Installation Troubleshooting

• If you did not uncheck anything during the installation, an icon must have been added to your desktop. For Bel Atout, it will appear as below. It is this icon that allows you to start the game with a double click (or a single click if your system allows it).
  

  How to start the game from desktop

  
• To move an icon to another place on your desktop, (1) click on the icon in question and keep the button pressed. Then (2) move the mouse cursor to the new location.
  

  How to move a desktop icon

  
• If you can't see the program icon because your desktop is cluttered with several open windows, click on the small area at the bottom right of your screen. This small rectangle on the taskbar, to the right of the time and date, allows you to minimize open windows without closing them. You will see your desktop and the icon to start the game. To restore the open windows, click on the same area.
  

  How to show desktop

• You can also add the program to your taskbar. A single click on the small icon in the taskbar will then suffice to start the program.
  

  Starting the program from the taskbar

  
• To add the program to your taskbar, (1) right click on the game icon that is on your desktop. And in the menu that opens, (2) click on Show more options. If this menu does not appear, go directly to the next step.
  

  Show more options for the program

  
• Once all the options are available, you should be able to click on the Pin to taskbar menu. This is what will place the program icon in your taskbar. You can always remove it later.
  

  Pin the program to the taskbar

• If during the installation you accidentally unchecked the Create a desktop icon box, go back to your Downloads folder, and start the installation again (without uninstalling anything). On the Additional Tasks page, don't forget to check the box to create an icon.

  Note that the box to create a desktop icon is checked by default only at the first installation. When you install a new version (without uninstalling anything), this box will no longer be checked, because the icon is already on your desktop, it is not necessary to recreate it.

• Here is the link to the download page for each game:

     Bel Atout            SimiliBridge            Élysée            Far Whist   

• If you have just installed the game on a new machine, the preferences (display options, game rules, strategy options, etc.) have been initialized with their default values. These may not match your habits. Read the  other troubleshooting pages  to find out how to restore your favorite settings. Do not proceed to series of "uninstallation - reinstallation", it is of no use.

  Finally, if you really can't download or install the program, contact me so that I can help you find a solution. Don't forget to tell me about your operating system, its version number, and any warnings or error messages that prevent you from completing the installation.

Some versions of Windows block programs downloaded from the Internet, making it impossible to run them from the Downloads folder. If the blocking is not due to an antivirus, it is only a very general security provision. Several solutions can be found:

• Unblock the downloaded file as  indicated above .

• Copy the downloaded file to another folder, and unblock it as indicated above.

• Rename the file when downloading it, by changing its extension (put for example .txt). Copy this .txt file to another folder and unblock it as indicated above. Once unblocked, reset its extension to .exe.

• Move the downloaded file to a USB key, and install from the key.

• Download the program from another device, and install it from a USB key.

  It happens that an antivirus blocks certain programs by mistake (including Internet Explorer!). You must then find the solution in the documentation of your antivirus, or on the Internet by searching for the name of your antivirus, and the keywords "blocks" and "false positive". In general, other Internet users will have experienced the same misfortune as you, for other software. It's a pity, but that's the way it is.

Since Windows Vista, launching the installation of a program always begins with a warning box and a message such as:

• An unidentified program wants to access your computer.

• Do you want to allow the following program from an unknown publisher to make changes to this computer?

I tried to obtain the "Code Signing Certificate" which prevents this warning when downloading or installing, but as an independent developer not part of any company and having no registration at the commercial register, I am not entitled to it, even by paying the annual 1000 Euros that commercial publishers must pay. Anyway, this certificate does not guarantee that the program is safe (it is the antiviruses that take care of this work, with more or less success). It only guarantees that the downloaded program conforms to the original certified by the author. Now, on my site, you are on the very site of the author. Let's be logical, the author will not distribute from his own site a counterfeit of his program. However, be careful when downloading from another site. See why by reading the short story below:

In the past, there was a web page offering the download of Bel Atout (Belote game), a page that came first in search engine results, and yet had nothing to do with the program. The page contained no link to my site, no mention of the name of the software. Only a large button marked Download was available on the page, and this one launched the download and installation... of a web browser! I had to file a complaint with the publisher of this browser, to make this fraudulent page disappear, and I was successful. But see how careful you have to be when you download programs.

Born in 1955, I am now retired but still very active.
My programs occupy me 6 to 8 hours a day!

I ensure the security of my software as well as that of my site (and therefore yours too) by the principle of partitioning: my development computers are not physically connected to the Internet, and I have multiple devices each with specific tasks and modes of use. I own the domain name https://vincent-brevart.fr, whose https address is secure. This means that my host has all my contact details, that he regularly checks my pages, and that he would be the first to shut down the site if my programs presented the slightest danger.

My 4 programs do not communicate with the Internet and that is why they do not have an automatic update. Their Internet menu just opens your browser to show some pages of this site, or a local page showing the image of their latest available version. They therefore do not transmit any data either in one direction or the other. These are measures that seem out of date and which will require you to install the various updates yourself. But it is the price to pay to be sure that none of your personal data can ever be collected.

•    Bel Atout    (Belote game) has been downloaded more than 1 705 000 times since December 2000.

•    SimiliBridge    (Bridge game) has been downloaded more than 142 000 times since April 2006.

•    Élysée    (President game) has been downloaded more than 121 100 times since February 1999.

•    Far Whist    (Elevator Whist game) has been downloaded more than 18 700 times since December 2011.