I cannot open the STI Accelerator file

If you get an Invalid win32 application error when you try to open the file, you need to delete the file and download it again. The file was not completely downloaded, which caused the file size to be smaller than the original source file.

If you see a box with a list of applications to open the file, it's possible that the file extension .exe was somehow lost from the STI Accelerator installation file. You can easily check and add the .exe if needed. Right-click on the file and select rename to add the .exe file extension.

I do not see the small STI Accelerator icon in the system tray

First, see if the STI Accelerator was successfully installed. Click Start, then Programs or All Programs. Do you see Sierra Tel Internet Accelerator? If you do not see Sierra Tel Internet Accelerator in the menu, it is not installed. Click here for download instructions.

If you do see it, you may have some firewall software running that is preventing the STI Accelerator from loading until you register the STI Accelerator with the personal firewall software. Click Start, then Programs or All Programs to see if you have personal firewall software installed on your system. See the firewall’s documentation for firewall configuration instructions.

Why do I get the error: Page Not Found?

As part of the acceleration process, the STI Accelerator uses a proxy server on your computer. A proxy server is a local program that manages Web traffic to and from your browser. The proxy server is configured in your browser. If the proxy server is not configured correctly in the browser, you may not be able to browse. See the steps that follow to check the configuration.

The STI Accelerator accelerates web page text (including plain text, HTML, markup and javascript) and the most common forms of graphics: GIF, animated GIF, and JPEG images, Flash and File downloads.

The STI Accelerator does not accelerate other forms of Internet content, including streaming media, such as video and audio streams, and secure pages, such as those used for online banking and credit card forms.

Yes, the STI Accelerator will work with a personal firewall product installed on your PC. See the documentation for your firewall and make sure PropelAC.exe is not blocked.

The STI Accelerator is available to STI dial-up subscribers.

VPNs provide remote users with secure access to corporate Intranets. VPN traffic is usually encrypted. For this reason, the STI Accelerator does not speed up web pages accessed over VPNs. However, the STI Accelerator automatically allows non-accelerated surfing over VPN connections. When the STI Accelerator is accessing VPN pages, a yellow triangle (similar to a yield sign) appears on the STI Accelerator icon in the system tray to let you know that the STI Accelerator is temporarily unavailable. If you experience problems using a VPN connection when the STI Accelerator is active, disable the STI Accelerator or contact the administrator of the VPN.

The STI Accelerator is compatible with most ad blockers, popup stoppers, personal firewalls, and other utilities. In some cases, minor configuration of either the STI Accelerator or other products is needed. If you do not see your product on the list, don’t worry; in most cases it will work with no special configuration.

Yes. Deleting your browser's temporary files -- often referred to as "cache," "browser's cache" or "cache files" -- can potentially impact browser performance since there will initially be no static cached pages. Similarly, deleting the STI Accelerator temporary files -- which you can do from the STI Accelerator menu Options item -- will temporarily decrease the amount of acceleration you receive. If you are using the STI Accelerator, the effect of deleting your browser's cache will be less pronounced that what would otherwise be the case. There should be no reason to delete your cache on a regular basis.

Web pages frequently have broken graphics links. However, if you are seeing more than the usual number of broken links, you can confirm that the STI Accelerator isn't contributing to this problem by following these steps:

1. Click on the STI Accelerator icon in the system tray (square blue icon near the clock)
2. Select Disable STI Accelerator from the pop-up menu.
3. Hold down the Ctrl key and click Refresh in the Internet Explorer window. [Netscape users, just click Reload.]

Many other factors can cause or contribute to "broken" images on Web pages. Here are some of the more common ones:

• The website is being updated at the same time you request the page. Try re-visiting the web page after a couple of hours.
• There might be a more long-term problem with the web page.
• Microsoft has confirmed a problem with Internet Explorer versions prior to Explorer 5.5 with Service Pack 2 (case #Q281197). STI recommends keeping Internet Explorer upgraded, although a temporary solution to this problem is to refresh the page by clicking Refresh on the Internet Explorer toolbar, or by clicking Refresh on the IE View menu to retrieve the redirected URL and display the missing image. For additional information regarding this problem, please visit Microsoft's Product Support Services Website located at http://support.microsoft.com.

