VIRTUAL BELFRY

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System Requirements

In order to run Virtual Belfry, you will need:

• A PC running Windows ME, 2000, XP, Vista or Windows 7. The program will not work on Windows 95, and has not been tested on Windows NT. The program may work on some later releases of Windows 98 (see the point below regarding DirectX).
  
  
• 450Mb of spare hard disc space.
  
  
• Microsoft DirectX version 7 or later. This is generally standard fare - it would be unusual for it to be missing, although early releases of Windows 98 might use an earlier version. To find out which version your computer has installed, click on Start..Run, type "dxdiag" into the field and press enter.
  
  
• A functioning sound card.
  
  
• A Compact Disc drive.
  
  
• 360Mb of available RAM (see discussion below).

RAM Requirements

The simple answer is that version 2.0 of Virtual Belfry will use approximately 360Mb of RAM. All modern computers have more than that, of course, but that is a guide to how much RAM is needed for the program, not how much your computer has in total.

The RAM requirements are almost entirely devoted to loading all the images needed for the animation of the twelve bells. A slightly more complex answer to the RAM equation is that the program will reduce the sizes of the images, and therefore the amount of RAM required, if there is insufficient RAM to load everything at full size. A small amount of image reduction won't be noticed, but running Virtual Belfry on a PC that is critically low on RAM may lead to pixellation of the images on the screen, uneven animation, or other small failings.

Total RAM

You might like to know how much RAM in total is needed by your computer if it is to adequately support Virtual Belfry. It is hard to be precise, and the figure depends on the operating system you are running, but the following is an approximate guide:

Minimum total RAM (approximate)
Windows ME/2000	450Mb
Windows XP	500Mb
Windows Vista	1Gb

(Note: The author hasn't tested RAM requirements on Windows 7 but it is safe to assume the Vista figure of 1Gb applies.)

As always, it is fair to say that having plenty of RAM solves most problems. Aim to double the above figures and you will have no difficulties with RAM whatsoever.