Good news!  The Development Team tells us that the next major update to The Complete National Geographic will include the ability to rotate images.  As many of you have mentioned, a number of images (especially those in the earlier issues) can only be displayed horizontally.  The update (due early this summer) will allow you to rotate the photos for improved viewing.

If  you've already copied your DVDs to an internal or external hard drive using a manual method, please note that if you upgrade to Version 1.26 of the Complete National Geographic software, you'll want to take the following steps to make sure the program is looking in the correct place for your copied files:

1. Go to "Preferences" on the navigation menu at the top of your screen.
2. Click on "Install Options".
3. Click on "Browse".
4. Choose the directory where you previously copied the DVDs.  Some example locations on an internal hard drive are below (be sure to replace "username" with your own user name):  

• OSX:  /Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.nationalgeographic.products.cng120.68B1CC4249876152EBE333BD4B7514ADB4D94062.1/Local Store/cache
• WinXP: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\com.nationalgeographic.products.cng120.68B1CC4249876152EBE333BD4B7514ADB4D94062.1\Local Store\cache
• Vista/Win 7
• C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\com.nationalgeographic.products.cng120.68B1CC4249876152EBE333BD4B7514ADB4D94062.1\Local Store\cache
• C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\com.nationalgeographic.products.cng120.68B1CC4249876152EBE333BD4B7514ADB4D94062.1\Local Store\cache
• C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Loca\com.nationalgeographic.products.cng120.68B1CC4249876152EBE333BD4B7514ADB4D94062.1\Local Store#SharedObjects
  

5. Click "Apply" and "Ok".
6. To test, go back to the Welcome Menu and click on "Browse by Year".
7: Click on any year.
8. Click on "Read Issue" of the magazine in the center of the carousel.
9. If you're able to read the issue, The Complete National Geographic is looking in the correct directory that you chose, and you're ready to enjoy The Complete National Geographic!

A Windows 7 user reported that she was unable to change the default directory after manually copying the discs and updating the software.  The problem was resolved using these steps:

• Uninstall the program using Windows Uninstall.
• Delete all associated National Geographic files (search your hard drive for terms like natgeo, CNG, and Complete National Geographic).  DO NOT DELETE THE IMAGE FILES THAT YOU COPIED PREVIOUSLY (discs 1-6).
• Download the latest version of the program using this link: CNG Most Recent Version
• Run the program.  You should now be able to change the default directory if needed.

Good news - our latest software update contains the much-awaited "Copy to Hard Drive" functionality!  This will allow you to copy The Complete National Geographic's image files to any location you choose, whether it's your computer's internal hard drive or an external hard drive.  Once you've completed this process, you'll be able to enjoy The Complete National Geographic without swapping DVDs.

Before you begin, there are a few things to remember:

• You will need to have at least 45GB of free space on your drive (internal or external).
• The length of time to copy each disc varies, depending on your system, and whether you're running other programs at the same time.  Some people have reported it taking as little as 20 minutes per disc while most report the process as taking anywhere from 45 minutes to three hours per DVD.  (We've discovered that disabling your system's "Autoplay" DVD feature before beginning helps to speed up the process somewhat.)

If you have already copied the Complete National Geographic DVDs using a manual method, please see the next blog entry.

Copying the DVDs:

1. Make sure that you're connected to the Internet.
   
2. Start The Complete National Geographic.
   
3. Insert disc 1 into your computer's DVD drive.
   
4. After the program starts, click "Preferences" in the navigation menu at the top of your screen.
   
5. Click "Check for Updates Now".  If you're informed that no updates are available, you already have the most recent version, so go to the next step. If you're informed that there's an update available (version 1.26 build 946), go ahead and download it.  Once the update is downloaded, The Complete National Geographic will re-launch.
   
6. Click "Preferences" in the navigation bar at the top of your screen.
   
7. Click "Install Options" on the Preferences popup.  You'll now be able to choose where The Complete National Geographic's DVDs will be copied:

• If you want to copy the DVDs to the default location on your computer's internal hard drive, go to step 8.
  
• If you'd like to copy the DVDs to a different directory on your internal hard drive, click "Browse" to locate your preferred directory.  You can also choose to create a new directory during this step.
  
• If you'd like to copy the DVDs to an external hard drive, plug the drive into your computer so that it will be recognized. Click "Browse" to choose your preferred directory on your external hard drive.
  

8.  Click "Copy CNG Content to Local Drive".
9.  The application will start copying content from Disc #1 - 2008-1995.  Once the first disc is copied, you'll be prompted to insert the next disc.  Continue following the prompts until all 6 discs are copied.
10. After all the discs have been copied, you'll be able to use all of the functions of The Complete National Geographic without changing DVDs.