The best way to find an answer to your question is to browse our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) below.

• look in the on-line Help that comes with AltaVista Discovery
• look at AltaVista Discovery's ReadMe file
• go to http://forum.discovery.altavista.com/pages/3.shtml. From here, you can access the Online User Forum, this Frequently Asked Questions page, a white paper, and other information.

2. How does AltaVista Discovery's indexer work?
When you install AltaVista Discovery, an initial comprehensive index is built on your computer. AltaVista Discovery crawls your hard disk, recording every word of every document, as well as other relevant information. Once the initial index is built, it is updated periodically. Return To Top Of Page

3. How do I install AltaVista Discovery?
First, download the file "setup.exe" from this site, to your hard disk. Run (double-click on) the setup.exe file and follow onscreen instructions. Setup.exe causes the required files to be downloaded, to the same directory as the setup.exe file. About 12MB of data are downloaded. Once the files have been downloaded, setup.exe will install AltaVista Discovery on your machine.

It is important that you close your browser(s) and any previous versions of AltaVista Discovery before installation. Return To Top Of Page

4. When downloading AltaVista Discovery, how do I specify my proxy information when running setup?
When you run setup.exe, you'll be presented with a dialog box titled "AltaVista Discovery Pre-Setup," for selecting the server. Select "AV Discovery in San Mateo." To specify your proxy configuration, click the "Advanced" button, and enter the required information into the dialog box that is presented. Return To Top Of Page

5. When I download AltaVista Discovery, setup.exe asks me for a user name and password. What do I do?
If you get a username/password request while running setup, it is likely coming from your firewall/proxy. Your system administrator should be able to provide more information. If this is the case, you will not be able to download Discovery through this proxy. Return To Top Of Page

6. I ran setup.exe, to download AltaVista Discovery, and got a message about corruption of files that were downloaded. What do I do?
The setup program has determined that one or more of the setup files are corrupt. If the sizes of the downloaded files don't match with those below, something is definitely wrong. If they do match, it doesn't necessarily mean that everything is ok.

SETUP.EXE 336,790
SETUP.001 1,472,449
SETUP.002 1,042,433
SETUP.003 1,593,213
SETUP.004 1,694,170
SETUP.005 955,648
SETUP.006 2,136,355
SETUP.007 1,996,325
SETUP.008 715,732

There should also be a file called "Downloaded Files.txt" which contains the full pathname of these setup.nnn files. If any of the files are missing from Downloaded Files.txt, they will be downloaded from AltaVista the next time setup is run.

If there were problems running setup.exe, a file called "error.log" will be created in the same directory as setup.exe and it will describe the error. If file corruption is the problem, please try running setup again.

If you are running a "web accelerator" (e.g. NetSonic), it is probably caching the corrupted file. Disable the accelerator and re-run setup to download the corrupted files. Once that's complete, you can enable the accelerator again. Return To Top Of Page

7. How do I install AltaVista Discovery on more than one machine without having to download all of the setup.nnn files again?
There are two ways to install AltaVista Discovery on more than one machine without having to download all of the setup.nnn files again.

1. Copy the file called "Downloaded Files.txt", setup.exe, and all the SETUP.00n files (SETUP.001 - SETUP.008) to the target system. Once you have copied these files to the target system, edit the "Downloaded Files.txt" to have the correct path for all SETUP.001 to SETUP.008 files. Run setup.exe and it will use these files (choose "Install" in the "Pre-Setup mode" dialog, and choose "Use downloaded files" in the "Recovery" dialog).
   
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2. When you run the setup file that you downloaded, elect to install Discovery (as opposed to download only). When you get to the Discovery Software License Agreement, click No and Exit setup. Locate the Install\Discovery folder in your Program Files directory. There should be 18 (or 19 if setup.log is there) files in there. Copy these files to the machines on which you'd like to install Discovery (place them in any directory), and run setup.exe (the one that you just copied) on each.

