ASTERMulti-user Extension

for Microsoft Windows 7

Quick Start Guide1. Install the ASTER V7 software using the supplied installer. Among the other installation

options we recommend you to choose Everyone to make ASTER V7 control panel

available for every user.

After the ASTER V7 software has been installed, you will find two new shortcuts in yourWindows Start menu:

ASTER Control - is to run the ASTER V7 control panel, where you setup,

enable or disable ASTER V7;

Run ASTER workplaces - is to run extra workplaces manually, after ASTER

V7 has been properly setup and enabled.

These shortcuts may be not shown in the quick access list. You can always find them inthe All Programs group.

Before extra workplaces could be run, the ASTER V7 software must be setup to let itknow which monitor, input and sound devices are to be used at certain workplaces.Therefore the first shortcut you should open is ASTER Control.

2. Before the ASTER V7 software could be setup, it must be activated either for a license orfor a trial period. You are forced to go through the activation procedure until you havesuccessfully activated the ASTER V7 software by one of these two ways. Activationprocedure begins when you open ASTER Control shortcut. You will be asked foradministrator privileges to proceed the activation.

3. After you have entered the activation procedure with administrator privileges, you will be

requested to choose the activation way.

If you run the ASTER V7 software first time, you may activate it for a trial period. This

way you may try ASTER V7 before you decide to obtain a license. Trial periodbegins right after you press Trial period button;

If you have obtained a license, then you may activate the ASTER V7 software with

the license serial number, and start using ASTER V7 with no time limits. Licenseactivation procedure begins if you press Activate button.

4. Once you had activated the ASTER V7 software for a trial period, you will be able to use

ASTER V7 with no functional limits until the trial period expires. After that you will beforced to either go through the license activation procedure or exit the program.

If you have obtained a license while the trial period has been started but not expired yet,you may wait until it expires and activate the license later with the activation prompt, or youcan start the activation procedure instantly with the SHIFT or CTRL key being held

pressed while you open ASTER Control shortcut.

5. If you have started the license activation procedure, you will be requested for the licenseserial number. After you have typed or pasted the serial number, you may choose one oftwo activation ways.

Automatic activation - begins right after you press Next button. It requires your PC

to be connected to the Internet at the moment;

Manual activation - is a way to activate the ASTER V7 software using another PC

connected to the Internet (when there is no Internet connection available at the

place). To go this way follow other means or I already have an Activation Keyhot links.

6. If you have chosen the manual activation way, you will be requested for the activation key.

To get the activation key you may call your activation service (if available), or go to theactivation page (proactive.star-force.com/2.0/activate.php) using another PC connectedto the Internet. Submit there the license serial number along with the hardware codegenerated by the program. We recommend you use copy&paste operations at this step toavoid mistypes.

If you could not get the activation key promptly, you may close the activation window andgo through the manual activation anew when you have got the key.

7. Since you had activated the ASTER V7 software by any way, the ASTER Control panel

will appear when you open ASTER Control shortcut. Use this panel to setup ASTER V7

and arrange your video, input and audio devices among the workplaces.

If you run the ASTER V7 software first time, you should perform the initial arrangement ofvideo devices, otherwise you could not run extra workplaces because they have nomonitors. It is necessary to setup video devices before you try to run workplaces, andother the devices can be setup later. Use Video tab of the ASTER Control panel to setup

video devices.

If you have just one graphics card installed and two or more monitors connected to

it, you can use every individual monitor to run a workplace. As a result, several

workplaces will run on a single graphics card. To be able to setup individual

monitors of a single graphics card, check the Allow running several workplaceson a multimonitor graphics card option.

If you have several graphics cards installed, you can setup each graphics card withall its monitors for the exclusive use by a workplace. As a result, every workplace will

use its own dedicated graphics card (recommended for better gaming experience).

To easier setup several graphics cards for the exclusive use, uncheck the Allow

running several workplaces on a multimonitor graphics card option. Then allthe monitors of each graphics card will automatically join one and the same

workplace (so you have not to arrange manually all the monitors but only the

graphics cards).

You may also use several multimonitor graphics cards, each one for running several

workplaces. In this case if a workplace will use two or more monitors, it must not

share a graphics card with another workplace.

