Product Support

Browse3D is committed to providing quality software products that make your browsing experiences more productive. Product support is one of the most important aspects of our commitment to quality.

If you have any questions about the technical aspects of the product or its use, please first review the frequently asked questions below.  To help ensure the quickest response, please be sure you have also reviewed the program help information as well.

If you don’t see an answer to your question here or in the program help file, please fill out the product support form. 

Support Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I know if my computer is capable of running the Browse3D Browser?

2. How do I know if I have Internet Explorer version 5.5 of higher installed on my computer?

3. How do I know how much internal memory or RAM is installed on my computer?

4. How do I know how much Video RAM (VRAM) is installed on my computer?

5. Is DirectX already installed on my computer?

6. How much does DirectX cost?

7. How do I get DirectX installed on my computer?

8. How do I know if I have the latest driver for my video card?

9. How do I get the latest driver for my video card?

10. What is a video card driver anyway?

11. How do I know if I access the Internet through a proxy server or firewall?

12. My computer has a Voodoo graphics card and I get partial images on the right and left wall, what's wrong?

13. I get a "not a valid Win32 application" or "file corrupt" error when I try to install the program?

14. I can see the center wall Web page but not the left or right wall Web pages, why not?

15. I use Windows 2000 or XP and when I press Ctrl-Alt-Del to lock my computer Browse3D fails when I try to unlock the computer, what should I do?

1. How do I know if my computer is capable of running the Browse3D Browser?

To check your system configuration, go to the Windows Start/Run menu and type "dxdiag" in the box and press the click the OK button.  If this program does not run, you likely need to install DirectX before beginning.

Browse3D needs the following minimum requirements to run:

Software Required:

• Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, XP or 2000
• Microsoft Internet Explorer ("IE") Version 5.5 or higher
• Microsoft DirectX Version 7.0 or higher

Hardware Minimum Requirements:

• Processor..: Pentium II 200MHz
• Video card.: 4MB VRAM (8MB preferred)
• Main Memory: 128MB RAM (256MB preferred fro Windows XP)
• Disk Space.: 100MB (2MB for Browse3D software and the rest for IE temporary files)

System Settings:

• Screen Resolution: Should be set to 1024x768 or higher.  Machines with video card memory of 16MB or more may run with resolution settings up to 1400x1050 or more.
• Color: Can be set to 16 or 32 bit (may need to set to 16 bit if your video card has less than 16MB of memory)
• Hardware Acceleration: Should be set to "Full" or one setting down 

If your computer meets or exceeds these requirements it is capable of running the Browse3D Browser.

2. How do I know if I have Internet Explorer ("IE") version 5.5 of higher installed on my computer?

• To check the version of IE 5.5, launch IE by double clicking on the IE icon, located on your desktop.

• After IE starts, click Help on the main menu bar and a drop down menu will appear.
• Click on About Internet Explorer and a dialog box will appear, titled About Internet Explorer.
• The version information about IE is located in middle of this dialog box.
• If the version number is 5.5 or higher then your IE is compatible with Browse3D.

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3. How do I know how much internal memory or RAM is installed on my computer?

• To check the amount of RAM installed on the computer, click on the Start button in the lower left hand corner of the desktop.

• Select Settings and click on Control Panel, a new window will appear, titled Control Panel.
• Double click on the System icon, a dialog box will appear, titled System Properties.
• In the lower right portion of the dialog box there will be a line of text that displays how much RAM is in the computer.
• If the amount of RAM is 128MB or more or 128,000KB or more the computer has sufficient RAM.

Please note: The Browse3D Browser will run with less than 128MB of RAM, however it will NOT run as efficiently.

4. How do I know how much Video RAM (VRAM) is installed on my computer?

• To check the amount of VRAM (video RAM or display memory) installed on the computer, click on the Start button in the lower left hand corner of the desktop.

• Select Run and type "dxdiag" in the input box. Select  OK.
• The DirectX Diagnostic Tool dialog box will open with a series of Tabs across the top.  Select the Display tab.  (If the DirectX Diagnostic Tool does not open you likely need to install DirectX onto your machine.  See Questions 5-7 for help.)
• On the left side box you will see Device properties for your display card.  One property will show you the Approximate Total Memory in megabytes (MB).
• If the amount of memory (or VRAM) is 4MB or more the computer has sufficient display memory, although 8MB or more is preferred.

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5. Is DirectX already installed on my computer?

• To determine if DirectX is already installed on the computer, click on the Start button in the lower left hand corner of the desktop.

• Click Run and a dialog box will appear, titled Run.
• In the Open edit box, type in dxdiag and click the OK button.
• If a message box appears titled dxdiag saying "Cannot find file....", then DirectX is not installed on the machine (see the FAQ below, to get DirectX installed)
• If a dialog box appears titled, DirectX Diagnostic Tool, then DirectX is installed on the computer.
• The version of DirectX is displayed at the bottom of the System Information box, under the System tab of the dialog box.
• If the DirectX Version is 7.0 or higher it is compatible with Browse3D.
• If your version of DirectX is lower than 7.0, see the FAQ question below on how to install a new version on your machine.

