For those of you who may have had difficulty installing The Complete National Geographic, resulting in a partially installed program (it won't start, or it won't allow you to re-install), there is no need to uninstall the program as described earlier in the FAQ.  Instead, just delete the natgeo_temp folder in your home folder.  Then you'll be able to re-install the program.

• Vista & Win7 Users: this folder is usually found at C:\Users\username\natgeo_temp.
  
• WinXP Users:  this folder is usually found at C:\Documents and Settings\username\natgeo_temp.
  

(Remember to replace "username" with your own user name when looking for this folder.)

After deleting this folder, you should be able to reinstall the program as described in the FAQ, following one of the options below:

• For users with high speed broadband access:

1. Go to: www.nationalgeographic.com/updates/products/cng120/ClickToInstall.html
2. Run The Complete National Geographic web installer. This has the latest version of Adobe Air, as well as the latest version of The Complete National Geographic.
3. The Complete National Geographic can now be launched.
   

• For users with inconsistent or slower broadband access:

1. Disconnect your computer from the Internet -- unplug the network cable and disable any wireless networking.
2. Install The Complete National Geographic, using your DVDs or The Complete National Geographic hard drive.
3. Reconnect your computer to the Internet. (At some point later, the AIR runtime will automatically detect that an update is available.  When you're prompted to download it, it's safe to apply this update.)
4. Launch The Complete National Geographic and click "Preferences" on the menu bar at the top of your screen. If you have v1.22 or lower, click on "Check for Updates Now" > "Check for Updates" > "Download Now". This will ensure that you're running the latest version of The Complete National Geographic.

• Alternate method for users with inconsistent or slower broadband access:

1. Before beginning the re-install, download and install the latest AIR runtime directly from the Adobe website  (http://get.adobe.com/air/).
2. Install The Complete National Geographic from your DVDs or The Complete National Geographic hard drive, but be sure to choose the "Don't upgrade AIR Runtime" option. (This may sound misleading, but you've already downloaded the latest version in step 1.)
3. Now the application will install correctly.
4. Launch The Complete National Geographic and click "Preferences" in the menu bar at the top of your screen.  If you have v1.22 or lower, click on "Check for Updates Now" > "Check for Update"s > "Download Now". This will ensure that you're running the latest version of The Complete National Geographic.
   

Please note: The information in the original blog entry below is no longer relevant as the "Copy to Hard Drive" functionality is now activated from within the program.

• Make certain you have installed all recent updates.

• Go to Preferences>Installation Options and follow the instructions. You will be able to copy your DVDs to local or external hard drives.

• If you previously used the manual workaround(s) described below, you do not have to re-copy; however, should you decide to, you will need to uninstall the program and the files you copied manually prior to using the CNG application's functionality.

  The original entry follows:

*This is an update to the earlier post about copying The Complete National Geographic DVDs for PC and Snow Leopard users. If you are running Tiger/Leopard on Mac, please see the Updated Mac (Tiger/Leopard) Instructions instead.

We suggest you read through these instructions before beginning the process.

Requirements:  You must have the following to begin:

• Computer with The Complete National Geographic v1.12 or later already installed
• 6 CNG DVDs (NOT the Bonus DVD)
• 50 GB of free space on your hard drive
• A good chunk of time. This procedure will take several hours (most of this time will be spent waiting, allowing you to do other things).

Locating the cache folder:

Locate the cache folder using Finder (OSX) or Windows Explorer (Windows XP/Vista/7). Since these are files that are normally hidden in Windows, you may need to unhide them. To do this,

• After opening Windows Explorer, click "Organize" at the top of your screen.
  
• Click "Folder & Search Options"
  
• Click the "View" tab
  
• Check "Hidden files and folders"
  
• Choose "Show hidden files, folders or drives".

Depending on your operating system, you will find the cache folder in one of the locations below. You'll know you've found the correct cache folder if it contains one subfolder called "thumbs". 

OSX:
/Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.nationalgeographic.products.cng120.68B1CC4249876152EBE333BD4B7514ADB4D94062.1/Local Store/cache

Win XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\com.nationalgeographic.products.cng120.68B1CC4249876152EBE333BD4B7514ADB4D94062.1\Local Store\cache

Vista/Win 7  (Click the Windows icon at the lower left hand side of your desktop and paste the first link below in the search box.  Be sure to replace "UserName" with your own user name first. If you don't see the cache folder, try one of the other links below.  Again, be sure to replace "UserName" with your own user name.)

