A: In addition to bug fixes and other improvements, the new fingerprinting technology included with this release will enable Napster to more accurately identify files shared by our users. This information will help us in future releases to provide major usability enhancements.

A: You can. To browse the shared files of a user in your Hot List, double-click the user name, or highlight the user name, click on the name with your right mouse button, and select "Browse Files." You can also initiate the browse function from the right-click menus available in the Search area, and the Chat user list.

A: To use Napster 2.0 beta 10.4 for Windows, users will need to download it from our website.

A: All of your files are still on your computer, and you can still access them through Napster, but first you have to go into the Transfers tab of your Preferences (under the Napster File menu), and click the "Share More Folders" button. Here, either click "Go!" to let the Napster application find all of the folders on your computer where you have music files.

Or, use the folder tree to make sure that you have selected the directories where you keep music files. To find shared folders, look for boxes with a black or gray check mark (shared folders) and boxes with a red outline (folders that contain shared folders). You can easily change your shared folder selections by clicking the box next to each directory.

All MP3 and WMA files residing in the folders that you select to share (by placing a black check-mark next to them or a higher-level directory) will appear in the My Files area of Napster and will be available for sharing with the Napster Community.

A: We have added a new folder to the Napster program folder called "My Files." In Beta 10.4, the default setting for your Download Folder is this folder. So, to locate your files outside of Napster, go to the Napster folder inside your Programs folder, and find the folder called "My Files."

A: Some users may find that Symantec's Norton Anti Virus program detects a virus named "Trojan.MircAbuser.dr" when they try to install Napster. This is a false report - there is no virus. Symantec suggests that users having this problem update their virus definitions at their website to correct the problem.

A: At this time, only users with Beta 10.3 or Beta 10.4 will be able to log on to Napster. We encourage users to download the latest version of Napster in order to have the best experience.

Getting started

Q: Does Napster work with WebTV?

A: No, Napster is not currently compatible with WebTV.

A: Yes, Napster is currently compatible with Windows 9x, ME, NT, and 2000.

Q: What is a firewall?

A: A firewall is a security mechanism that keeps your network safe from intruders. It may protect a network while users connect to the Internet, or it may separate a company's public web server from its internal network. Firewalls are also used to keep segments of networks secure.

A: To use the uninstall utility, locate the Napster folder in the Windows Start menu and select "Remove Napster v2.0 BETA X." You can also uninstall the program using the "Add/Remove Programs" function in the Windows Control Panel. Or you can access the Add/Remove function in the Program Files window.

Q: What are the rules for selecting a user name?

A: Your user name can be as short as one character or as long as 24. You may create a name using letters, numbers, and the following characters: _,[,],{,},-,^,!,$

A: To change your user name, you need to uninstall the Napster application from your computer, then re-install it and register your new name. You'll get the best results by restarting your computer between uninstalling and re-installing Napster.

A: If you're using a computer that you've used before to access your Napster account, you don't need your user name or password to log on.

If you're using a different computer on which Napster has been installed, you'll need to uninstall Napster, then install it again and register a new name and password.

A: You can withdraw from the Napster Community simply by not logging on to the Napster servers. When you're not logged on, no one can see or have access to your account information or files.

If at any time you would like Napster to delete the Personally Identifiable Information you supplied in the registration process (which includes your email address), you can send an email request to remove@napster.com. We'll delete your Personally Identifiable Information unless we're under a legal obligation to retain it.

A: The MP3 and WMA files you have downloaded are stored on your computer's hard drive, not on the Napster servers. If you connect to Napster from another computer, you won't have access to your previously downloaded files.

To access your MP3 and WMA files on the new computer, you'll need to transfer them to that computer. You can either network the computers together or transfer the files via a large-capacity storage device such as a Zip disk. In order to use a Zip disk, you need to have a Zip drive.

A: To change the background color of Napster's windows, you need a Beta 7 or higher version of the Napster application. Under the Napster File menu, choose Preferences, then click the Schemes tab. The default background color is "Color Scheme #1 (White Background)." In the pull-down menu, select either "Color Scheme #2 (Black Background)" or "Custom Color Scheme." If you select "Custom Color Scheme," you'll notice that the "Item Color..." and "Background Color..." buttons near the bottom of the window are no longer grayed out. Click "Background Color..." and choose the color you like.

A: A proxy server is an intermediary server used by some Internet services to improve security or network performance.

Q: How do I connect?

