Installing online help

If you chose not to install the documentation when you installed the software, you can install it later following the instructions for Modifying the Alias for Windows installation or Installing Alias for Mac OS X (click Customize in step #6).

To install the documentation on a machine where Alias is not installed

On Windows, follow the instructions for Installing CEV_ProdName_CEV for Windows, in step #4, selecting Alias Documentation with no other components. The documentation will be placed under your home folder, typically C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Autodesk\Alias2011\Help.
On Mac OS X, follow the instructions for Installing Alias for Mac OS X, in step #6, clicking Change Install Location, selecting a different volume, and then clicking Customize and selecting Alias Documentation with no other components.

To install the Japanese or Simplified Chinese documentation (not available on all installation DVDs)

Use the documentation installer or unzip the files into a location where you want the help system to be accessed and then link the documentation to Alias (described next).

To link Alias to the documentation

Follow these steps to link Alias to the documentation when it is not located in the default location.

In Alias, choose Preferences > General Preferences ❒.
Open the System section and in the Help Location field type (or browse to) the path or URL of the Help folder. The pathname must be prefixed by file:///, for example:
file:///C:/Program Files/Autodesk/Alias2010/Help/en_US (Windows)

file:///Applications/Autodesk/Alias2010/Alias.app/Contents/Resources/Help/en_US (Mac)
Restart Alias to activate the new preferences.

To install Help on a web server

Install the documentation into an appropriate directory on a web server. Then set the Help Location option in General Preferences to point to the http: location.

In Alias, choose Preferences > General Preferences ❒.
Open the System section and in the Help Location field type the path to the online Help folder on your web server. For example: http://local.intranet/Alias2011/Help/en_US
Restart Alias to activate the new preferences.

IE Settings for Windows XP SP2

To run the Alias help system, computers that have been updated with Windows XP Service Pack 2 need to have some settings changed.

Changes to default security settings are made when an upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 2 is performed. These changes can result in unexpected popup messages requiring you to explicitly allow the help system to be viewed.

When you first open the online help system, you'll get the following message:

To help protect your security, Internet Explorer has restricted this file from showing active content that could access your computer.

You can then click the option to Allow Blocked Content. If this is done, you'll receive a Security Warning that says:

Allowing active content such as script and ActiveX controls can be useful, but active content might also harm your computer. Are you sure you want to let this file run active content?

To allow this content to run without getting blocked

Open Internet Explorer.
Go to Tools > Internet Options > Advanced tab.
Scroll down to the section labeled Security.
Check the box labeled Allow active content to run in files on My Computer.
Click OK and then close the Internet Options window.