Yes, the STI Accelerator works well with Netscape 4.7 or later. However, you'll first need to make some simple changes to your Netscape browser Preferences, specifically proxy server settings.

Obtaining the STI Accelerator's Port Number
First, you need to determine the proxy port number that the STI Accelerator is using.

1. Click the STI Accelerator icon located in the system tray by the system clock. It is a square blue icon.
2. Click Options...
3. Click Advanced...
4. Note the port number.
5. Click OK.

Yes, however the initial RealOne Player proxy settings may need to be adjusted before you can use RealOne Player with the STI Accelerator.

If you encounter connectivity problems using RealOne Player when the STI Accelerator is active, make the following configuration changes to RealOne.

1. Select the Tools menu.
2. Select the Preferences... menu option.
3. Double-click on Connections.
4. Click Proxy.
5. Under HTTP Proxy Options select the "Use proxy" radio button.
6. Make sure the proxy address is set to localhost. Make sure the Ports setting adjacent to the proxy address matches that in use by the STI Accelerator. The default STI Accelerator port number is 8080.

Yes, configuration of Opera is needed before it can be used with the STI Accelerator.

Obtaining the STI Accelerator's Port Number
First, you need to determine the proxy port number that the STI Accelerator is using.

1. Click the square blue STI Accelerator icon (located in the system tray by the system clock).
2. Click Options...
3. Click Advanced.
4. Note the port number.
5. Click OK.

Yes, the STI Accelerator will work in a Local Area Network, Wireless Network, peer-to-peer, or with Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing (ICS).

The STI Accelerator needs to be installed on each PC that needs acceleration. You can share one subscription with other computers on the network but only one computer will receive acceleration at a time. If you need the computers accelerated at the same time, each computer needs to have its own subscription.

No special configuration is needed for the STI Accelerator to work.

Follow these steps to check the STI Accelerator proxy port number:

1. Click the square blue STI Accelerator icon (located in the system tray by the system clock).
2. Click Options...
3. Click Advanced.
4. Note the port number. You will need this number to configure Netscape, Opera, or Mozilla to work with the STI Accelerator.
5. Click OK.

Yes, some configuration of Mozilla is needed before it can be used with the STI Accelerator.

1. Click on the Mozilla Edit menu.
2. Select Preferences...
3. Expand the Advanced branch on the Advanced item
4. Click Proxies
5. Select "Manual proxy configuration."
6. In the HTTP Proxy area enter "localhost" (without quotation marks).
7. In the Port field, enter the STI Accelerator port number (by default 8080, but this number may be different on your system). Click here for instructions on verifying the STI Accelerator HTTP proxy port number.
8. Click OK.

Note: This FAQ is also useful if you are simply interested in figuring out exactly how much acceleration you are getting.

With the STI Accelerator in place you should be seeing a very noticeable increase in surfing speed -- an average of 3X acceleration, with some pages appearing up to 5 times faster.

In our studies, web page performance can be significantly influenced by a number of factors including:

• Amount of data required to display a web page. If you haven't already done so, try a higher Graphics Acceleration setting such as Level 4 or 5. For complete details on graphics acceleration options, click the square blue STI Accelerator icon in the system tray, and select Quick Tour.
• Connection speed, which can vary significantly even when you are using the same ISP and dialing in to the same phone number.
• Available memory (RAM), which can vary depending on the number of applications you are running. Even though the STI Accelerator can run with very little available RAM, acceleration benefits can be further optimized if you have plenty of free RAM available.

Is the STI Accelerator properly installed?
If the STI Accelerator is installed on your computer, a square blue icon will appear in the Windows system tray (near the system clock).

Is the STI Accelerator active?
If the STI Accelerator is active while you are surfing the Internet, the STI Accelerator icon will appear as opposing white arrows changing colors. Try accessing a website. You should see the icon arrows flash as web pages load.

