Accelerator Guide

Launching Westelcom Accelerator
You will continue to log into Westelcom Internet the way you always have.
The first time you log on after downloading Accelerator, you will be prompted to log onto the Accelerator Program.  At this time, you will enter the user name you use to log on to Westelcom Internet in the User Name box.  Type in your normal password. 

Be certain the box to save the user name and password is checked.  By checking this box, your Westelcom Accelerator will launch automatically each time you start Windows. It operates in the background to accelerate your Internet connection.

If Westelcom Accelerator is not running and you need to launch it manually, an icon titled "Westelcom Accelerator" is located in the Windows Start Menu under the Accelerator folder.

If Westelcom Accelerator is running, the Accelerator taskbar icon will appear in the bottom right corner of your taskbar. 

Important Notice: Westelcom Accelerator will not run in simultaneously with your Parental WebLock feature. For technical assistance regarding either of these features please contact our Tech Support.

Accessing the User Interface
Once launched, Westelcom Accelerator icon will remain in the system tray.

In general, there will be no need to change settings during web browsing. You can use the user interface to change settings, view connection status or acceleration statistics. To access the user interface features, click on the Westelcom Accelerator icon in the system tray. A pop-up menu will appear, providing access to all the features of the product. Selecting and single-clicking any of the menu items will access that particular feature.

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Setting Username and Password Information
Your username and password information is located in the Connection Status dialog. To set your username and password:

1. Right-click on the Westelcom Accelerator taskbar icon and select "Settings..." from the menu.
2. Click on the "Connection" tab.
3. Enter your username and password in the fields provided. To avoid having to do this each time you connect, ensure that the "Save password" box is checked.
4. To save your settings, press OK.


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Changing the Image Quality Setting

The image quality setting changes the quality of images that appear in your Westelcom Accelerator. The higher the image quality you select, the longer it will take the image to load. For slower Internet connections, it is recommended that you lower your image quality. This slider can be adjusted anytime while browsing.

You can easily obtain full image quality for a particular image (described below), so don't be overly conservative about lowering your image quality setting.

1. Right-click on the Westelcom Accelerator system tray icon. See the user interface section of the product guide for detailed instructions.
2. Select "Settings...".
3. Select the "Image Quality" tab.
4. Use the slider bar to adjust the image quality setting.
5. Press OK to save the settings.

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Getting Full Image Quality

Note: The following information applies only when browsing with Internet Explorer.

While browsing, if you would like to request the full quality image, simply right-click on the desired image from within Internet Explorer and select "Show Original Image" from the menu.

The full quality image will appear in place of the lower quality image.

If you want to see the full quality version of all images on the current page, simply right-click on any image from within Internet Explorer and select "Show All Original Images" from the menu.

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Changing the Pop-Up Blocker Settings

Westelcom Accelerator can prevent pop-up windows and floating flash advertisements from appearing while you browse the Internet. This behavior is enabled by default, and no user-intervention is required. However, you can disable these features at any time.

A limited number of web sites require pop-ups to function correctly. Westelcom Accelerator allows you to specify a "White List" of sites where pop-ups will not be blocked.

You can also see a list of all pop-ups that were blocked. This information is useful if you suspect a web site is not functioning properly because pop-ups are being blocked.

To enable or disable the Pop-Up Blocker

1. Right-click on the Westelcom Accelerator system tray icon and select "Pop-Up Blocker...". 
2. Select the "Options" tab.
3. If you would like to be notified any pop-up being blocked, check "Notify blocked pop-up by PC speaker beep".
4. To enable the blocking of floating Flash advertisements, check "Block Floating Flash-Ads".
5. To disable all pop-up blocking for all sites, uncheck "Enable PopUp Blocker".
6. Press OK to save the settings.

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To Disable the Pop-Up Blocker for Specific Sites

1. Right-click on the Westelcom Accelerator system tray icon and select "Pop-Up Blocker...". 
2. Select the "White List" tab.
3. Use the "Add", "Remove" and "Remove All" buttons to manipulate the White List.
4. Press OK to save the settings.

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To View the Pop-Up Blocker Log

1. Right-click on the Westelcom Accelerator system tray icon and select "Pop-Up Blocker...". 
2. Select the "Logging" tab.
3. To add a web site to the "White List" so that pop-ups are no longer blocked from that site, right-click on the site and click "Add to Whitelist".

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To Add Sites to the White List

You can add sites to the White List within the Pop-Up Blocker dialogs or from within Internet Explorer.

1. Right-click on any text while browsing within Internet Explorer.
2. Select "Add to Whitelist" from the menu to add the current site to the White List.

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Blocking In-Page Advertisements

Westelcom Accelerator can block many graphical advertisements that appear on various web pages (i.e. ad banners). Enabling this feature will prevent these ads from being downloaded and displayed in your browser. The Block In-Page Advertisements feature will thus reduce download time.

To Enable or Disable the Ad Blocker

1. Right-click on the Westelcom Accelerator system tray icon and select "Settings...". 
2. Select the "Features" tab.
3. To enable ad blocking, check the "Block in-page advertisements" box. To disable ad blocking, uncheck it.
4. Press OK to save the settings.

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Starting and Stopping Westelcom Accelerator

When Westelcom Accelerator is launched it automatically connects. Occasionally, you may need to stop or start manually.

