Frequently Asked Questions
|
|
Frequently Asked Questions |
Upgrading earlier versions of Guardian to version 4.0.12 or later
There have been significant system changes to Guardian 4.0.12.
These changes mean that upgrading from an earlier version of Guardian to version 4.0.12 or later will be different to normal upgrade instructions.
To upgrade ALL earlier versions to 4.0.12 or later:
If you have a registered copy of Guardian - Request a new registration code:
Phone Ergonomic Office on 1300 555 930 or
Send an email to support@ergonomicoffice.com.au with your Guardian ID#
and existing registration code (if you know it).- Download the new Guardian version from
http://www.guardian-eos.com.au/download.htm- Uninstall the old version of Guardian
- Install the new version and select the 45 day trial
- Register Guardian using the new registration code we give you.
How do I drag stuff around without the strain of holding down the mouse button? The easiest way to drag something with the mouse is to use the DragLock hotkey. Press the Drag Lock hotkey, and Guardian will click down. Move the mouse around or use the arrow keys to drag whatever you clicked on around. To end the drag, either press any key (except the arrow keys) or click the mouse. You can drag a window around, drag to select things, drag to scroll in a window, or do anything else that normally requires tensely holding down the left mouse button. What are good choices for AutoClick hotkeys/can I select new hotkeys? A hotkey is a fancy name for a keystroke like "Ctrl-Shift-H" or "F8". AutoClick hotkeys let you do things like cause a single, double or triple click by pressing a particular keystroke (that you can select). When you first ran the Setup Wizard, Guardian let you select a set of keystrokes for hotkeys (e.g. various numeric keypad keys or various Function keys). You can, however, reassign each hotkey individually with any keystroke (e.g. Ctrl-X for single click, F2 for double click, and Ctrl-Shift-F5 for triple click). To do this, go to the Settings Dialog, select the AutoClick tab, and click the button "Set AutoClick Hotkeys". This will let you set each of the seven AutoClick-related hotkeys. When you choose a key combination for a hotkey, it is best to choose one that isn't used by the programs you will personally be working with. For example, Ctrl-R is not a good choice if you like to press Ctrl-R in your email program to reply to email (e.g. in Outlook and Netscape Communicator). Since many people don't use the numeric keypad, that is what the Guardian Setup Wizard suggests. If you use the numeric keypad but don't use the F-keys, you might want to change your hotkey settings accordingly. After setting hotkeys, try taping masking tape or small labels to the keys you select to make finding and remembering them easier. Note: Some programs intercept special keystrokes and may interfere with Guardian's hotkeys. For example, Windows likes to steal F1 for help, so it is better not to use F1 for an Guardian hotkey. Click here for online help about hotkeys. Guardian sometimes causes unexpected clicks. What can I do? Guardian has various features to prevent false clicks. For example, by default, Guardian will not click while you are typing, or after you have recently clicked the mouse yourself. However, the default timeouts for these options may be too short or too long for you. By selecting the "Advanced Settings" button in the Settings dialog's BreakTimer tab, you.can fine tune these timeouts (and others) to optimise Guardian's behavior. Still, you will need to learn new mousing habits. For example, you need to know where you're going to click before you move the mouse, because when you stop moving, the mouse will click (though a click can be overridden with the 'no click' hotkey). Some people wiggle their mouse around while thinking (just like some people tap their fingers) -- this doesn't work with AutoClick, but it's a good thing to eliminate anyway since it is unnecessary strain. You can also define AutoClick Filters to prevent AutoClick from clicking in certain situations or to cause AutoClick to only click in certain situations. Many OOS sufferers will try various ergonomic mice as well as alternatives to mice. Some people also try switching their mousing hand from right to left or left to right. Some solutions may be better than a standard mouse while others simply postpone pain by distributing the trauma to different areas of your hands and arms. Guardian's AutoClick feature, however, largely eliminates the need to click the mouse which is the source of most mouse-related pain. Furthermore, because you no longer need to grip the mouse, an ergonomic mouse may no longer even be necessary. AutoClick does not eliminate the need to move the mouse to point at things, so if you find a particular pointing device to be helpful for moving the mouse around, it makes sense to use that device in conjunction with AutoClick. What's the difference between disabling AutoClick and having it enabled in 'NoClick' mode? The difference is that in NoClick mode, you can still use AutoClick hotkeys (e.g. to do clicks, drag lock, reenable AutoClick, etc.) One way to prevent this is to make sure the cord on your mouse is clear of desk clutter and to ensure that your mouse is on a flat surface. If that doesn't work, various mouse manufacturers makes cordless mice which work very well with AutoClick. Finally, you can increase the "Trigger distance in pixels" in the AutoClick tab of the Settings dialog. Doing that makes Guardian wait for a larger mouse move before it will automatically click -- thus filtering out small movements that sometimes occur when you let go of your mouse.. Is there a way to temporarily turn AutoClick off? There are several ways, depending on what you really want to do.
