Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Frequently Asked Questions

Here we have compiled a collection of the questions we are most frequently asked about our Snitch software products. If your question is not answered in this document, please contact us for further assistance.

General

Are Snitch products compatible with Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista?

Snitch and Snitch Plus are compatible with Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista. But because of the new permissions system that can prevent automated deletion unless you specifically enable it, you may have to make a few setting changes.If you right-click on the Snitch icon and choose Run As Administrator then deletion will be enabled. You may be able to set this permanently by going into the Right Click -> Properties submenu of the Icon.

What are the minimum system requirements for running Snitch?

Operating System
Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8 (and 8.1), Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP

Required Software Components
Media Player v6 or greater
DirectX 7 or greater
Internet Explorer 7 or greater

Required Hardware
Pentium class processor or better
64Mb RAM
50Mb free Hard Disk space (install and run)
4Mb Video Card capable of 16Bit color

What are the minimum system requirements for running Snitch Plus?

Operating System
32 bit or 64 bit Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.x, Windows 7 or Windows Vista or Windows XP

Required Software Components
Media Player 10 or greater
DirectX 9c or greater
Internet Explorer 4 or greater

Required Hardware
Pentium class processor or better
256Mb RAM
200Mb free Hard Disk space (install and run)
64Mb Video Card capable of 16Bit color

When I run Snitch I receive the error "Snitch Requires MediaPlayer 6 or above to Continue" ?

Snitch requires a Windows component called Media Player installed to display movies and audio.

A version of Media Player comes with your copy of Windows (to install use Control Panel -> Add/Remove programs). If you require a later version, it is a free download from MicroSoft's web site (http://www.microsoft.com). If you already have the required version installed, perhaps you have another application running that also uses Media Player, if so exit all other applications before running Snitch again.

When I press "Search Now" I receive the error "Snitch has detected other applications running, continuing in this condition may not yield desirable results" ?

Some applications use vast amounts of memory and other system resources, this may mean that less memory is available for other applications like Snitch. Snitch runs with most applications, but it is good practice to close all other applications before running Snitch.

When I run Snitch, I receive the error "Snitch is corrupt, please reinstall Snitch" ?

Snitch has detected that one or more of its files that comprise its installation are missing or corrupt. Run ScanDisk to detect any errors on your drive then reinstall Snitch.

When I run Snitch I receive the error "Snitch is not available for , please reinstall Snitch" ?

If Snitch was previously installed under a different username than the one you are currently using, you must reinstall Snitch for the current user or log on as the previous user. This is a security measure to prevent unauthorized usage.

When I run Snitch I receive the error "Resolutions below 800 x 600 are not supported" ?

The amount of lines your video card is currently displaying is less than required to display results correctly. In Control Panel -> Display set the screen area (resolution) to at least 800 x 600 lines.

When I run Snitch I receive the error "Color Depth below 4 Bit is not supported" ?

The amount of colors your video card is currently displaying is insufficient to display results correctly. In Control Panel -> Display set the colors to at least 256, preferably set to True color (32 bit).

Purchase and Installation

Is purchasing online secure?

YES! Our payment processor (Paypal) is one of the largest dedicated payment gateways in the world. Any purchase made through Paypal, either by credit card or with a Paypal account, is 100% secure and encrypted. Paypal protects your privacy and does not disclose your credit card details to anybody, including us. When entering your data on Paypal's website you can ensure that your connection is secure by noting the lock symbol in your browser; this indicates an encrypted communication channel has been created between your computer and Paypal's website. 

On encrypted pages the lock symbol can be found at the right of the URL bar in Internet Explorer, or bottom right of the screen in Firefox. Other browsers may vary but will still show the lock symbol and still have the same level of protection. If a lock symbol is not showing, do not enter any personal information, and contact Paypal.

What do I do if I am having trouble downloading the software?

If you are having difficulty downloading files, one option is to use a download accelerator like FlashGet ( www.flashget.com ). It is free. 

Flashget will help with downloads across a slow/unreliable connection. It will keep retrying broken downloads until the file is successfully received. This will ensure that the file is downloaded intact. It will also accelerate downloads by downloading multiple segments of the file at one time, to reduce download time.

How do I download and install the software?

Follow these steps to download and install the software:

1) Enter the Customer Area
Log in to the customer area using the login credentials provided at the time of purchase. Do this by clicking the Login tab on the top right of the home page http://www.hyperdynesoftware.com and logging in to the correct product area.

NOTE: Copy and paste the login name and password as provided in your purchase confirmation email. Copying and pasting will a help avoid typo errors that will cause login errors. To copy, select the text by dragging with your mouse, then right click on the selected text and choose 'Copy'. To paste the copied text, right click where you want the text to be pasted and choose 'Paste'.

2) Click the download link 
Click the download link to download the software installer file. Note: A bar may appear above the Hyperdyne logo at the top of the page, stating that "Internet Explorer has blocked this site from downloading files to your computer". Click this bar and choose 'Download File'. You may need to click the download link a second time.

3) Select 'Save' 
The dialog will ask if you would like to 'Run' or 'Save' the file. Select 'Save', to copy this file from our server to your computer. You will need to keep this file somewhere safe in case you need to reinstall the software.