A: You'll connect to the Napster service automatically when you open the program. Once you're connected, the bottom left corner of the Napster window will read "Online." If you don't connect the first time, try again by selecting "Connect" under the Napster File menu.

You may need to try a few times. We're doing our best to match our server capacity to the size of our user base, but sometimes the tremendous growth in use gets ahead of us.

A: Because the Napster Community is so large, our servers sometimes get overloaded. We're doing our best to match our server capacity to the size of our user base, but sometimes the tremendous growth gets ahead of us.

A: Under the Napster File menu, select the "Exit" option. Quitting the application this way will keep it from connecting you to the Internet.

If you close the application by clicking the "x" button in the top right corner of the Napster window, you'll stay connected to the Napster service, and the Napster application icon will remain in your system tray.

A: You can't. When you log on to Napster, you connect to a central server. Then you're redirected to the optimal server to keep the load on our servers balanced.

Q: How do I enter a Napster chat room?

A: In the bottom right corner of the Napster Chat area, you'll see a button labeled "Chat Rooms." Click it to get a list of Napster chat rooms. To enter a room, double-click on that room's name, or select the room's name and then click the "Join Room" button.

A: When you enter a chat room, you'll see a small window at the bottom of your screen. Type your comments in this window, then hit the Enter key, and your message will post in the chat room.

A: To send an Instant Message to another user, go to the Napster Actions menu, select "Instant Message," then type that person's user name. You can also send an Instant Message from any place in the application where user names are displayed. Just right-click on the user name and select "Instant Message." Then type your message in the input field and press the Enter key.

A: Click the "Chat Rooms" button, then click the "Create" button at the bottom of the Chat window. Name your room, and start chatting!

To remove your channel from the list, just leave it. If no one else is in it, the channel will disappear. Otherwise, the channel will continue to exist until everyone has left.

A: The Napster servers are not linked for every Napster function. Instant Message, search, Hot List, and browse are linked across servers, but chat is not. That means you can Instant Message any user currently online and add that user to your Hot List if you like, but you probably won't find that user in the chat rooms.

A: When you get a message saying you're muzzled, it means you will temporarily be unable to send text to any channel. Chances are you violated chat room etiquette. A moderator will un-muzzle you when he/she feels it is appropriate.

A: The only way to get another user's email address is to request it directly from that person. Napster doesn't make users' email addresses available to other users.

A: The swear filter prevents some common inappropriate language from being displayed on your screen. It is turned off by default.

To turn the swear filter on, go to the Napster File menu and select Preferences. Click the Chat tab, then check the option that says "Do not display offensive words in private messages or public chat rooms."

A: If you want to stop receiving chat room posts and Instant Messages from a particular user, go to the Napster Actions menu and select "View Ignore List." Click the "Add" button, then type the name of the user you'd like to ignore. Click "OK" to add the person to your Ignore List.

To Unignore a user on your Ignore List, select the user name, then click "Remove."

A: Under the Napster Actions menu, select "View Ignore List." Then select the name of the user you want to Unignore and click "Remove."

A: If you have your Chat Preferences set to display incoming Instant Messages in separate windows, a pop-up window will appear whenever you receive an Instant Message. To reply to this message, simply type your message and press the Enter key.

If you haven't selected this option, you'll get your Instant Messages in the private chat channel of your Chat area. With this option, an Instant Message from another user will appear in the larger portion of the chat box. To reply, use the message command.

Q: Where are the music files on my computer?

A: The files you've received from other Napster users are stored in the download folder on your computer's hard drive. Unless you've specified otherwise in the Napster Preferences, your download folder will be the My Files folder inside the Napster application folder. (If you chose all the defaults when you installed Napster, this folder will be located at C:\Program Files\Napster\My Files.)

To find your download folder, go to Preferences under the Napster File menu and click the Downloading tab. To choose where you'll store the files you get from the Napster Community, place a black check mark next to that folder.

All MP3 and WMA files in your download folder will be shared with the Napster Community, unless you set your maximum simultaneous outbound transfers to zero. By clicking the Sharing tab of the Napster Preferences, you can select folders for sharing with the Napster Community.

A: To delete a music file, right-click the file name in your My Files area and select "Delete (from disk)." Alternately, highlight the file name and press the Delete key on your keyboard. When you delete a file in the My Files area, it will also be deleted from its folder on your computer's hard drive. Once you delete a file, you can't retrieve it.

A: First, you need to stop playing a music file before you can delete it.

