Kids: Distorted AVIs and Transitions (127885)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Scholastic's Magic School Bus series: Explores the Solar System for Windows 1.0
  • Microsoft Explorapedia series: World of Nature for Windows 1.0
This article was previously published under Q127885

SYMPTOMS

When you run Magic School Bus Explores the Solar System or Explorapedia World of Nature on a computer that has an ATI Mach 64 video driver installed, you may observe one or more of the following behaviors:
  1. AVIs are poor quality and colors blend so that there is no distinction between separate objects or shadows.
  2. In certain video transitions, the animations look like different colored transparencies being overlaid.
  3. When the bus is picking up kids in the introduction, the video becomes somewhat separated, with horizontal lines going through it.

RESOLUTION

To resolve the problem, use the steps below for the version of Windows installed on your computer.

Microsoft Windows 95

Use the display drivers for the ATI card which are included with Windows 95. For additional information about how to change video drivers, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

131806 How to install or change a video driver

Microsoft Windows 3.x

Turn off the WinSwitch feature of the ATI video driver.
  1. In Program Manager, double-click the ATI DeskTop program group.
  2. Run ATI DeskTop, and then click ATI FlexDesk.
  3. Make sure that the WinSwitch box is not selected. This will turn off the WinSwitch feature of the ATI video driver.
  4. Click OK to close WinSwitch.
  5. Restart Windows when you are prompted to do so.
After you follow these steps, video transitions, animations, and AVIs should behave normally.

MORE INFORMATION

WinSwitch is an ATI utility that allows you to use keyboard commands to dynamically change the number of colors available on-screen in Windows. To do this, however, it loads all 64,000 colors so they can be made available as needed.

When the 256-color option is selected in combination with WinSwitch, the color palette is not in use.

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:6/22/2004
Keywords:KB127885
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.