A: C:\windows\system\macromed\shockwave\prefs\ on W95 & W98 systems, or C:\WINNT\system32\Macromed\Shockwave\Prefs on WinNT systems.

Q: Why can't you save the file somewhere logical, like on my desktop or in my documents folder?

A: Because society approaches internet security the same way it approaches graffiti. Rather than simply punishing the lawbreakers, it creates ineffective, artificial, and downright goofy barriers to try to prevent the undesirable activity. As such, Macromedia only allows Shockwave files to write "prefs" to this obscure location. Of course, these aren't prefs, but Shockwave doesn't have a clue.

Q: When I open my files, they look like garbage?

A: For some reason, Notepad.exe doesn't recognize carraige returns the same way as most word processors. Try opening the files with Wordpad.exe or change the file suffix to .doc so that they open in MS Word.

Q: Why don't you just save them as .doc files for me?

A: See the first answer above. Macromedia only allows Shockwave to save files with a .txt or .htm suffix. In future, the SIM may be able to save files in .htm format, complete with fancy text formatting. Any volunteers willing to design that form?

Q: What if I don't want files saved to my hard drive?

A: Don't click the "EXPORT TEXT" button. The SIM won't write anything to your hard drive unless you click that button. And if you decide later that you don't want the files, simply delete the "prefs" directory at the path mentioned above.

Q: How big are these files?