Welcome to the general Support / Frequently Asked Questions page. We have attempted to collect every possible question we could find a question and answer for. If there is a question you have that you do not see an answer for, please let us know and we will attempt to answer in a timely manner.
General FAQ
Q. What is MECC? A. The MECC is the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium, an American company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1973 until 1999. MECC produced some of the most successful software in the history of person computing.
Q. What was the focus of the MECC? A. MECC's sole purpose was to produce high quality educational software for schools and educators.
Q. Where is MECC Today? A. MECC closed its doors in 1999 when it was shut down by the then owners, The Learning Company who purchased MECC from Mattel who had purchased it from it's original 1990's buyer SoftKey International.
Q. What is MECC.co? A. MECC.co is the website of the concerted effort by lots of folks to bring back MECC materials for teachers and parents around the globe. With all of the software titles no longer in print, many teachers still have a desire to use the programs that were developed in the 1970s to 1990s in their classrooms, particularly those from MECC.
Q. What is Virtual Apple II? A. Virtual Apple II or https://www.virtualapple.org is the website where many of these programs are still usable online. You will need the Waterfox Classic browser (available on the Waterfox.net website) to run them in browser. Q. How do I run the Macintosh based titles shown on the website? A. We use a wonderful emulator called Macintosh.JS.App which is a Macintosh based javascript packaged as an App. It will run on the latest Mac M1 machines as well as those a bit older. The ISO's of the CD-ROMs can be directly loaded by copying them to the Macintosh.JS directory in your ~user Directory
Q. Where did the materials for this website come from? A. The software and manuals on this website came from a variety of donations and libraries around the globe. They are currently housed in Tokorozawa Japan by A.P.P.L.E.. The scans of the manuals and duplication of the programs were performed by the staff of A.P.P.L.E. and Brutal Deluxe Software.
Software FAQ
Q. Where are the Software packages and the Manuals? A. They are all under the Software section of the MECC.co website. If you do not see a program there, it is likely that it does not exist or that it has not been uploaded to the site yet.
Q. Is there a manual for every software package? A. There are manuals for 99% of the software on this website. Any package which does not have a manual, it is likely due to none being created or being necessary for the particular package.
Q. I see many fakes on eBay. Did these come from here? A. No. We have to date, not produced any copies of the manuals or software. The items you see on eBay are produced by other people, unrelated to the MECC.co project.
Q. I downloaded a software package from the site and it will not work on my computer or emulator. A. Let us know when this happens so that we can take corrective measures.
Q. I want to travel the real Oregon Trail. How can I do this? A. The National Park Service has a page with a number of resources beginning in Missouri and ending in Oregon that includes a number of sites along the original Oregon Trail that visitors can see. To follow along, check out the NPS page at: https://www.nps.gov/oreg/planyourvisit/follow-the-trail.htm Q. The Oregon Trail II Program Locks at First River Crossing. Oregon Trail® II v 1.0 / v 1.2 might freeze at the first river crossing (Blue River). You may need to reinstall Video for Windows® if you are operating Windows® 3.1. For Windows® 95/98, adjusting the Color Palette and Desktop Area should resolve the issue. The instructions each operating system are listed below. Windows® 3.1 In the Program Manager screen, double-click Main. - Double-click on File Manager. - Click on the letter box at the top left that represents your CD-ROM drive letter. - Double-click Data. - Double-click the VFW folder. - Double-click SETUP.EXE - Follow the On-screen Prompts. Windows® 95/98 Ensure your Color depth and Resolution are set to Standard Resolution. NOTE: Do not make this adjustment if you are on a Compaq® Presario. Contact Compaq® for assistance changing your video settings. - Click Start, choose Settings and then select Control Panel. - Double-click Display and then click the Settings tab. - Ensure the Color Palette indicates 256 Color and that the Desktop Area is set to 800x600. Make the necessary adjustments. - Click Apply and OK.
Q. Program runs in black & white on my color machine Symptom Categories: No Color Use to run in color but not anymore Yellowish color in Oregon Trail and Wagon Train 1848 Caused By: The color file is not installed or has been moved from the Program folder. Earlier versions of the program do not have an installer. Usually occurs in: Number Munchers, Super Munchers, and Word Munchers Oregon Trail and Wagon Train 1848 A. Solution:Note: Super Munchers is used as an example, subsitute your program for Super Munchers. Drag the Super Munchers "Program" Disk to hard disk (this creates a folder called Super Munchers). From the "Color" Disk drag the file "Super Color" into the Super Muncher Folder. Then drag the "Super Muncher System Folder" from the (Super Muncher Folder ) to the trash. Click on the "Super Muncher" application to start the program.
Multi-Lingual Items
Q. Which products include support for Spanish? A. The following list of MECC products include some level of support for Spanish: o MathKeys o StoryBook Weaver Deluxe o StoryBook Weaver: Spanish Edition o MayaQuest o USA Geograph II o Woolly's Birthday o Get Well, Woolly! o Quilting Bee o Flip-Flop o El assistente del instructor
Q. Are there any MECC Products that support French? A. Yes. They include the following items: o Guide de l'enseignant