8. How do I uninstall AltaVista Discovery?
>From the Start menu (located on the Taskbar), select the menu item: Programs -> AltaVista Discovery -> Remove AltaVista Discovery. Follow the instructions. Return To Top Of Page

9. How do I configure my e-mail and document indexing?
First, select "Options" from the AltaVista Discovery pull-down menu. Then, select "Documents and Mail." Using the "My Computer" dialog box within the Options panel, you can specify your preferences with respect to what you want the indexer to catalogue. Return To Top Of Page

10. How do I personalize my indexer update schedule?
Personalizing AltaVista Discovery's indexer update schedule is a good way to run the indexer at times of the day that are convenient for you. First, select "Options" from the AltaVista Discovery pull-down menu. Then, select "Schedule" and configure the indexer to run on a schedule that is right for you. Return To Top Of Page

11. How do I manually update my index?
When you turn on your computer, AltaVista Discovery launches and places an icon within the Microsoft taskbar (near your system clock) on your desktop. To manually update your index, right-click on this icon and select the "Index Now" menu item. Select the desired search spaces to be indexed. When you press the "Update" button, AltaVista Discovery begins updating the index. Return To Top Of Page

12. Do I have to completely rebuild my index each time I update to the latest version of AltaVista Discovery?
No. As long as you prompt AltaVista Discovery to update or you specify automatic updates in the Options/Update dialog box, your index will be preserved. Return To Top Of Page

13. How do I index all of my browsed web pages?
AltaVista Discovery automatically indexes your browsed web pages unless you deselect this feature by checking "Remember only browsed pages that I specify" in the "General" tab in your Options dialog box. It is important to note that AltaVista Discovery must be active in order for Discovery to index the pages you browse. Return To Top Of Page

14. What types of files does AltaVista Discovery index?
AltaVista Discovery supports many types of files. A complete list can be found in AltaVista Discovery's ReadMe file, section 2.5 "Supported Data Types." It does not currently support Lotus WordPro files. Although .LWP files can be indexed, these are not recognized as Lotus WordPro files, but some other file type. Return To Top Of Page

15. I specified that the indexer should never index my disk on the Options...\Schedule page but at times I've noticed that it's running. Why?
Even though your disk is not being indexed, the indexer may still be running, due to two other sources of data:

• Web pages that you're browsing may be indexed. If you wish to turn off auto-indexing of browsed pages, go to the Options pages, "General" tab, and choose "Remember only browsed pages that I specify."
• If you have added any custom web sites, the pages at those sites may be indexed. To turn this off, go to the Options pages, "My Sites" tab, and for each custom site, unselect "Update every."

16. How much room must I allocate for my index?
The amount of disk space required for the index depends on the amount of data being indexed and the type of data. A very rough figure is that the index will be approximately 10-40% of the size of the data being indexed. For example, if much of the data is PowerPoint files, it will be closer to 10%. If you have a high percentage of text files, then it will be closer to 40%.

Also, a known issue with indexing Outlook Express or Netscape mailboxes is that it can result in a very large index. Expect indexing of these to be slower than usual, and the index may grow quite large. Return To Top Of Page

17. AltaVista Discovery reports that there is insufficient disk space to create an index when it first starts indexing. I click OK and it terminates.
If AltaVista Discovery reports that there is insufficient disk space to create an index, yet you believe that there is enough space, please ensure that you have privileges to write to the index directory. The index directory is specified in the Options pages, "Schedule" tab, in the "Location of Index Folder" field. Return To Top Of Page

18. It crashes and/or hangs, while indexing my computer.
Tracking down a problem with indexing can be done by disabling all current indexing and gradually adding back the information sources you are indexing. To do this:

1. Open the Options page (right-click on the bluish AltaVista icon in the status tray of your taskbar, and select "Options...").
2. Choose the "Documents and Mail" tab, de-select all the items shown in the "My Computer" section, and click OK.
3. Right-click the AltaVista icon in the status tray, and select "Index Now."
4. After indexing is complete, go back to the Options page and select "Documents" in the "My Computer" section of the "Documents and Mail" tab. In the "Documents" section of the "Documents and Mail" tab, select one of your disk drives, then select only one directory of that drive. Click OK and index again by choosing "Index Now" as before.
5. If indexing is successful, go back and add another directory to index. Index again, continuing until the offending directory is found. If indexing is not successful, go back and deselect that directory, add another and continue until all directories causing problems are found. Continue to verify that indexing works, gradually enabling information sources again, working drive by drive, then directory by directory for documents.

