The two main purposes of the Classic model of WebTV are surfing the World Wide Web and sending and receiving e-mail, although it is certainly capable of more than that. The Plus adds TV interactivity to the mix; the Dishplayer brings satellite TV, and later will add more functions that are going to get interesting, it seems (the Dishplayer can already pause live TV for a half hour...).
If you have just gotten your terminal, on the WebTV Home page click on Help and you will find a lot of useful information.
From the Home page you'll find WebTV Today, which leads to two very useful resources: Club WebTV, a monthly newsletter to all subscribers (and previous newsletters are also available in an archive); and the Tips Index. Also check out the webtv.users Discussion group, where people with WebTV units post messages and responses to messages to help each other and blow off a lot of steam.
Within the Help area you'll also find information to aid you in setting your options for text size, call waiting, background music, etc. It's a good idea to poke around in every part of all the WebTV Home page, there's a tremendous amount of information in there.
For more introductory information, visit my Introduction to WebTV™.
Can I use two WebTV terminals on a single phoneline?
Yes, you can have two boxes connected to a single phone line, but only
one can be online at a time–and you have to pay for two subscriptions.
Why? Well, for one thing you get another whole set of Favorites and e-mail addresses/users to play around with, and for another, there's nothing to keep you from taking the second unit to another house later on.
It really is a separate entity, particularly because of the fact that you can move a WebTV to any phone line in the country and use it with no restrictions (although you may want to check for local-number availability).
How do I make a link turn blue in e-mail?
When you type in anything in e-mail beginning with "http://", "news:",
or "something@something.com", the text will appear green as you type it, but will
appear blue when received by the person you're writing to (if they're a
WebTV user), and it will be clickable, even if the URL, newsgroup, or e-mail address
is inaccurate. The WebTV mail system recognizes the format of these three types
of addresses, and makes the link "hot" automatically.
Most PC e-mail systems won't get a "hot" link, they'll at best see the text of the address in regular text format, but they can "cut and paste" the address to use it in their equivalent of our GoTo function, or put it into e-mail.
How do I send a webpage to someone else?
When you are at a webpage you find interesting, and you want to show it
to somebody else, you can hit the Send key, enter the person's e-mail address
(or click To: if they're already in your address book), and click Send
Page to send them an e-mail message with a "hot" blue link at the bottom of
the message that will take them directly to that page. If you want to write a
message to go with the link, just click on Edit Message before sending
the page, and when you're done writing the message, click Send as you would
with any other e-mail.
If you Send a page in this manner to anybody who isn't a WebTV subscriber, they will receive an e-mail message containing the URL of the page, but no "hot" link. They will be able to "copy and paste" the URL into their equivalent of our GoTo function and get to the page that way; some may still have difficulty however, as the link is "blued" by the use of HTML, and some computer e-mail programs can't parse HTML. If someone with a computer has problems with your use of Send, when you're on a page you want to pass on to them, hit GoTo then copy the address to paste into your message afterwards. If you're not familiar with copy and paste with WebTV yet, click here.
How do I get a post into webtv.users?
First, read a lot of the posts in the group if you've never posted
before, to get an idea of how the group works. webtv.users
is a moderated newsgroup, so you have to work a bit to increase the chances of
your post getting in. If you are responding to a previous post, read all the responses
already in the thread, because if your post is repetitious, the moderators won't
put it up. DON'T USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, that's considered SHOUTING, and the
moderators won't post it. And you should read this,
this, and this
as well.
What does the time stamped on an e-mail or post indicate?
Timestamps on e-mails and newsgroup posts show you local time where
it was sent from, when it was sent. When you read a message on WebTV, the
time is usually either shown with an offset from your local timezone (EST-2, for
instance), or as Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time, GMT).
Time stamps are only as accurate as the mailserver sending out the message, though, sometimes their clocks are off. And some online services use mail servers in other time zones, even other countries–some AOL mail is routed to a mailserver in England, for instance, making the time 5 to 8 hours off the "real" time sent when the sender is really in the U.S.
What can I do when a letter or post won't Send?
If you've spent a long time writing a message, sometimes when you click
the Send button everything just freezes up and no keys or buttons seem to do anything.
At this point, as soon as you can, press Cmd-Power (or Windows-key-F1
on a wired keyboard) to hang up the phone connection, then click Reconnect. You
should be able to successfully Send after that. For more info, check out Marion Rose's site.
How can I clear my terminal's RAM cache?