Go to the AutoClick tab in the Settings dialog. Make sure that the Trigger Time is at least 8 tenths of a second (though 9 or 10 is even safer). Next, select advanced settings. Make sure that 'Delay AutoClick when a ToolTip help box pops up' is checked. This will cause AutoClick to postpone clicking by the specified time, allowing you time to read the text. Can I use AutoClick to reduce strain while playing games? Playing games can be an extremely trauma-inducing activity, so it's important to use common sense and moderation to avoid developing injuries. That said, AutoClick can help in some cases even though it is not an intended purpose. Some gamers have told us that they accomplish rapid firing (which normally requires rapid and constant mouse clicking) by assigning AutoClick's single-left-click to a hotkey. By holding the hotkey down, the key repeat causes the mouse button to rapidly click over and over, until the key is released. Some users even place a weight on the key which causes the rapid-fire clicking to occur hands-free, until the weight is removed. How can I make AutoClick click faster? To make AutoClick click faster, click on the Setup menu, select Settings, and click on the AutoClick tab. The first setting, "Trigger Time" controls how long it takes AutoClick to click once you stop moving the mouse. You can set it as fast as 1 tenth of a second. In order to set the Trigger Time below 7 tenths of a second, however, you must also turn off the "ToolTip detection" setting. To turn off "ToolTip detection", click on the Advanced Settings button (in the AutoClick tab). Uncheck the "Delay AutoClick when a ToolTip help box appears" setting. This also means, however, that ToolTips will not generally appear, since clicking the mouse prevent a ToolTip from popping up. If you need to see some ToolTips, you can use the "Skip Next Click" hotkey and view ToolTips as usual. How can I make an AutoClick filter? Here are two AutoClick filter examples. (For more information, see AutoClick Filters in the online help.) Example 1: Make a filter to prevent AutoClick from clicking in the Minesweeper game.
Example 2: Make a filter to prevent clicking the Send button in Outlook or Outlook Express
How can I adjust the frequency of breaks? To adjust break frequency, click on the Setup menu, select Settings, and click on the BreakTimer tab. There are several settings that allow you to adjust break frequency. To get started, please see the BreakTimer settings documentation. Here are some additional tips: Adjust the top two sliders to adjust how often breaks occur. As you adjust the sliders, you can watch the effect it has on the "Average time between breaks" value. You can adjust the length of breaks as well, but note that when you do so, it will also adjust the average time between breaks so as to insure that you still get enough total break time. It is important to realize that these 3 settings only control the average length and average spacing of breaks. The actual length and spacing for each particular break is also based on how you work. If you work hard, breaks will occur more often than the average. If you work lighter, they will occur less often. The BreakTimer also includes two other settings to help control break spacing. The "Set minimum time between breaks" setting can be checked to guarantee that BreakTimer will not recommend breaks too often (i.e. more frequently than the time interval you specify). The "Set maximum time between breaks" setting can be checked to insure that Guardian will not let you work longer than the specified time without taking a break (regardless of the intensity of the work). Why take breaks? Won't taking breaks just reduce my productivity? According to the summer 2000 issue of FYI: Health and Safety for Office Workers: The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has recently released a study showing that regular short rest breaks can reduce eyestrain and musculoskeletal discomfort for computer operators without reducing productivity. Workers who took four 5-minute rest breaks spaced throughout the work day, in addition to their regular two 15-minute breaks, consistently reported less eye soreness, visual blurring, and upper-body discomfort than those who just took the two 15-minute breaks. Quantity and quality of work in both groups was the same. A Cornell study showed that breaks actually increase productivity. For more information about this research, see our research page. I've tried using BreakTimer, but the breaks are too frequent/interruptive for me? Taking breaks is inevitably disruptive if you are trying to work non-stop. Of course, working non-stop can lead to injury, and the purpose of BreakTimer is to avoid that. So, ask yourself if the break suggestions