19. What if I access the internet using a proxy server?
If you access the internet using a proxy server, AltaVista Discovery automatically uses the proxy settings specified within your default web browser. If you haven't configured proxy settings for your default web browser, you will need to configure proxy settings in the AltaVista Discovery Options panel. From AltaVista Discovery's pull-down menu, select "Options." On the Option's panel, select "Connection" and specify your manual proxy configuration settings. Also, be sure 127.0.0.1 is included in the proxy exceptions list of your browser. Return To Top Of Page

20. How do I select a search space?
A search space is an area in which you want to search, such as your email, your documents, the web, or your browsed web pages. The search space selector is the pull-down menu that is located to the left of AltaVista Discovery's search query box. Click on the pull-down menu and select a search space. Return To Top Of Page

21. What if I prefer advanced AltaVista searches?
You can easily perform an advanced search by selecting AltaVista Discovery's "Advanced Search" option. If you prefer, you can display the advanced search mode as your default by selecting "Advanced" as your default search setting in the Options/Configure dialog box. Return To Top Of Page

22. Why aren't my search terms highlighted in documents?
Search terms are only highlighted for web (text and HTML) documents, which are displayed in your browser window. Return To Top Of Page

23. When I search My Browsed Pages, no search results are available, but the number of words found is not zero.
It is possible for a search to return a non-zero amount of words found, but no results. This could happen for My Browsed Pages, My Sites, or the various Mail and Document search spaces. The reported amount of words found indicates the total number of instances of those words in the entire (local) index, not just in the search space that has been specified. Thus, it could be the case that the words are in the index, but none are in the desired search space. Return To Top Of Page

24. Why can't I do a search? I get error 407.
Error 407 occurs when you are connecting to the web via a proxy and the proxy requires authentication, i.e. username and password. If accessing the internet through your browser requires a username and password, then Discovery will also ask for the same information. Your system administrator may be able to provide more information. Return To Top Of Page

25. Searching doesn't work. I get a 400-404 type error, or "Unable to connect to site 127.0.0.1:7654."
AltaVista Discovery may not have correctly determined your internet settings. If this happens, AltaVista Discovery will also not be able to crawl your sites. There are a few things to check.

If you do not use a proxy to access the internet, make sure that your browsers are configured so that they don't use a proxy, and that the setting in AltaVista Discovery's Options pages ("Connection" tab) is set to "Use Internet Proxy information defined in web browser" OR "Do not access the internet using a proxy."

If you use a proxy to access the internet, and you use a PAC file, please refer to Section 3.7 "Auto Proxy Browser option not supported" in AltaVista Discovery's ReadMe file. Note that you can manually configure AltaVista Discovery's connection information. If you modify the Connection information in the Options pages, add 127.0.0.1 to the "list of domains that do not use a proxy."

If you use a proxy but not a PAC file, please make sure that you have the following entry in your browser's (both IE and Netscape if they are installed) No Proxy list: 127.0.0.1. Also, refer to Section 3.4 "How to Manually configure the browser," in AltaVista Discovery's ReadMe file. Return To Top Of Page

26. What are automatic updates?
AltaVista Discovery includes technology that delivers product updates via the Internet. By default, updates are sent automatically to your computer periodically. You can select to have updates delivered manually by clicking on the AltaVista logo and selecting the "Options" menu item. Then, click on the "Update" tab and deselect the "Automatic Update Information" box. Return To Top Of Page

27. How can I change the default location of AltaVista Discovery's toolbar?
Click on the AltaVista logo and choose the Options menu item. Select the "General" tab in the Options dialog box and specify where you would like AltaVista Discovery's toolbar to appear. Return To Top Of Page

28. How can I specify the length of my document summaries?
Under the "General" tab in the Options dialog box, you can specify the length of your page summaries in terms of the number of lines or as a percentage of the page's content. Return To Top Of Page

29. How can I get AltaVista Discovery to start Netscape instead of IE?
If you have both IE and Netscape browsers installed on your system, AltaVista Discovery will start up the default browser. If AltaVista Discovery starts up IE and you want Netscape to be started instead, you must make Netscape the default browser. Please look at http://home.netscape.com/download/win32_instructions.html for instructions on setting Netscape as your default browser. Return To Top Of Page

30. How do I delete the simple search history from the AltaVista Discovery toolbar?
There is no easy way to delete the search history. It works much like the address bar of your browser. The search terms will eventually filter off the bottom of the list as more are done. (It keeps the 30 most-recent search queries.)

The hard way to delete it is via the Registry. Note - only do this if you are comfortable using the registry editor. Be extremely cautious: editing the Registry can permanently corrupt your system, so always have a backup available to correct your entries.