If you're not playing the file, but you still can't delete it, it may be write-protected or read-only. To disable a file's read-only status, find it on your hard drive by going to the Windows Start menu. Select "Find," then choose "Files or Folders." Type the name of the file, and select the C: drive in the "Look in" field. (If you store your music files on another drive on your computer, select that drive instead of the C: drive.) Make sure "Include subfolders" is checked, then click "Find Now." Once you've located the file, right-click the file name, then select Properties. If "Read-only" is checked in the Attributes section, uncheck it. Now you can delete the file.

Please keep in mind that if the file in question is a sound/music file for a program or game installed on your computer, deleting it may cause problems when you run that application.

If the file was made available for sharing by allowing Napster to scan your computer for MP3 or WMA files during installation or through your Sharing Preferences, select Preferences under the Napster File menu, click the Sharing tab, and uncheck the folder containing the file you deleted.

A: No - the My Files area in Napster is simply a list of the files in your shared folder(s) and download folder. But if more than one person uses Napster on your computer, you can keep your music files separate by storing them in separate folders on your hard drive.

To create a new folder, open the folder in your C: or D: drive in which you want to create a subfolder. (For example, open the Napster folder to create a folder inside it.) From inside this folder, select the File menu, choose "New," and then choose "Folder." Finally, name the folder.

Once you've created a new folder/folders for storing music files, be sure to update the sharing information in your Sharing and Downloading Preferences under the Napster File menu.

A: No. The files listed in Napster's My Files area are stored on your computer. Likewise, the MP3 and WMA files that your friend transferred to her computer are stored on that particular hard drive, so they won't be available when she uses your computer. However, if her computer is connected to the Napster Community, you may be able to browse her shared files from your Hot List.

A: Yes. You can either network the computers together or transfer the files via a large-capacity storage device such as a Zip disk. In order to use a Zip disk, you need to have a Zip drive.

A: If you've logged off, but still have the Napster program open, you can view and play your files from the My Files area.

You can also access these files directly from their location on your computer.

A: Yes! If you already have a player such as a Winamp, Sonique, Music Match or Windows Media Player, you can use it to play your music files. Under the Napster File menu, choose Preferences and click the Personal tab. Next to "Media Player," if you choose "Napster Internal Player," your computer will use the player that comes with Napster. If you choose "Default Media Player," then make sure your player is registered as the default media player in Windows, your computer will use that program to play your music files.

A: While Napster is open, you can use its Internal Player, located in the My Files area of Napster. Other popular Windows audio players include Winamp, Music Match, Sonique, and Windows Media Player. To use the player of your choice, go to Preferences under the Napster File menu, click the Personal tab, and choose "Default Media Player." Then make sure your player is registered as the default media player in Windows.

A: Check to see which audio player you've selected on the Personal tab of your Napster Preferences, under the File menu. Next to "Media Player," if you've selected "Internal Player," then you're using the Napster player.

If "Default Media Player" is selected, then you're using your computer's default player, such as Winamp or Sonique. Try uninstalling and then re-installing your default media player. If that doesn't help, consult your player's manual.

It's also possible that you received a corrupt file. Try searching and downloading again.

A: In the My Files area of Napster, highlight a file name, then click the "Add" button on the Playlist toolbar to put the file in your Playlist. Repeat this process to add more files to your Playlist. When you've finished, you can name and save this Playlist.

Q: How do I search for music files?

A: Click the Search button at the top of the Napster window, type your search terms in the artist field, the title field, or both, and click "Find It!" For detailed information on how to search, check out the search section of our manual.

A: Because the Napster Community is so large, giving more than 100 search results would strain our server capacity, slowing down everyone's searches.

A: Bitrate is a measure of sound quality in kilobytes per second. A higher bitrate means better audio fidelity and also larger files that may take longer to download.

"Ping" represents the time in milliseconds it takes a data packet to travel from your computer to another and back. It's one measure of how fast files will transfer between the two computers. In Napster search results, lower ping times are better.

A: When you see "n/a" in the "Ping" column of your search results, it means the ping time is unavailable for that user because the ping time is too high (that is, the connection is too slow), because the user is no longer connected to the Internet, or because the user has turned off ping results in advanced search options.

A: There are several reasons why your search might take a long time or fail:

• You may not be using the latest version of the Napster application. For an optimal performance, upgrade to the latest version.
• You could be disconnected from the Napster servers. If you're connected, you'll see "Online <user name>: Sharing <#> files" in the bottom left corner of your Napster window.
• There could be a slow-down or other problem with your Internet service provider (the company that connects you to the Internet).