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\com.nationalgeographic.products.cng120.68B1CC4249876152EBE333BD4B7514ADB4D94062.1\Local Store\cache

OR

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\com.nationalgeographic.products.cng120.68B1CC4249876152EBE333BD4B7514ADB4D94062.1\Local Store\cache

OR

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Loca\com.nationalgeographic.products.cng120.68B1CC4249876152EBE333BD4B7514ADB4D94062.1\Local Store\#SharedObjects

(Be sure to replace "UserName" with your own user name)

Copying the DVDs:

1. If the Complete National Geographic program is running, shut it down by clicking "Exit".
   
2. Insert Disc 1 into the DVD drive
   
3. Wait for the disc to be recognized, but don't run the disc. Instead, click "open to see files".  If you automatically get a message which says "application is current", right click on the drive. Then click "open" to see the files.
   
4. Drag the "disc1" folder from the DVD drive to the cache folder on your hard drive (NOT into the "thumbs" subfolder). This should begin the copy process.
5. You do not need to copy any other files or folders from this DVD.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 for the remaining DVDs, in any order.
   
7. Once you're finished copying the discs, your cache folder should contain ONLY these subfolders: 

• disc1
  
• disc2
• disc3
• disc4
• disc5
• disc6
• thumbs

You can now run The Complete National Geographic from your hard drive!

A few notes...

• Once you've copied all of the DVDs, the application will automatically look in your cache folder for any images it needs. If you're still asked to "Insert Disc1" when running The Complete National Geographic, hold down the "ALT" key and click on "Okay". That should move you past this message.
• If you uninstall The Complete National Geographic at some point, the discs you copied will not be uninstalled.

Please note:  The information in the original blog entry below is no longer relevant as the "Copy to Hard Drive" functionality is now activated from within the program.  

 - Make certain you have installed all recent updates.

 - Go to Preferences>Installation Options and follow the instructions. You will be able to copy your DVDs to local or external hard drives.

 - If you previously used the manual workaround(s) described below, you do not have to re-copy; however, should you decide to, you will need to uninstall the program and the files you copied manually prior to using the CNG application's functionality.


This is an update to the copying instructions previously posted for Mac Tiger/Leopard users.  Please note that these instructions do not work with the Snow Leopard operating system. If you are running Snow Leopard, please follow the Updated PC/Snow Leopard instructions instead.

REQUIREMENTS:  First, be sure that you meet these requirements:

• A Mac running 10.4.11 or higher
  
• CNG application v1.12 or higher (check "Preferences" in your program to see if you have the latest version)
  
• The 6 DVD The Complete National Geographic set (Note: This app will not copy from the external hard drive CNG product)
  
• 50 GB of free space in your home folder (usually /Users/yourUserName)

COPYING THE DVDs: To copy all the content from the 6 DVDs to your Mac's hard drive:

1. Close the CNG app if it is currently running by clicking "Exit".
   
2. Go to: www.nationalgeographic.com/updates/products/cng120/CNG_DVD_Installer_RC7.zip  (Users opening through Safari may have difficulty opening the link. If you experience problems, try using FireFox or Internet Explorer instead.
   
3. Download the file to anyplace on your hard drive and run the file.
   
4. Insert Disc 1 once the application requests it.
   
5. Wait for some indication that the DVD is being copied -- you'll either see the "percentage complete" increase, or the number of megabytes copied will increase. It may take anywhere from 30-90 seconds for the program to read each DVD and each disk will take between 30-45 minutes to copy.
   
6. When prompted to swap the next disc, do so. 
   
7. Continue until all 6 DVDs have been copied.

Once the full-content installation is complete, you should be able the launch the The Complete National Geographic and browse to any issue without requiring any DVDs.

A few notes...

• Hard Drive Space: Be sure that you have at least 50 GB of free space on your hard drive.  If you don't, the application will will not proceed with the installation.
  
• Cancellation: When the application starts again after being cancelled, it will not continue if you have less than 50GB of space free. If you have already copied 3 DVDs, it will not re-start unless you have room for 6 DVDs.
  
• DVD Icon: Once the full content is installed, The Complete National Geographic DVD icon in the top menu bar may not change. The icon may still read "No DVD" (if none is inserted) or "DVD x" if a CNG DVD is in the drive.
  
• Uninstall: Uninstalling The Complete National Geographic will NOT uninstall the DVDs you copied.

Our note about the changes we'll be making to this page (see last entry), bumped the Windows Users Alert: Potential Installation Issue entry down 'below the fold.' We want to make sure it doesn't get lost.