Not sure?
If you don't see the STI Accelerator icon activity when browsing the Internet, please click here for Troubleshooting Tips.

Click here for Technical Support contact information.

The following steps allow you to use the STI Accelerator and WebWasher together for use with Internet Explorer. Although there are a number of steps, each is easily accomplished.

1. The order in which Internet Explorer, WebWasher, and the STI Accelerator programs start is not important.
2. From Internet Explorer select Tools -> Internet Options. Then click on the Connections tab.
3. Select the connection you are using (typically from the Dial-up settings list -- it may already be selected). Click Settings...
4. Make sure that the "Use a proxy server for this connection" checkbox is checked. If not, do so. Then click the Advanced... button.
5. Make sure that the proxy address for HTTP is set to 127.0.0.1. If the proxy address is missing or is some other value, change it to 127.0.0.1.
6. Make sure that the port number is set to 8080, WebWasher's default proxy server port number. If the port number is missing or different, change it to 8080.
7. Right-click on the WebWasher icon in the system tray (near the system clock). Then click on "preferences."
8. Make sure that the checkbox "Client" is checked. If not, do so.
9. Set the HTTP1 Proxy to "localhost" (without quotation marks). Then set the port number to the STI Accelerator proxy server port number. By default this number is 8080, but it may be different on your system. Click here for instructions on verifying the STI Accelerator HTTP proxy port number.

There are two software applications that may cause this problem.

Zone Alarm Pro
Zone Alarm Pro is a product from Zone Labs. This will result in pages only partially loading and then stopping ("timing out"). This issue has been fixed by Zone Labs. Please upgrade to Zone Alarm Pro version 4.5.xxx.xxx or later.

Norton Internet Securities
If you're running Norton Internet Securities 2004, you will need to make a change.

1. Click on the NIS 2004 system tray icon and choose "Norton Internet Security" from the top of the list.
2. Click on "options" at the very top.
3. Click on the "firewall" tab.
4. Under "HTTP port list" find the number "8080" in the list, highlight it and click on the "remove" button.
5. Click "ok."

If you are using Internet Explorer, simply move your mouse over an image on a web page and right-click. You'll see that two new options are available:

- Refresh Page with Full Quality
- Refresh Picture with Full Quality

If you select one of these options, the STI Accelerator will replace the compressed graphic image with an original quality version. When the STI Accelerator icon arrows stop moving, the new image is in place.

The right-click options are not available in Outlook, Netscape, Opera or Mozilla. Please follow these steps.

1. Click once on the square blue STI Accelerator icon located near your system clock. Select Disable STI Accelerator.
2. Hold down the Ctrl key and click on the refresh icon on the browser toolbar. The compressed graphic image will be replaced with an original quality version.

In order to speed up web browsing, web browsers are designed to download parts of web pages and store them locally on your machine in an area called "cache" -- also known as temporary files. When you visit the same page for a second time, the browser speeds up display time by loading the parts of the page locally from your cache instead of downloading from the website. As a result, it will use degraded images from your cache. To remove these degraded images so the browser will load new ones from the website, simply delete your browser cache.

If you are still using the STI Accelerator, you will also need to delete the STI Accelerator cache. You can do so by clicking on the square blue STI Accelerator icon in your system tray, click on Options, click on Temporary Files, click on the Delete Files... button.

Internet Explorer

1. Select "Tools > Internet Options..." from the main menu.
2. You should be on the "General" tab.
3. Click on the "Delete Files" button.

Note: This FAQ is useful if your performance was good at one time, but has slowed down. If you have not seen any performance improvements since installing the STI Accelerator, click here.

There may be several factors that are impacting performance. This information will help you quickly isolate the cause of your slow performance. Simply follow the steps below.