6. How much does DirectX cost?

• DirectX can be downloaded from Microsoft's website at no cost to users of the Microsoft's Windows Operating Systems. See the FAQ below to find out how to obtain DirectX from Microsoft.

7. How do I get DirectX installed on my computer?

• DirectX can be downloaded from Microsoft's website at no cost to users of the Microsoft's Windows Operating Systems.
• To download DirectX, click on this link below:

• On the DirectX web page, Click on DirectX Downloads and follow the instructions to download and install the latest version of DirectX onto your computer.

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8. How do I know if I have the latest driver for my video card?

• To obtain the current version of the video card driver, click on the Start button in the lower left hand corner of the desktop.

• Select Settings and click on Control Panel, a new window will appear, titled Control Panel.
• Double click on the System icon, a dialog box will appear, titled System Properties.
• Click on the Device Manager tab, a list of devices associated with the computer are displayed.
• Make sure that the radio button View devices by type is clicked.

• Double click on the Display adapters icon and the type of video card in the computer will be displayed.
• Double click on the icon that is displaying the type of video card and a new dialog box will appear, titled with the type of video card in the computer. Write down the exact name of the video card.
• Click on the Driver tab and some information regarding the video driver will be displayed.
• Click on the Driver File Details button near the bottom of the dialog box and a new dialog box appears, titled Driver File Details.

• The bottom half of the dialog box displays the Provider: (manufacturer of the video driver) and File version: (version of the video driver). Write down both the manufacturer and file version number.
• These 3 pieces of information (name of the video card, video card provider or manufacturer, and the driver file version) will be needed to determine if the latest video driver is installed on the computer.
• See the FAQ below to learn how to get the latest driver for your video card.

9. How do I get the latest driver for my video card?

To obtain the latest video driver for your machine you will probably need the following information:

• The make and model of your computer.
• The version of Windows you are running.
• The name or type of video card in you computer (see the FAQ above).
• The name of video card manufacturer (see the FAQ above).
• The version of the current video driver in your computer (see the FAQ above).

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The best bet for locating updated drivers for your video card is to arm yourself with the above information and go to the web site of the video card manufacturer.

When you locate the web site of the manufacturer look for Drivers or Driver Downloads. You will be asked a series of questions that will help locate the available drivers for your video card.

When you locate the newest available driver for your video card, compare that version number it against the version number of the video driver currently installed on your machine (see the FAQ above on how to determine this).

If the version number of the newest available video driver is higher than the version number currently installed on your machine, download the newer video driver and follow their instructions to install it on your computer.

10. What is a video card driver anyway?

A driver is a program that controls a device. In this case, the device is the video card located in the computer that allows the various programs you run to "talk" to the hardware or video card that controls your display or monitor. The video card driver communicates between the video card and these programs telling the video card what and how to display information.

By keeping the video card driver up to date, your video card will be able to take advantage of new software applications and their new features.

11. How do I know if I access the Internet through a proxy server or firewall?

• If you access the Internet with Internet Explorer or Browse3D at work though a network then you probably access the Web though a proxy serve and a firewall.
• If you have either cable or DSL access to the Web at home or work and and you access the Internet through a server, then you also probably access the Web though a proxy server and a firewall.
• Dial up users do not typically access the Web though a proxy server or firewall.

12. My computer has a Voodoo graphics card and I get partial images on the right and left wall, what's wrong?

As you may know the Voodoo graphics cards are no longer supported by 3dfx Interactive Inc. as they are no longer in business.  Therefore, the drivers to these cards have not been updated in some time and are currently not fully compatible with Browse3D software.

Browse3D has developed a work around for these cards which involves changing the resolution of the left and right wall web page images. Since Browse3D software takes advantage of the latest technologies in browsing and graphics, this solution will provide a less than optimum experience with the Browse3D software. To implement this work around please change the Bitmap Resolution from High to Low in the Browse3D Tools - Browse3D Options menu item.

You may also want to check the internet for newer third party graphics drivers that may work with your model display card.

13. I get a "not a valid Win32 application" or "file corrupt" error when I try to install the program?

This error is usually caused when the install file gets corrupted during download. Please download the file again (with any download utilities turned off) and try to reinstall the program.  If that does not fix the problem, please contact our support group via the support form as there may be an issue with your firewall or some other problem. 

14. I can see the center wall Web page but not the left or right wall Web pages, why not?

This error is usually caused when either your computer settings are not set properly or you do not have the latest video card driver.  Please check the following settings:

1. Display setting color depth is set to "16 bit" (some larger graphics cards that have 32MB or higher will work with higher color settings but the panning and zooming my be slower)
2. Display setting resolution is set to 1024x768 (graphics cards that are 16MB or more will typically allow you to have the resolution set higher then 1024x768.  It's best to gradually increase this setting to see what works on your machine.)
3. Graphics Hardware Acceleration should be set to "Full or one setting down".
4. Check to make sure you have the latest driver for your video or display card installed.

 If you need help with any of these settings, please refer to the appropriate questions above.

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15. I use Windows 2000 or XP and when I press Ctrl-Alt-Del to lock my computer Browse3D fails when I try to unlock the computer, what should I do?

This error is caused by the DirectX draw routine.  Please minimize the Browse3D application before locking your computer and that should fix the problem.  We are currently working on a more permanent solution.

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