In the next day or two, you will see some changes to The CNG Support Hub.  We'll be moving some things around and adding others so that it's easier for you to find the answers to your questions.

In the meantime, you might want to check out some of the man y comments left by participants here.  They are a wealth of information, tips, experiences and observations.  Just search on the topic you're interested in using the search box at the bottom of the page and read the comments associated  with the blog entry.

Also, don't forget that we updated the FAQ document (see left sidebar) last week with new information.  We'll be adding all those FAQs to the blog so that they are easier to search on and we'll be listing them in the left sidebar to make it a one-stop-shop for help.

The Complete National Geographic: 120 Years Frequently Asked Questions document has been updated with a great deal of new information. Included are the workarounds for the bug related to a recent Adobe Air upgrade as well as workarounds for installing The CNG DVDs on your local drive.  Snow Leopard users, this includes you!  Take a look, and as always, let us know if you have questions or problems.

We've identified a bug in the software which was introduced after the release due to an Adobe Air software upgrade.

Issue:
The installation problem may occur on WinXP, Vista or Windows 7 systems leaving the application partially installed when:

1) The AIR runtime is being installed for the first time.

2) The system has Internet access

To prevent or address this issue; please take one of the following precautionary steps:

Workaround A: For Users with High Speed Broadband Access (Greater than 2Mbps)

1.  Download the full installer by going to:

Full Web Installer

Or copy and past the following URL into your browser:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/updates/products/cng120/ClickToInstall.html

2.  Run the Complete National Geographic web installer.   (This has the latest version of Adobe Air and the latest version of The Complete National Geographic: 120 Years)

Workaround B: For Users With Inconsistent or Slower Broadband Access

1.  Disconnect the computer from the Internet. Unplug the network cable and disable any wireless networking.

2.  Install the Complete National Geographic application as usual (from DVD or hard drive).

3.  Reconnect the computer to the Internet.    At some point later, the AIR runtime will detect that an update is available, and that it is now safe to apply this update.

4.  Launch the Complete National Geographic application and go to "Preferences."  If you have v1.22 or lower, click on Check for Updates Now>Check for Updates>Download Now.    This will ensure you have the latest version of The Complete National Geographic.

Workaround C: For Users With Inconsistent or Slower Broadband Access)

1. Install the latest AIR runtime from the web (http://get.adobe.com/air/)

2. Install the Complete National Geographic application, but be sure to choose the "Don't upgrade AIR Runtime" option. (Note that the dialog text is misleading, since it is asking you about upgrading the runtime, even though selecting yes would actually be downgrading to an older version.)
 
3. Now the application will install correctly.

4. Launch the Complete National Geographic application and go to "Preferences."  If you have v1.22 or lower, click on Check for Updates Now>Check for Updates>Download Now.    This will ensure you have the latest version of The Complete National Geographic.

If you have questions or problems, contact The CNG Support Team using the link in the left sidebar.

If you have a question or issue regarding The Complete National Geographic, it's likely that you'll find the answer in our FAQs or in this blog's archives.  If not, please don't hesitate to contact us.  You can use the Feedback Form to send us an email, or you can post your question to this blog.  (One of the advantages of posting to this blog is that other CNG users can take part in the discussion and offer solutions and tips that have worked for them.)

Whichever method you choose, we promise to respond to you as quickly as possible!  You can save some time and effort by including as much information as possible.  

First, describe your system, including:

• Operating System (Windows XP, Vista, Mac OS x, Snow Leopard, etc.);
• Processor type and speed;
• RAM;
• The brand/model of any peripheral device (printer, mouse, etc.) that isn't behaving as expected
  

Then tell us more about your question or issue in as much detail as you can, including: 

• what you were doing when the problem began;
• what problem you're having;
  
• what you've tried so far to fix the problem;
  
• anything else you think might be significant.
  

Good morning, CNG Community. We wanted to let you know that we put the following issues to the Development Team for answers and/or solutions and will be back with responses as soon as we have them.  Thank you for taking the time to ask your questions and for providing such great details and descriptions when you describe your experience.  This helps us immensely.

By the way, thanks go as well to those of you who have shared your own workarounds, ideas and suggestions.

Here's what we've added to the list of known issues:

• Ability (or instructions) for copying DVDs to different directories, partitions, or external hard drives
• Windows 7 user issues related to copying DVDs to hard drive
• Snow Leopard copy-to-hard-drive capability

We'll be back later to close the loop on some other outstanding issues.