration tab > right click remove registration.

2) A fix/update has been made and is going through testing right now. As soon as it is ready it will be published as an update to the software. Please look to Impulse for that update in the near future (written as of 5.21.08). We will have it out ASAP.