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This is a general windows issue and not something to be concerned about. When a windows program is installed, there are "common" files to be installed. If you already have a given common file, the system may give you such a message. In general, it is prudent to keep the newer file--that is, the one already on your disk. So, if it says "overwrite?" say "no"--if it says "Keep the existing file?" say yes. The installation should proceed normally from there.

This happens on some systems for a variety of reasons, but it comes down to this: the easiest way to ensure that this is not a problem is to, prior to installing the new version, going to your existing program directory in My Computer or Windows Explorer (such as C:\Program Files\GroundSchool) and deleting the existing program.

Some browsers have bugs in them which leads to incomplete downloads counting as complete. This is the source of your problem. There are a number of ways to fix this. The easiest is to clear your browser's history and cache and try re-downloading. A second is to, if possible, download the software from a different computer. Our files have never to date been truly corrupt--the problem always seems to lie at either the browser or the network. Clearing a browser's cache sometimes seems more art than science. If you clear your cache and redownload and still get such errors, try clearing your cache, rebooting, and then redownloading. When we offer an alternate download site for a product, try using that site. Click here for more help about incomplete downloads.

This happens because you have some other program open that is using a given file, and the installation cannot overwrite it with a version it is trying to install. This is not necessary an 'obvious' open program like if you're using Microsoft Word or something else--often times it's a "background" program that you are using that has the given file open. In the overwhelming bulk of cases, even though the file is open by the other program, it's no problem to "ignore" this message as the file in use is exactly the same as the Dauntless installation is trying to copy. If you "ignore" the error and it gives you some dire message such as "if you ignore the error, your program may not work," don't worry--give it a shot and ignore the error (I don't think we've ever actually had a case where somebody has 'ignored' past that message and it didn't work). The worst thing that can happen is that the program might not work. If that's the case, then you really have to make sure you have all possibly conflicting programs shut down, and try the installation again.

This is pretty much the same as the 'file in use' situation described above, so just like above, "ignore" such messages.

Some of the lower-volume CD-ROMs that we make are created by a "burning" rather than a "pressing" process under which most CDs are made. Some CD-ROM drives, especially lesser quality early CD/DVD hybrid drives, occasionally have difficulty reading burned CD-ROMs. This difficulty can arise from a number of reasons, including differences CD media dye sensitivities to various drive laser frequencies, software driver or application versions and capabilities, as well as ambient conditions such as temperature or vibration, and your drive's own mechanical and electronic changes during its usable lifetime. When we send "burned" CD-ROMs, they are produced from very high quality blanks. If your disc does not work (which is unusual--we've had maybe three or four issues with this out of thousands of discs sent), chances are that your DVD player is such that many CD-Rs won't work in it. What can you do? First off, check your dealer's web site for new drivers for your player--this will often fix things. If that doesn't work, things become trickier. Try copying the disc across a network from a machine with a standard CD-ROM. Try installing a normal CD-ROM on your machine (after all, again, if the problem exists for our disc, you will likely see the problem again in others). Lastly, probably the best we can do for you is to send out another disc. Occasionally, due to microscopic disc-to-disc differences, one disc from a batch will work in a given drive where another did not.