1. Is the STI Accelerator active on your computer? If the STI Accelerator is installed and active on your computer, a square blue icon with a plus sign is visible in the Windows system tray near the system clock. As you surf web pages, this icon changes to alternating arrows as the STI Accelerator accelerates the content. If you see the icon, try surfing to several popular web pages. Click here if you do not see the STI Accelerator icon or alternating arrows.
2. Other applications may be taking CPU or network resources from your dial-up connection. Please confirm that you are not downloading files, and that you do not have unnecessary browser windows open, as well as any unnecessary applications, streaming media, email, or chat windows open. Ensure that your computer is free of viruses. Any of these things can cause slow CPU and network performance, which in turns impacts acceleration performance.
3. Run STI Accelerator Diagnostics. To run Diagnostics, click the square blue icon in the Windows system tray and select the Diagnostics option. Click Run Test. Do not run this test while downloading files.

The STI Accelerator is designed to speed up downloading files when they are initiated through the browser. It will not speed up downloading files through other programs like Kazaa.

The STI Accelerator will speed up your web surfing, but not your online games. Click here for complete list of items that are accelerated.

Yes, however, you will need to make a change to We-Blocker by following the steps below:

1. Obtain the Proxy port used by the STI Accelerator. Click the square blue icon in the system tray.
2. Select Options, Advanced. Write down the port number.
3. Click the We-Blocker icon.
4. Select Master Controls, and enter the password. Click OK.
5. Select the System Settings tab.
6. Select the Network tab.
7. In the Proxy Settings frame, select the check box for We-Blocker is behind a proxy server.
8. Enter localhost in Proxy Server IP address and enter the STI Accelerator port number (such as 8080) in the Proxy Server HTTP Port.
9. Click Save and Close.

Yes, however, you will need to make a change to Cookie Crusher. See the steps below:

1. Click the square blue STI Accelerator icon and select Options, Advanced. Write down the port number. You will need this later. Click Cancel.
2. From Internet Explorer, select Tools, Internet Options. Click the Connections tab. Select the connection you are using. Click Settings.
3. Select the Use a proxy server for this connection check box. Then click the Advanced button.
4. Make sure that the proxy address for the HTTP port address is set to 127.0.0.1, and the port is set to 5555. Click OK.
5. Right-click on the Cookie Crusher icon located in the corner of the system tray near the clock. Choose Show from the menu.
6. On the left side of the Cookie Crusher control panel window, click Configuration and select Chain to the following proxy server.
7. In the box directly below, enter localhost. In the port number area to the right, enter the STI Accelerator port number you wrote down in step 1, usually 8080.
8. Close the Cookie Crusher control panel and start browsing.
9. You can verify that STI Accelerator is working when the STI Accelerator icon (square blue icon in the system tray near the system clock) shows moving arrows when you browse the Internet.

Yes. If you're running Norton Internet Securities 2004, you will need to make a change.

1. Click on the NIS 2004 system tray icon and choose "Norton Internet Security" from the top of the list.
2. Click on "options" at the very top.
3. Click on the "firewall" tab.
4. Under "HTTP port list" find the number "8080" in the list, highlight it and click on the "remove" button.
5. Click "ok."

Yes, first you will need to make some changes. Proxomitron uses a local proxy and port 8080. You need to first confirm that your browser is configured for port 8080 then change the port on the STI Accelerator and configure Proxomitron for the STI Accelerator port.

Internet Explorer

1. From Internet Explorer select Tools -> Internet Options. Then click on the Connections tab. Select the connection you are using. Click Settings...
2. Make sure that the "Use a proxy server for this connection" checkbox is checked. If not, do so. Then click the Advanced... button.
3. Make sure that the proxy address for HTTP port address is set to "localhost" (no quotes) and the port is set to 8080. Click OK.
4. Click on the square blue STI Accelerator icon and select Options, then click on the Advanced tab. Change the port to 8081 and click Apply.
5. Right-click on the Proxomitron icon in the system tray and select the control panel. Check the "use remote proxy" box.
6. Click on the proxy button and type in localhost:8081
7. Click "ok."
8. You can verify that the STI Accelerator is working when the STI Accelerator icon (square blue icon near the system clock) shows moving arrows when you browse the Internet.

If you get an Invalid win32 application error when you try to open the file, you need to delete the file and download it again. The file was not completely downloaded, which caused the file size to be smaller than the original source file.