To specify a workplace number for a video device, double click in the Place column, typethe number and press Enter. We recommend you specify the workplace numbers in the

ascending order (from up to down the list). When the new arrangement is done, it must beApplied. It will take an effect after PC is restarted.

Before enabling ASTER V7 with newly arranged video devices, it is highly recommendedto extend the desktop onto all the monitors and setup desired resolutions for them toensure the monitors are properly configured and well functioning. Use Display item of

Windows Control Panel to extend the desktop and setup resolutions (Control Panel è

Display è Change display setting).

8. There are some advanced options available for the monitors of a shared graphics card.

For experienced users only, who can handle possible negative effects. There youcan setup the video device to use software- or hardware-driven mouse pointer and certaintype of video output (physical connector). These options are available in the tool boxopened with double click in the Properties column.

Software pointers are fully independent of each other but they may interfere with intensegraphics (be erased or leave trails) while hardware pointers do not interfere with anygraphics but they can not have different shapes. The latter is better for gaming and fullscreen graphics applications and the former is better for everything else. You may setupdifferent monitors for using different types of pointer (for example, enable hardwarepointer for the gaming workplace only).

Do not setup the video device to use certain type of video output unless you are sure itbrings the expected results. In case of unexpected results you can go through thetroubleshooting procedure described below.

9. After you have setup the video devices, you can enable ASTER V7 and run extra

workplaces. To enable ASTER V7 press Enable ASTER and restart PC button on

General tab of the ASTER Control panel. Your PC will be restarted at once.

Troubleshooting. If you experience troubles while starting PC with enabled ASTER V7

and newly arranged video devices (for example, no image on the main monitor), you canreboot your PC in safe mode, disable ASTER V7 with Disable ASTER and restart PC

button on General tab of the ASTER Control panel, and then setup different monitor

configuration and arrangement. To boot PC in safe mode, press F8 key in the beginning

of Windows startup (before Windows logo appeared) and select Safe mode option.

10. After PC has been restarted with enabled ASTER V7, you can run extra workplaces by

pressing Run ASTER workplaces button on General tab of the ASTER Control panel,or by opening Run ASTER workplaces shortcut in your Windows Start menu. Windows

welcome screen must appear on all the monitors. Before you arrange the input devices,you can switch your keyboards and mice all at once across the workplaces withCTRL+F12 key and check if all workplaces are well functioning.

If you find Run ASTER workplaces button disabled (grayed), it most probably means the

video devices arrangement is not suitable for running extra workplaces. Then try to makedifferent arrangement, Apply it and restart PC manually.

In certain cases you might need to disable ASTER V7. You can do it by pressing Disable

ASTER and restart PC button on General tab of the ASTER Control panel. Your PC will

be restarted at once. Be sure to disable ASTER V7 before you run system

maintenance tasks, install new graphics cards or update video drivers.

11. After you have successfully run extra workplaces, you can arrange your input devices

using Input tab of the ASTER Control panel. You will find all the connected keyboards and

mice in the list of input devices. To specify a workplace number for an input device,double click in the Place column, type the number and press Enter.

New input devices arrangement becomes effective immediately after you Apply it. If you

have lost the control over the setup workplace (in result of some wrong arrangement) youcan override the arrangement with CTRL+F12 key. You may have to press CTRL+F12

several times until it moves all the input devices to the setup workplace. Then you can retrywith another arrangement.

12. You can also arrange your audio devices (sound cards) among the workplaces or makethem shared by several workplaces. Use Audio tab of the ASTER Control panel to make

the arrangement of audio devices.

Every single sound card may be presented as a set of separate audio devices of differenttypes. You can setup those devices individually.

Unlike the other arrangement tabs, Audio tab allows you specify several workplace

numbers separated with comma to make one audio device available for severalworkplaces, or leave the field blank to make the audio device unavailable at all. To specifythe workplace numbers for an audio device, double click in the Place column, type thenumbers and commas and press Enter.

New audio devices arrangement becomes effective immediately after you Apply it.

However you may need to restart your sound applications if they were running while thearrangement is changed.

13. Technical support for ASTER V7 is available in English by electronic mail:

astermaster@km.ru.