are really too frequent, or if you are just working too hard or too long. If you decide that the breaks really are too frequent or interruptive, there are several solutions. You can avoid the "surprise factor" of the break window by realizing that BreakTimer gives you several warnings that a break is approaching: the "Time to Next Break" value on the main window shows how long it estimates it will be until the next break; the blinking OOS icon in the system tray tells you a break is only a minute or 2 away; and an optional sound can be played about 1 minute before a break starts. Furthermore, BreakTimer automatically will attempt to wait for you to finish what you are typing or doing with the mouse before starting a break. Finally, Guardian will never start a break in the middle of an activity like dragging and dropping with the mouse. Next, to be sure that you are really taking breaks are as frequently as you think, try to notice the "Time since Last Break" value on the main window. It tells you how long ago you completed your last break, and can often surprise you with how long ago it actually was. If you still want to reduce the frequency or placement of breaks, BreakTimer has numerous settings that control how breaks occur. The most important two settings to consider if you feel breaks occur too often are the "Minimum time between breaks" setting and the "Blackout Times" settings. These and other settings can be adjusted to reduce the frequency of break suggestions as well as control when BreakTimer is allowed to interrupt you with break suggestions. I use another break timer. Can I continue to use it? Guardians BreakTimer is the most advanced break timer available. Break suggestions are based on 'strain' rather than time, keystrokes or mouseclicks. So when a break suugestion comes it is based on the actual need to rest. However, if for some reason you wish to use another break timer, disable BreakTimer (either from the Settings dialog or from the main window). Although Guardian has not been tested with all other break timers, it should not conflict with any of them. I thought Guardian modeled my pain. Why must I take a break now when my wrists don't even hurt? Actually, Guardian models your trauma. Trauma usually doesn't hurt until it reaches an extreme. The point of the BreakTimer is to tell you to rest BEFORE you reach a painful state. This lessens long term damage and also minimises pain you experience. Your trauma threshold varies each day, so some days you may experience pain before Guardian tells you to take a break. If this happens with any regularity, then during a break use the "I'm in pain -- Increase Break Frequency" button or adjust your settings in the Settings dialog under BreakTimer. How does Guardian compute/measure trauma? Each action you do during working at the computer affects the trauma calculation. Keyboard trauma is a function of which keys you use (e.g. Ctrl-X causes more trauma than plain X, and Shift-Ctrl-F9 causes more than Ctrl-X) as well as how quickly you type. A period of time with no typing relieves some keyboard trauma, moreso if there is no mousing either. Mouse trauma is a function of how much mouse moving you do combined with how much clicking, dragging, double-clicking, etc. Each action is assigned an appropriate amount of trauma and actions that take advantage of AutoClick features are appropriately reduced in assigned trauma. Again, a period of time without mousing relieves accumulated mouse trauma. Although there are other factors, this is the basic idea behind BreakTimer's trauma calculation. For the more math minded, the unit for trauma is arbitrary but absolute, constant, and comparable between a user over time as well as between different users. In the display that shows typing and mousing trauma, however, trauma is actually show as the % of trauma accumulated towards the threshold that triggers a break (i.e. current-trauma divided by break-inducing-trauma-threshold). How is a natural break different from a Guardian break? A natural break is any time you stop working at the computer on your own. Because natural breaks are often breaks from the computer during which you do other work, Guardian conservatively assumes that natural breaks allow you to rest somewhat from trauma, but not as much as during an actual break. Therefore, to make Guardian's model work, it is important that during an Guardian-imposed break that you really rest. Get up and walk around and/or stretch. Do not do other work that is stressful to hands, eyes, shoulders, etc. Guardian's BreakTimer model is based on research that has been done with respect to breaks and microbreaks by the National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) and Cornell UniveOOSty, as well