As you surf, the RAM cache (the part of memory that retains copies of
places you've been so you can reaccess them quickly when using Back or Recent,
without "pulling" them from the Internet each time) can become filled with data,
slowing your terminal down (and with the Classic, leading to "This Page Too Big"
notices). In order to regain speed, you occasionally need to clear the cache.
Cache-clearing sites and buttons don’t clear the cache, no matter what they’re called. They clear the browser’s history file (which contains the list of sites you can go Back to), and relatedly the Recent screen, leaving you on the Home page. But the RAM cache remains as full as it was before you visited the site.
To truly clear the maximum amount of memory, you need to switch users, or power the box off and back on again.
What can I do when I'm stuck on the WebTV logo at logon?
If you’re getting hung up on the WebTV logo on the way to your homepage,
first press a bunch of keys on your keyboard (or on your remote), sometimes that
gets the yellow connection light flickering again. If this happens all the time,
first try disconnecting any answering machine, fax machine, wireless phone, etc.,
connected to the same phone line your box uses. Also, listen to the line by picking
up your phone’s receiver and pressing a number–if you hear any static, that could
be the cause of your trouble. If that still doesn’t do it, set the terminal’s
dialing to Audible in Setup, then the next time you connect, take note of the
local access number being used–then call 1-800-469-3288 and see if there’s
a problem with that number (WebTV can check this).
What does it mean when the link box is red?
If the selection box around a link is red, that means the browser can’t
go to the place the link leads to.
Sometimes when you’ve just reconnected to the service after getting disconnected (or Hanging Up on purpose), for a short time the link selector is red because the browser and modem haven’t really finished getting the Internet connection “set up”. Moving the link selector around a bit and waiting a few seconds usually fixes this problem.
However, there are kinds of links that won’t work. telnet://, aol://, wais://, and a few other non http:// link types cause a red box, and clicking on it just makes the browser tell you to stop it. Nothing you can do in that case.
Link types that do work include http://, news:, ftp://, mailto:, and gopher:// (only gopher:// links won't turn blue or be clickable in e-mail and newsgroup posts).
What's with the little ghost WebTV logo that shows up sometimes?
The "ghost" icon is just an identifying mark, like TV networks use all
the time. It's nothing insidious (unless you see all corporate images in that
light), they're not "watching" you with it or anything...
If you hit practically any key or scroll the screen, it goes away instantly.
What are cookies?
A "cookie" is a small amount of data that a website places in your browser
in order to customize your visits to that site (for instance, your username and
password information for that particular site can be stored in your own browser,
so you don't have to type them in each time), or to keep track of your visits
there.
The cookies reside not in your terminal, but on a cookie server at WebTV Networks; you can't change or delete them in any way yourself.
For more info on cookies, visit Cookie Central.
Why don't Real Audio files always play on WebTV?
In order for a Real Audio file to be accessible with WebTV, a
file with a .RAM extension has to be created that points to the
actual audio file (with an .RA extension) on a Real Audio server
(this is special hardware, handling dozens to hundreds of
simultaneous connections and streaming the sound data in real
time).
Many websites try pointing to the .RA file directly to avoid the cost of the server software. For some computer users using RealPlayer on their systems, that works; but to handle a lot of users at the same time, the proper server software has to be installed, pointing to the .RA files using .RAM meta files. If a site uses .RA files directly, WebTV users can't hear anything ("a kind of information WebTV can't use").
Many popular sites are also upgrading to require Real Player G2 for full features, and WebTV doesn't have that software. If a site like this encoded their files with Real Audio 3.0 specs, though, you should be able to hear the sound (as long as they're using .RAM files to point to the .RA files).
It's expected that WebTV will upgrade all terminals to hear G2 Real Audio by the end of 1999, as reported in the stories and pages linked here.
Can I view AVIs?
Currently, WebTV can only view video files in the MPEG and VideoFlash formats (plus the audio
portion of QuickTime files). VideoFlash is only now available as Video Spot advertisements,
which are downloaded (when available) when your terminal checks mail with Message
Watch.
VideoFlash is a video format and player created by WebTV Networks; the reason you can't find it on the Internet appears to be this–WebTV hasn't distributed the codec (coder/decoder) to third parties, so nobody else can create VF files.
Other video formats–AVI, QuickTime, VXtreme, etc.–can't be viewed at all with WebTV, although more formats may be added to our viewing capability in future upgrades (or, not).
Can I use ICQ?