Note that the Napster search engine will spend up to 15 seconds looking for the first 100 results. If you've tried everything, but are still having trouble searching for files, try disconnecting and then connecting again. You can do this under the Napster File menu.

A: Napster searches across all our servers until you get 100 results or the search has taken 15 seconds, whichever happens first. If your search returns no results, it's possible your search terms are faulty: check your spelling or try changing some of your search terms. It's also possible that no users are currently sharing the files you want: try again later.

A: The colored circles shown next to each name in chat room user lists and your Hot List give each user's reported connection speed. This is what each color means:

Green: cable modem and above (DSL, T1, T3)
Yellow: 56k modem to ISDN-128k
Red: 33.6k and below, and unknown speed

Q: How do I download a file onto my computer?

A: Once you've completed a search, double-click the name of the file you want to download. For the shortest download time, transfer from a user who has at least the same connection speed as you. Also, the lower the ping time, the faster the download.

A: The MP3s and WMAs in your shared folder(s) and download folder are automatically made available to the Napster Community each time you connect. In other words, users can transfer music files from your hard drive without your help. You can select or update your shared folder(s) on the Sharing tab of your Napster Preferences, located under the File menu.

A: The files you find through Napster are located on someone else's computer. When you transfer files, they're sent through the Internet connections used by you and the user sharing the file. Slow or failed transfers result from your connection and the connections of other users. Often, transfer rates drop during a download because the user sharing the file continues to open connections with other users, reducing the bandwidth available to you.

To improve your transfer rates, you can improve your Internet connection, limit your downloads to sources with fast connections, and transfer only one or two files at one time. To limit the number of files you transfer at once, set your maximum simultaneous inbound transfers and your maximum simultaneous outbound transfers per user on the Sharing and Downloading tabs of the Napster Preferences, located under the File menu.

A: If you're using Napster beta 7 or higher, you can listen to a downloading file before the transfer is complete by right-clicking the file name in the Transfer area and selecting "Play File." The file must start transferring before you can use this feature; once it has begun downloading, you can listen to the portion that has transferred.

A: If you have more than one file waiting in the Inbound Transfers screen, you can right-click one of those files, select "Prioritize," and then move the file up or down in the list.

A: First, make sure you're using the latest version of Napster.

Next, if you're using Windows 95, you may need to upgrade your version of WinSock.

If you have the latest version of WinSock installed, but you still get a lot of transfer errors, it's possible that you're maxing out your computer's bandwidth. If you're using a dial-up modem, you may not be able to transfer more than one or two files at a time without getting a "Timed Out" or "Transfer Error" message.

Limiting the number of files you transfer at once may help. Napster sets your maximum simultaneous outbound transfers per user and your maximum simultaneous inbound transfers to three. To lower these settings, go to the Sharing and Downloading tabs of the Napster Preferences, located under the File menu.

A: The most common cause of transfer errors is that a user's bandwidth is maxed out. Napster sets your maximum simultaneous outbound transfers per user to three; if you're using a dial-up modem, lowering this setting to one may improve transfer performance for users receiving files from you. To change this setting, go to the Sharing tab of the Napster Preferences, located under the File menu. Similarly, users having trouble transferring files from you should try lowering their maximum simultaneous inbound transfers on the Downloading tab of the Napster Preferences.

A: When you've exceeded your maximum simultaneous inbound transfers, and a file is queued (that is, waiting) to download, you can use the "Force Transfer" option to override the maximum and start transferring the file. Right-click the file name and select "Force Transfer."

A: "Getting Info" and "Connecting" usually mean that Napster is establishing a connection between your computer and that of the user sharing this file. If this message doesn't change quickly, Napster may be having trouble establishing a connection, finding the file, or transferring the file.

If Napster can't resolve the problem, the transfer will time out. You can also abort the download at any time and try downloading a file from another user.

If your transfers consistently get stuck at "Getting Info" or "Connecting," make sure you're using the latest version of Napster.

A: No - Napster doesn't resume incomplete file transfers at this time.

Q: How does Napster make money?

A: Napster, Inc. doesn't make its business model public at this time. Napster, Inc. is a privately held company.

A: We don't currently distribute any Napster merchandise through retail channels. But keep an eye on our homepage for updates.