as our own research on strain exposure using surface electromyelography (sEMG). Guided by this research, we believe that our break scheme is effective at reducing the risk of injury while maintaining productivity. However, there is no research that provides any significant guidance as to how to define the optimal break schedule as a function of job type/intensity. This is due in significant part to the fact that before Guardian was developed, there was no cost-effective way to measure the strain exposure of computer users. Because BreakTimer is uniquely able to consider the user's work intensity, it gives break suggestions on a non-linear schedule that varies according to the user's task and intensity level. It is widely accepted: that breaks and microbreaks help; that breaks should be more frequent if the user works harder; that user psychology can reduce the benefit of breaks if they appear intrusive to the user; and that computer-suggested breaks can be less frequent the more the user rests on their own. However, the research is still too young to give objective guidance on precise schedules that will achieve a particular risk of injury for a particular user. BreakTimer is designed to give a break schedule that logically conforms to the available research and that intelligently complies with experientially-based advice about break schedules commonly given by doctors and therapists (see the Break Timer Analysis for more information). We believe from a logical and anecdotal standpoint that more breaks means lower injury risk. However, there is obviously a point of diminishing returns where additional rest does not significantly reduce injury risk, where user resistance to breaks would become intolerable, and where productivity would suffer. The initial wizard interview that Guardian gives to each new user attempts to balance these factors to create an optimized break schedule based on our experience and the feedback from thousands of users. For that reason, we recommend letting users use the setup wizard for their initial setup. If users complain that breaks are too frequent, then reducing the frequency of breaks may be indicated simply to maintain willing compliance. If users are being injured too frequently, then increasing the frequency of breaks may be indicated. That said, there are researchers that are looking at this issue to help us improve our model and to help provide additional guidance to end-users. Futhermore, if your organisation is willing, we encourage you to help us by making your user settings, usage information, and injury statistics available so that we can further develop our recommendations for you and future Guardian users. If this is a possibility, please contact ergonomicoffice.
What kind of data is recorded by DataLogger? Guardian stores how long you work and how long you rest, what kind of work you do (mouse vs. keyboard), how many words you type and the rate at which you type them. It also records statistics about how often you type each key, how long you take to find the key, and how long on average you hold it down. It also records information about breaks taken, breaks skipped, breaks postponed, and time spent in breaks. These statistics can be viewed in reports, but are also used to notice and inform you of patterns in your typing (see ForgetMeNots question about "Why am I getting ForgetMeNots reminders I didn't enable?". How do I access the data recorded by DataLogger? The data recorded by Guardian is stored on your computer. Those files can be viewed from the Reports menu of Guardian. Why is it valuable to collect this data? There are two primary reasons why collecting this data is important. The first is that if you collect the data before an injury occurs, the resulting data may help a doctor or other health professional understand what is causing your injury and thereby guide them in planning your treatment. We have received very positive reports from doctors on the informative value of Guardian Reports graphs that patients have brought them. If you collect the data after an injury as well, the data can help you understand whether or not you are reducing your work intensity and whether or not there are work patterns of yours that lead to pain. The second reason is described in the research information section of this FAQ. Am I risking an infringement of my privacy by allowing this data to be collected? Guardian is very concerned about your privacy. We have not produced any utilities to assist an employer in collecting this information from individual employees's computers without employees specifically submitting the information. We hope that individuals and organisations will appreciate the importance of privacy and respect our decision to respect our users.
