NOTE: It may be helpful to print these instructions before downloading. Also, we suggest looking over the page to see if there are any issues that may affect your computer's ability to run the Companion. If you are not sure you can run our program on your computer, please see the Shared Files section of our Help page.
Detailed Download Instructions
The first message you see should be a box asking if you want to download to the current location or save to a disk. When you click OK, <*dv_2*>save to disk, the Save As dialog box pops up. Actually, you are asked where you want to save it, and the best place (temporarily) is Save in:Desktop. Now you have an hscomp.exe<*dv_5*>icon on your desktop.
Double click the hscomp.exeicon. This brings up the <*dv_4*>WinZip Self Extractor dialog box. Click Unzip. When the action stops you should see a message box that says 67 files have been successfully unzipped. Close the box. Click Startat the bottom of your screen, then click Run. In the dialog box, after Open type C:\Windows\Temp\Setup.exe. Click OK. Accept defaults as you go through the setup. When asked what folder you want the files installed to, the default is C:\HScomp. Click OK<*dv_3*>. Click the button that says Typical. After the installation is complete, you've said OK, and closed the setup. Now you're ready to run the program.
Go back to your Start bar, click to bring up Programs. You should see HSCompanion with a house icon. When you know that you have successfully downloaded and can run the program, you will want to delete the unnecessary files originally placed on your desktop. (While there are many source files needed for the setup, these are files that you personally never need to look at or use.)
NOTE: If you have attempted to contact Franwell e-mail recently, we MAY NOT have received your request or question. Our spam filter doesn't differentiate between unknown addresses; all are dumped.PLEASEputHSComp (at least) in the subject textbox so we can pick out legitimate mail from the huge numbers of spam mailings we get. We don't want to miss hearing from our homeschoolers! Click to send an e-mail to Homeschooler's Companion (it will be properly routed).
Some people have difficulty downloading because their service provider is slow and the connection "times-out." Because there are several files and they take a while to download, some people like to browse around and look at other files during the download. This can cause file corruption and you might get an error message that says files are corrupt or truncated. If these problems occur, it takes patience and persistence to get through the process. Try downloading at a different time of day, when your Internet service isn't experiencing heavy traffic. It is best not to run other programs in the background.
Current Version (Ver. 1.2)
If you have the CD-ROM trial version*, or you have previously downloaded an earlier trial version (Ver. 1.0), you will need to download the following upgrade. Click here for upgrade (approx. 700 k)
Tutorials:The tutorials included on the original CD-ROM are now available for you to download. The tutorial files help you understand how to use the wizards more efficiently.
The downloads are all self-extracting executables. It has been noted that there were problems with files downloading properly and this has been corrected. Please call us if you have any difficulty accessing files.
After the 60 days trial period, or at any time after downloading, you may call Franwell Software, Inc. at 813-752-7952 ext. 226 to register your copy of The Homeschooler's Companion® for only $29.95.
The trial version is fully operable, however, it is written with an expiration code that limits its usage to 60 days. You will not lose any data that you have entered; as a licensed user you will be given a code that enables continued use of the Companion<*dv_1*>. If you need to uninstall and then reinstall the Companion, please contact us for assistance. We hope your experience with our software will be enjoyable as well as profitable to you. Once you have purchased the user license, you do not pay any additional charges to get a new code, in the event that you need to reinstall the Companion<*dv_0*> or install it to a new computer.
*The CD-ROM version is no longer available. A limited number were made and have been replaced by the upgraded version available now from our Web site. However, several homeschoolers have asked for a CD in addition to the software downloaded from the Internet. We will cut a CD upon request, but we must charge a fee for the process of making the CD and shipping it to you. The cost (with no profit to Franwell) is $10.00 each.