I'm sorry I can't answer mail about basic computer functions anymore. Almost all of the messages I received were pretty much the same question, more or less, and the answer has nothing to do with Happy House, but simply with operating your computer. That answer is below.

I'll tell you something about Happy House: It's really simple. In fact Happy House isn't even, technically, a program. It's just an interactive animation. Downloading and unzipping Happy House is probably the easiest thing you will ever have to do with a computer beyond turning it on and off. So it's highly recommended that you learn these simple "a-b-c's" of computer practice, and everything else will be easier later on.

Downloading

When you download Happy House, watch where it's going! One of the most common questions I'd get was:

I downloaded the file, but I don't know where it is!

I couldn't tell you the answer to this any more than I could tell you where you put your socks. When you download a file it's up to you to instruct the computer where you want it to go. The computer even suggests a location when you click on "download", either accept it and look there later, or change it and make a note of it.

However, if for some reason, you fail to note that information, the file you are downloading is called "happy.exe" (for the PC) or "happyhouse.hqx" (for the Mac). You can do a search for this file if you don't know where it went (in Windows click "start", then "find"; on the Mac click "File", then "Find")


"Unzipping"

Zipping files (binhexing/stuffing for the Mac) is a way of "wrapping" files to send over the Internet. I have made these files "self-extracting" so you only have to click your mouse a few times to "unwrap" them. You don't need any special software or instruction to do it.

When you unzip a file it is like opening a seed pod. The "seed" is the file you want, which pops out and lands on your hard disk wherever you place it.

Go to the file you downloaded, and double-click it. (In the following steps the Mac and PC are very similar, so I will use the example of the PC for simplicity).

  1. When you double-click on "happy.exe" a box appears (it's called a dialogue box) that tells you where the unzipped file (the "seed") will go. This location appears in a little window under the words: "Unzip to Folder".You can accept this location or change it if you want to. In any case pay attention to where the unzipped file is going!

  2. Click the button that says "Unzip".

That's it!

The unzipped file is called "happyhse.exe" ("Happy House" on the Mac), and you will find it in the location that was in the little window in the dialogue box. Just click on "happyhse.exe" and you're running Happy House. There are no rules, as Happy House mostly just does what it wants to. Start by feeding the hamster - click on the empty bowl. Apart from that, the only thing you can do with your mouse is get your hamster's attention - for a while.

Miscellaneous

If you're a bit more comfortable with your computer, you'll probably want to make a shortcut to Happy House (an alias on the Mac) for your desktop or start menu. You can do this very easily. On the PC just right-click on the file "happyhse.exe" and choose "make shortcut". On the Mac, choose the Happy House file and click "file/make alias".

If you have trouble downloading...

Sorry, but the time it takes to download, or any difficulty you may have with that, has nothing to do with Happy House. It is something you must take up with your Internet Service Provider (ISP). With a proper connection, downloading the Happy House files should take no more than a few minutes at most.

You have the only version...

Sometimes people write to ask where the exercise wheel and so forth are. If you read the Happy House page carefully you will see that these are things that are being considered for a future version. It does not look likely that there will be a new version very soon. We hope you'll enjoy this one. It's lots of fun, just as it is.

Some people also ask how to "name" the hamster. To be honest, Happy House was created as a hobby long before the idea of virtual pets became popular. Today's virtual pets do often have some way that you can insert a name that will stay with the pet permanently, but Happy House doesn't. When I wrote that you could name it whatever you wish, I simply meant "in your imagination". Which is where all the good stuff goes on anyway.


Click here to return to the Happy House Page