I can't type when a ForgetMeNots reminder appears If you can't type during a ForgetMeNots message, you have MicroBreaks enabled. The intent is that during a ForgetMeNot, you must stop working for at least 15 seconds. You can disable MicroBreaks if you do not like them by going to the ForgetMeNots tab in the Settings dialog. Why am I getting ForgetMeNots reminders I didn't enable? The messages ForgetMeNots shows you are randomly selected from the messages you select in the ForgetMeNots tab of the Settings dialog. However, you may also occasionally see messages that Guardian adds to your message list because it notices a typing or mousing behavior of yours that is possibly unhealthy. You can delete, disable, or edit these messages just like other ForgetMeNots messages. These messages will normally disappear within a day if the behavior disappears. ::— Registration & Installation —:: What do I do when there are updated versions? You should periodically check the "Check for Guardian Update" item within the Guardian Help menu. Guardian will contact the Guardian server and tell you if we have released a newer version of Guardian than the version you are running. If so, you can visit the download page to download the latest version. To update ALL versions before 4.0.12, see upgrading to version 4.0.12 or later. To update version 4.0.12 or later, just run the installation. The newer version will automatically replace the older version (no need to uninstall first). If your older version was registered, your newer version will be too - unless you are switching between Standard Edition and Stretch Edition - which will require a new registration code. Do I need to uninstall Guardian before installing a newer version? For ALL versions before 4.0.12, see upgrading to version 4.0.12 or later. To update version 4.0.12 or later, it is not necessary to uninstall Guardian before installing a newer version. In fact, you can have the older version of Guardian running during installation. You will, however, need to reboot after the installation completes. I need to reinstall Guardian on my computer. Do I need to reregister it? It should not be necessary to re-enter your registration code. If Guardian does for some reason need your registration code (e.g. you reformatted or replaced your hard drive), you may need to get a new registration code. To do so, please reregister for free at the Registration Page. How do I find my Guardian ID#? Each computer upon which you install Guardian has a unique Guardian ID# that we use to generate a registration code for that computer. (That means that if you install Guardian on a second computer, the registration code you received for the first computer will not be valid). The Guardian ID# is shown to you in the registration window. The registration window is shown when you select the "Register Guardian" option in the Settings menu or when the "Your trial has ended" window is showing. In addition, you can find the Guardian ID# on the particular computer by clicking on the "About Guardian" item in the Help menu. Guardian ID#'s always start with the letter 'C'. Your ID# may look like "CS-242-332-292-EO" or "C2120-990-021" or similar. Please make sure to include this Guardian ID# in any correspondence with us regarding registering your copy of Guardian. I entered my registration code and it didn't work. What's wrong? Once you have entered the correct registration code, you should never need to enter it again. If you are having problems:
Note that if you are installing Guardian on another computer, you will need a separate registration code. Visit the Registration Page if you need to purchase your copy of Guardian. For newer versions of Guardian, you can uninstall by clicking on the Start menu, selecting "Program Files", then "Guardian", then "Uninstall Guardian". As with all professional Windows software, all versions of Guardian can also be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To do so: click the "Start" menu; select "Settings"; select "Control Panel"; select "Add/Remove Programs"; in the list of programs shown select "Guardian"; click on "Add/Remove...". This will remove Guardian. If you tried deleting Guardian manually by deleting the files by hand, you may need to finish the process manually. First try the procedure shown above, and if this does not work, then follow this procedure. First delete the Guardian Startup icon: right click on the Start Menu; click on "Open" (Win NT/2000/XP users may need to try "Open All Users"); double click on "Programs"; double click on "StartUp"; find the Guardian icon and select and delete it. Next, you will need to reboot your computer. After rebooting, use Windows explorer to open the folder where you installed Guardian (usually C:\Program Files\Guardian). Delete the entire Guardian folder. Unlike the standard uninstall process, this will remove any usage data that Guardian has stored for you, so be sure this is what you want to do. Finally, if you had a system administrator install Guardian for you, or if your OS is for some reason restricting you (possible with NT/2000/XP), you may need administrator privileges to remove the software from your computer. ::— Miscellaneous about Guardian—:: Are there plans for a Mac or Linux version of Guardian? Currently, there are no plans to port Guardian to any other platforms. Can Guardian be set to run for certain windows users and not