Make sure Discovery is not running. Then start the registry editor and set the following value to 00 00: \\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Compaq Computer Corporation\AltaVista Search\My Computer\CurrentVersion\VistaBar\SimpleHistory. Return To Top Of Page

31. When will AltaVista Discovery be available on other platforms?
We are only offering AltaVista Discovery in the Win95/98 and NT platforms, for the browsers Netscape V3, 4 and Microsoft Internet Explorer V3.02, 4, 5. We have no plans for other versions at this time. Return To Top Of Page

32. Is AltaVista Discovery Y2K compliant?
Y2K testing and code analysis was performed, prior to the release of AltaVista Discovery V1.1, so the product should be compliant. Return To Top Of Page

33. How can I get a workgroup version of AltaVista Discovery?
"AltaVista Search Intranet" is an intranet product that may satisfy your needs. You can find out more about it at http://altavista.software.digital.com/search/intranet/.

The following describes a way of having a central index on one computer (eg a server), and other computers accessing this index. Although it is possible to make this work in AltaVista Discovery, it is not a supported configuration.

For the following, you can access the options pages by clicking on the AltaVista button in AltaVista Discovery's toolbar, and selecting the "Options..." menu item.

For all the AltaVista Discovery programs running on all the computers, change the path of the index, in the Options page, "Schedule" tab, in the field "Location of Index Folder." This must contain the path of the index stored on the server.

All indexed files must be accessible to the user machines with the same full pathnames as they had, when the files were indexed. That is, if E:\foo\bar.doc is indexed, all machines must be able to get to that file as E:\foo\bar.doc. Keep in mind that if C:\foo\bar.doc is indexed, all machines must be able to get to that file as C:\foo\bar.doc. You can get around this problem by creating the index with a different machine than the machine it is stored on.

Only one machine can do the indexing. For all the other machines, in the Options page, "Schedule" tab, the "Update my Documents and Mail Index" should be set to "Never." Also, in the Options page, "General" tab, set "Indexing of browser pages" to be "Remember only browser pages that I specify." Note that the custom sites ("My Sites") feature will not work properly.

In short, only one of the machines can ever write to the index, but it's OK for the rest to read, provided the other isn't writing at the time. You may have to configure your server to index late at night, say 2 am, so that it is more likely that no one will be searching the index at the same time. Return To Top Of Page

34. I'm concerned about privacy. How is the information sent from my computer used?
There are two types of information passed back to AltaVista. Firstly, the registration information. You don't have to fill out this form, though we appreciate it if you do.

Secondly, the information about the type of queries you issue, which is used to help improve the user experience at the main AltaVista web site. By default, this information is sent, but you can turn it off by deselecting "Send results history to AltaVista" in the Options pages, "Update" tab. Once this is deselected, no information about you, your PC, or your queries will be sent. Return To Top Of Page

35. When I rename the Pegasus DLL from .DLX to .DLL, AltaVista Discovery thinks I need to update and keeps downloading the Pegasus DLL.
Find the file pav_mhpag.dlx in the avbin subdirectory of the AltaVista Discovery installation directory. Make a copy of pav_mhpeg.dlx, and rename it to pav_mhpeg.dll. Return To Top Of Page

36. I've upgraded from V1.0 to V1.1 and I get the following error: "AltaVista Discovery Indexer could not load pav_mhpeg.dll. One of the library files is not available."
Find the file pav_mhpag.dlx in the avbin subdirectory of the AltaVista Discovery installation directory. Make a copy of pav_mhpeg.dlx, and rename it to pav_mhpeg.dll. Return To Top Of Page

37. Why aren't my browsed pages being indexed?
AltaVista Discovery attempts to add browsed pages to your index by accessing them from the cache. However, if caching is turned off in your browser, or the web pages themselves have disabled caching, the page can't be indexed. To fix this problem, check to make sure that your browser doesn't have caching turned off. Also, only browsed pages having MIME types of text/plain or text/html are indexed. Return To Top Of Page

38. How do I prevent AltaVista Discovery from starting up each time I boot the computer?
To prevent AltaVista Discovery from starting up every time you boot the computer (or login), it has to be removed from the Startup folder. One way to do this is:

1. From the Start menu (in your taskbar), under the "Settings" menu item, select "Taskbar and Start Menu..."
2. You'll see a "Taskbar Properties" window. Select the "Start Menu Programs" tab
3. Under "Customize Start menu", click the "Remove..." button
4. In the "Remove Shortcuts/Folders" window that appears, double-click the "Startup" folder.
5. Select "AltaVista Discovery"
6. Click the "Remove" button
7. Close this window
8. Click "OK" in the "Taskbar Properties" window