ICQ can't be used with WebTV, because it's a program for
computers that has to be downloaded to disk, and WebTVs can't
download anything (even the Plus's hard drive isn't set up for
downloading). There's currently no instant messaging feature
available for WebTV terminals.
Can I play solitaire online with WebTV?
Yes. For Klondike solitaire and other games to play online, click here.
Are we ever going to have the latest Internet stuff on
WebTV?
We’ll always be little behind the curve of upgrades, and RealAudio upgrades
(plus the emergence of NetShow) have been moving very rapidly. A two years ago
3.0 was big news, now it’s history.
The problem is that the companies writing the software don’t write a version for WebTV, and WebTV’s requirements are quite different that a computer’s. WebTV has to have an agreement with the company that created the software, and they then have to work together with that company to make a version just for us, and then it has to be worked into a whole with all the existing features of the terminal’s browser software (in conjunction with other new and upgraded features) before it can be released to all of us. There is some good news about the future of streaming audio for WebTV, though, as Real Networks has agreed to work with WebTV to bring us G2, as detailed here.
The time factor here is a problem. It takes quite a while to go from the public release of a piece of software, WebTV’s decision to get it for us, getting it licensed for WebTV, rewriting it, incorporating it into the browser, downloading it...it could easily take six months for that to happen–by which time there could be another version out on the Web already.
Things may get better though as the WebTV subscriber base grows, because with more subscribers WebTV can pay larger licensing fees, and software developers may have us more in mind, in the future.
Can I remove my real name from the primary users's e-mail
address?
Happily, the answer is "yes" as of the Summer of '99. From Mail, click Settings, then Mail Name. Change or delete the names in the boxes, and click Done.
What the heck is the Edit key for?
The famous Edit key doesn't seem to do anything, but it does.
Any time you are typing into a text entry window, and you move out of the window, then back to it, you will find you can't move the cursor within the text to change it. You can hit Return to make the cursor active and moveable inside the text window, but if you accidentally hit Return twice, you can get some results you weren't looking for (like running a search you didn't intend to run, or submitting a form you weren't finished with yet). Hitting Edit activates the cursor within the text window, allowing you to use the arrow keys to get to the part of the text you want to change.
What can I do about a "Too Big Page"?
If you get a “Page Too Big” notice on a page you know isn’t really
too big (like a newsgroup page of 100 posts, or even your Home page), your RAM
cache is full, and you need to clear it. There are two ways to do this:
My e-mail signature is twelve miles long, how can I fix it?
The reason signatures get incredibly long is somehow dozens of Returns
(blank lines) accumulate above your intended signature content. To fix this, from
your main Mail page:
Can I get AOL? Can I send e-mail to AOL?
You can't get AOL's service with WebTV, because using AOL requires downloading
software to a PC; we don't have a storage device for downloading anything.
As far as getting and sending e-mail from/to an AOL subscriber, sure you can. There is often a delay before a message you send to a person on AOL reaches them because AOL's mail system is notoriously slow in handling messages coming from outside their system. It can take minutes, or a couple of days for a message to get to the addressee.
AOL subscribers also can restrict their incoming messages, based on either the domain (our domain is webtv.net), or a list of "acceptable" addresses (if you're not on the list, your message won't be received). Sometimes they may have these restrictions in place and not even be aware of it.
You should know that if you put any HTML in a message you send to AOL, the message will probably arrive completely blank, because their system doesn't recognize or handle HTML at all. For more info on incompabilities between WebTV's and computer e-mail systems, click here.
Can I use a computer monitor to view WebTV?
Generally, the answer to this question is no. You can use any computer
monitor that has either RCA or S-video inputs, but most don't have these connections.
Older Commodore and Amiga monitors did, and you might be able to find one of them
in a used computer store or at a garage sale. Newer (and very expensive) multimedia
computer monitors intended for use in video editing have the required connections,
but these often cost more than a decent computer would.
Even if you did get a monitor that can handle the TV-video signal the WebTV terminal sends out, the best you would get is sharper reproduction of pixels; actual resolution is determined by the terminal's output, and that output is optimized for viewing on a television set.
Can I use an external disk drive with WebTV?
Unfortunately there's no way for a user to just decide to attach a hard
drive or other local-storage device to any of the ports on a WebTV terminal, and
have it just work. The terminal has to "be informed of" any devices attached to
it, and have software drivers to operate them. That is completely up to WebTV
Networks, what devices can be attached, and how flexibly they can work.
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