Stopping Accelerator:

If you want to manually disconnect, right-click on the Westelcom Accelerator system tray icon to access the pop-up menu. Select the menu item "Stop Accelerator".

The icon used when Westelcom Accelerator is disabled will appear on the system tray.

Starting Accelerator:

If Accelerator is stopped and you want to manually start, right-click on the Westelcom Accelerator system tray icon to access the pop-up menu. Select the menu item "Start Accelerator".

The icon used when Westelcom Accelerator is disabled will now be replaced with the enabled icon.

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Closing Westelcom Accelerator

To close Westelcom Accelerator:

Right-click on the Westelcom Accelerator system tray icon and select "Exit" from the pop-up menu. Westelcom Accelerator will disconnect and close. Doing this will not close any open browser windows.

Note: Westelcom Accelerator will automatically launch again the next time you reboot your computer.

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Changing Your Connection Settings

Normally, the connection settings that are set during installation do not need to be changed. If, however, your ISP provides new connection settings, you may change the preset ones using the "Settings..." dialog.

1. Click on the Westelcom Accelerator system tray icon to access the pop-up menu.
2. Select "Settings...".
3. Click on the "Connection" tab.
4. Click on "Advanced...".
5. Change the "Remote Server Hostname" and "Server Port" to the ones your ISP provided you. In most cases, it is unnecessary to change the "Local Listening Port".
6. Press "OK" to close the "Connection" dialog box.
7. Press "OK" to save your new connection settings. These settings will be used next time you connect with Westelcom Accelerator.

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Bypassing Westelcom Accelerator for Selected Sites

If you wish to bypass Westelcom Accelerator for certain web sites (web sites on your local corporate intranet, for instance), then simply select the "Features" tab on the "Settings..." dialog and click on "Proxy Exclusion". You have two options for bypassing sites:

1. If you have already defined a proxy exclusion list in your web browser, select "Use browser's proxy exclusion settings" to configure Westelcom Accelerator to exclude these sites as well.

2. You may also "Specify a proxy exclusion list" by selecting this option. In the given text field, list all the web sites, separated by semicolons, that you wish to bypass Westelcom Acceleration.

3. Stop and then start Westelcom Accelerator.

Note: Some versions of Netscape do not support the wildcard (*) operator.

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Accelerating Email

Westelcom Accelerator can reduce the amount of time it takes to send and receive email. Westelcom Accelerator increase the speed email transparently without any user intervention, so you can use your mail program exactly as you normally would. It is compatible with any POP3/SMTP client, including Outlook Express, Eudora and Netscape Mail. Email acceleration is disabled by default.

To enable email acceleration:

1. Right-click on the Westelcom Accelerator system tray icon. 

2. Select "Settings...".

3. Select the "Features" tab.

4. Check "Enable Westelcom Accelerator Email".

5. Press OK to save the settings. The changes will take effect the next time Westelcom Accelerator and your mail client are restarted.

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Viewing Your Acceleration Statistics

You can view the acceleration statistics and how they change dynamically using the Statistics dialog.

1. Click on the Westelcom Accelerator taskbar icon to access the pop-up menu.
2. Select "Statistics...", to display the Statistics summary dialog.
3. Click "Reset" to reset the statistics. You may do so at anytime while browsing without affecting Westelcom Accelerator's performance or operation.

4. Click the "Details" button to view more detailed statistics information.

Consult the following table for a description of the values.

Original Data - Size of the original (uncompressed) data.

Actual Data - Amount of data sent by Westelcom Accelerator.

Savings Ratio - Factor of reduction in data. E.g. A savings ratio of 4.00 means that the actual data being sent has been compressed to 1/4 the size of the original data.

Text-based - This row contains compression information regarding text-based content.

Graphics - Contains compression information regarding graphical content.

Others - Contains information regarding content that is neither text nor graphical.

Upstream - Lists the total original and compressed amounts of data uploaded.

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Viewing Westelcom Accelerator's Performance

You can view the accelerator's overall performance using the Performance dialog.

1. Click on the Westelcom Accelerator taskbar icon to access the pop-up menu.
2. Select "Performance...", to display the Performance dialog.
3. Click "Reset" to reset the statistics. You may do so at anytime while browsing without affecting Westelcom Accelerator's performance or operation.

From this screen you can view the size of the original (uncompressed) data transferred through Accelerator, the actual (compressed) size of the data, and your savings ratio. For example, a savings ratio of 4.00 means that the actual data being sent has been compressed to 1/4 the size of the original data.

Also this screen displays the speed of your connection and the estimated amount of downloading/uploading time saved by using the accelerator. Note that these two features are only available when using a dial-up connection.

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Accessing Product Version Information

To view the product version information.

1. Right-click on the Westelcom Accelerator taskbar icon to access the pop-up menu.
2. Select "Help" > "About" to display the About dialog.

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Updating Your Software
AutoUpdate will inform you of any major or minor software upgrades to the Accelerator Service. By default, you will be notified of all software upgrades.

To manually update Westelcom Accelerator:

1. Open the "Settings..." dialog.
2. Click on the "Update" tab.
3. Select "Update Now" to upgrade to the latest version.

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Uninstalling Westelcom Accelerator

1. Under the Windows Control Panel, select "Add or Remove Programs".

2. Select Westelcom Accelerator and click Remove.

3. The uninstaller will launch and guide you through the uninstallation procedure.