others? In Windows 98/NT, you can define different Windows users. You may wish to have Guardian only run for certain users. To do this, when defining a new user from the Windows Control Panel's New User Wizard, select that you want a personalized Start Menu. Then place the Guardian shortcut in the "StartUp" folder only for users who wish to run Guardian. To do this: log in as the user you wish to modify. Right click on the Windows Start button and select Open. In the window that opens, double click on "Programs". In the "Programs" window, double click on "StartUp". Look in the "StartUp" window. If you see an Guardian shortcut icon, Guardian will run for this user. Delete the shortcut icon to prevent Guardian from running for this user. To make Guardian run for this user if there is no shortcut icon yet, right click and select New and then Shortcut. For the command line, enter the complete location of the Guardian program, which is "C:\Program Files\Guardian-EOS\Guardian.exe" unless you specified something different during installation (you DO need to put the quotes around the filename). Click Next and then enter a shortcut name of Guardian. Click Finish. This will add the icon to the "StartUp" window for this user which will cause Guardian to run each time the user logs in. When Guardian runs, I can't use the numeric keypad. Why OR Where are the hotkeys? Guardian puts hotkeys, by default, on the numeric keypad. To change the hotkeys to somewhere else on the keyboard, go to Setup and select Settings. Select the AutoClick tab, and press the button "Set AutoClick Hotkeys". Change the hotkeys to your desired location (or clear them if for some reason you don't want them). Next, select the Miscellaneous tab and change the two hotkeys there. By default, the single, double and triple click hotkeys are assigned to Numeric keypad 1, 2 & 3. Skip-Next-Click (or No Click) is assigned to keypad 0. Right Click is assigned to the keypad's '.' key and Drag Lock to the keypad's '+' key. Bring-Guardian-eos-To-Top is assigned to keypad 7, and Take-A-Break-Now is assigned to keypad 9. You can view your hotkey assignments by selecting "Show Hotkey Assignments" in the Setup menu. You may wish to place stickers on the keys you use to remind you of where the hotkeys are. Click here for more information on hotkeys. What evidence supports the value of Guardian features? OSHA has released reports verifying that breaks are appropriate prevention for computer-related OOS's, and Guardian Software has informal evidence that people are more likely to take breaks if they occur at appropriate times. We have received many comments from users that BreakTimer excellently predicts break-need and that other break software had been rejected by users because of inappropriate timing of breaks. We have received many emails from people telling us that they could no longer work without AutoClick, which makes sense since AutoClick reduces or eliminates the need to click and drag with the mouse -- known causes of OOS. Awareness of risk behaviors has been proven to be beneficial towards injury prevention, and it is this type of benefit that is sought with ForgetMeNots. We have received very positive feedback from Occupational Therapists and Certified Hand Therapists about the information from DataLogger. Guardian Software is currently working on consolidating research for presentation on our website and appreciates assistance from researchers and ergonomics scientists. However, in our discussions with foremost researchers on OOS, the most common comment made is that there is very little research that validates any current ergonomic aid. Although this lack of evidence does not imply that current methods don't work, it also gives little guidance about what does. That is a one primary motivation for Guardian's DataLogger. We believe that by showing how, how long, and how intensely people are working we can not only help researchers find patterns that cause OOS, but we can help learn what behavior changes are most associated with recovery. Although we have initiated research along this line of reasoning, we are always anxious to discuss research possibilities with interested ergonomics scientists. What does OOS stand for? Are there other names for OOS? OOS stands for Occupational Overuse Syndrome Another name for OOS is Cumulative Trauma Disorder (CTD) or Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is often used interchangably with OOS, but CTS is really just one of many types of OOS -- others include tendinitis (often spelled tendonitis), tenosynovitis, deQuervain's syndrome, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, and many others. Are Overuse Injuries a recent problem? According to a 1995 paper by Joy Linn: In 1893 "Gray's Anatomy" describes peritendinitis crepitans as occurring in washer women (Barton, 1989). Some old names for CTD from the past include: glass arm, telegraphist's cramp and washer woman's thumb. In the 19th century "traumatic tenosynovitis" and "peritendinitis crepitanis" were acknowledged as pain caused by work activities. Earlier this century morse code operators experienced similar disorders. The recognition of CTD has increased as the numbers of injuries increase worldwide. |
| ©2000 - 2006 ergonomicoffice pty ltd All Rights Reserved. Users of this site agree to be bound by the terms of use of this site. |
AutoClick 
BreakTimer 
DataLogger 
ForgetMeNots