4) Choose a location
A box will appear, asking you where you would like to put the downloaded installation file. Choose a place on your hard drive that you would like to save the file and click 'Save'. You can select your Desktop for simplicity, or you may wish to save the file to a 'Downloads' directory, for example. Remember this location so that you can find it later.

5) Wait until downloading is complete
Downloading may take 10 seconds to 1 hour, depending on your internet connection type and speed. When downloading is complete, the installer file will be on your hard drive in the location that you specified before. NOTE: Don't worry if the download is interrupted for some reason; simply restart the download by clicking on the download link again. If you choose to put the file in the same place, you can overwrite the aborted file fragment and continue downloading.

6) Install the software
To install Snitch onto your computer, open Windows Explorer and browse to the file that you just downloaded. Run it by double-clicking on the downloaded file (click your left mouse button twice quickly). To open Windows Explorer, right-click on the Start Menu button and choose 'Explore'.

7) Follow the instructions the installer gives during the installation process, to install the software. Leave the default installation location settings. When installation is complete, the software is installed into your computer and is ready for use.

8) Run the software
When installation is complete, you can run the software by clicking the Snitch icon found in Start Menu -> All Programs -> Snitch or the Snitch icon on your desktop.

9) To learn how to use Snitch, press F1 (the F1 function key at the top left of the keyboard) while the software is running, to read more about how it works an how to use it.

If you have any difficulties downloading or installing Snitch, please email our support personnel for assistance, and describe which of these steps caused you problems. Include what you tried and what happened, including error messages.

How do I Uninstall the software?

To uninstall Snitch products, simply run the downloaded installer file again (the same one used to install the software), and this time choose Uninstall.

I am trying to install Snitch into Windows 2000 and I receive the error "The system cannot find the specified path" ?

When installing Snitch into Windows 2000 or Windows XP you must log on as administrator or have equivalent administrator privileges to have sufficient access to install Snitch.

Results and Deletion

Snitch is not deleting certain items. Why not?

Deletion issues have several common causes.

Firsly, due to the new permissions system in Windows Vista (and later) you may need to make a change to allow normal file deletion. If you right-click on the Snitch icon and choose Run As Administrator then any deletion problems should be resolved. You may be able to set this permanently by going into the Right Click -> Properties submenu of the Icon.

If that is not the cause, deletion failure usually happens when another process has locked the files for its own use and the system cannot delete them until the lock is released. Perhaps a spyware or virus scanner, maybe a system process has it locked. Try shutting down any programs that might have hold of the files. Also close any Windows Explorer Windows that are showing the directory as these can prevent deletion.

If you cannot determine what is locking your file(s) visit this URL: http://www.emptyloop.com/unlocker/ and download and install the free utility, 'Unlocker'. Use Windows Explorer to find a file that will not delete, then right click and choose the Unlocker option. This will tell you what process has the file locked, and it will also help you forcibly shut down the process that is locking it.

Why am I not getting the search results I was expecting?

The Preferences window contains many options which control the way the search algorithms function, and incorrect setting of these preferences can cause incorrect results to be returned. For example, in the Image Preferences, by setting the date range improperly, no images may be returned at all, when in fact many images may exist on the target drive. When in doubt, restore the default settings.

Why am I having a problem viewing video results?

Snitch uses the Microsoft Media Player component to play back video and audio files. Most versions of Windows provide Media Player as part of the operating system. However, if the installation is damaged, you may download the latest version of Media Player from www.microsoft.com

Alternatively, updating DirectX may also solve playback issues.

Some formats of video and audio files are not supported natively by Media Player. In these cases, small addons (called Codecs) can be downloaded and installed, which will enable Media Player to play back more file formats.

Proprietary file formats may need their own players, eg. Apple QuickTime™ (http://www.apple.com/quicktime) and RealMedia™ (http://www.real.com) players may need to be installed on the target system if files of these types require playback.

When viewing Image results the option "Sort by SkinScan results" is greyed out?

The option to enable the SkinScan algorithm (in Preferences) has not been selected prior to the search. In configuration select the MultiMedia tab;and under Images you will find a tick box. Ensure this box is ticked.

Why do I get so many damaged image files in my image results?

Often, when downloading pages from the internet, page downloads can be interrupted for various reasons - this can cause half-downloaded or otherwise damaged images to be present on the hard drive. These images will display as an image with a red cross.

Also, images of the incorrect format or an unknown format will give the same error.

What do the grey buttons indicate on the results page?

Grey buttons on the results page indicate that the associated search algorithm was not enabled in Preferences for the current search. Remedy this problem by enabling the associated searches in Preferences and searching again.

How do I jump straight to a particular page of images?

By typing the required page number in the box between the navigation buttons, and then pressing the Enter key, you can jump directly to a page of results.

Why am I not getting a complete set of internet results?

The default setting for internet results in the Preferences dialog makes the search algorithm return only suspicious internet results, ie. those which contain one or more suspicious keywords. Deselecting this option will allow all internet results to be recovered in future searches.