Just a quick note of appreciation. I'm using your software for a student I teach who has many learning difficulties, but he is thrilled (and motivated) to be working with your software. Please continue the excellent work, and best of luck going forward.
Ed, Canada.
We are a homeschool family and we have been using your site for nearly 10
months now...we think you're great!
Keep up the fantastic work you do!
Warmest Regards Sarah, New Zealand
I have been using your programs for years now and am really glad for a chance to say how FAB they are. They are better than any other I've found for educational purposes and a fraction of the price. All the kids who have used them at my school LOVE them and I think you are a very very clever man!! Trisha , UK
All the programs on this site are originals made by Grey Olltwit Educational Software. They are for PCs running Windows 95 or above e.g. Windows XP, 7, 8, 10. Our programs have also been tested to work on Intel based Macs, Linux, BSD & Solaris using Crossover. You can download the Crossover free trail here. The free open source Wine project is the same but does not have the easy install interface.
As a minimum our programs normally require a Pentium 90 with at least 16MB of RAM but if your computer is running Windows '95 or above e.g. XP, Vista, Windows 7, then you should have no problems. Some systems running Windows 3.1 may be able to run our programs with the Win32s upgrade from Microsoft but because I don't have 3.1, I have never tried it. Click here for more information but make sure you back up any important data before trying this Windows 3.1 upgrade. If you don't, you may have to use a data recovery service. For copyright information click here.
Please note that our downloads do not contain any adware, spyware, tool bars or third party software of any kind.
Downloading
To download one of our education programs, games or screen savers, just click on its title which will take you to the individual program's page. On each program's page you will find the download link near the top i.e. Download this program and also more information about the program together with a small screenshot of the application in action.
Once you have clicked on the title of the program, a username and password window will appear. Enter the username and password you created when signing up for your Grey Olltwit account. Once the username and password are accepted, your browser will normally display a little screen giving you the option to save the file to a location you choose, CHOOSE SAVE, DO NOT CHOOSE OPEN THIS FILE. On my computer I choose my Desktop to download files to. That way when I've finished with the zip or exe file, I can easily drag it into the recycle bin. Once you click on Save, this will start the process of copying that file to your computer's hard disk. Once you have installed a program (see below), the file you downloaded is no longer required.
The small download window, displayed by your browser during downloading will show you how the downloading is progressing. If it seems to be progressing very slowly or not at all, try cancelling and then clicking on the link again. Quite often, trying a second or third time will make a better connection to that file and the downloading will proceed much quicker. If it still doesn't, then bookmark the page and try later, when things aren't so busy. Poor downloading time can mean that there may be a lot of users slowing things down through your own connection to the Internet.
Installing from an exe file
All my programs on this site are compressed for download into single exe files. Exe files are self extracting and you do not need to have a zipping program or any other software to be able to download or install it. Once you have downloaded the exe file, just double click on it and follow the onscreen instructions. It's a simple as that!
Screen Savers
When you double click the downloaded exe file, the screen saver should be installed as your default saver. Just follow the onscreen instructions. If you need to alter settings later or change the screen saver then you need to access Display Properties in the Control Panel. A shortcut to Display Properties is to right click on any blank area of the desktop and choose Properties from the pop-up menu. Then choose the Screen Saver tab in the display properties window that appears. You will then be able to select the screen saver from the drop down list. Click on the Settings button to see a Help file and other options.
Uninstalling
All my files can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. Click on the Start button and then Settings, Control Panel. Then double click on Add/Remove Programs. This will give you a list of many of the programs you have installed on your Computer. Look for the name of the program you wish to remove and either double click it or single click and click on the Remove button. Either way the program's uninstall program will start and delete the program and all it's associated files.
FAQ
1.Q. Why doesn't my username and password seem to work or why haven't I received one? A. You should have received a confirmation email from us after joining, giving details of how to create a username and password (this is not your Paypal username and password). If for some reason you have not received a confirmation email e.g. your mailbox is full or your email address may have been mistyped, then contact us using our contact form.
2.Q. I have written to you by email or used your contact form but don't seem to have received a reply. Should I wait longer than 24 hours? A. We pride ourselves on answering all correspondence very quickly, usually within an hour or two. 99% are answered within 24 hours, 365 days a year (including Christmas Day). If for some reason you have not received your reply this could be for any number of reasons e.g. your mailbox is full or your email address may have been mistyped. Contact us using our contact form.
3.Q. Why do I have problems downloading? A. You may get error codes such as "can't find file", "cannot open the internet site"
etc. These are our files the links are to, not anyone else's, so they are not broken. They are there, but heavy traffic on your own internet connection may prevent them from being available, temporarily. Bookmark/Add to favourites the page and try again later. Failing that contact us using our contact form.
4.Q. Why is the download so slow? A. The majority of my files should only take between 1-6 minutes to download or a few seconds depending on whether you have a dial-up or broadband (DSL or Cable) connection. If they take longer than this (unless you have a slow modem and are used to these times), or things freeze up, I would recommend stopping and clicking on the link again or coming back to it a little later on. Obviously, heavy traffic on your own internet connection can slow things down, sometimes to a halt, so try and return at a non peak time. You can tell these periods because you can get from page to page easily without having to wait hardly at all. Failing that contact us using our contact form.
5.Q. Why do I get the error message "Invalid or corrupt data, can't open file"? A. One problem that sometimes occurs is the file appears to download but when you double click it to install the program, a message appears saying something like "invalid or corrupt data, can't open file". The most likely cause of this message is an incomplete download of the file. Sometimes your Browser will tell you that the download has completed when in fact it has skipped the last few kilobytes. If the problem continues then I'd be happy to send you a copy via email provided you can confirm that your email address can accept file attachments (some don't and the files just get bounced back to me). Also you can contact us using our contact form.
6.Q. Unable to download program, I get the error message; "Unable to use OLE Automated Protocol Handler RealDownload.ProtocolHandler" Any suggestions? A. It would appear that at some point the settings in your browser have become changed or corrupted somehow as you should receive a prompt window when clicking on the download link asking if you would like to "Save" or "Run/Open" this file ("Save" should be chosen if you do get this window). You could try resetting the options in your browser but you may find that a re-install is required. In the meantime you could try right mouse clicking on the download link and choosing "Save Target As" from the pop up menu. Also you can contact us using our contact form.
7.Q. Should a new version of one of your programs be installed over the top of an old one, or should the old one be uninstalled first. Or does it not matter? A. There is no need to uninstall. The new version will overwrite the old one.
One extra tip you might find useful is that a number of my programs have a certificate print out facility and this is of course popular with children. You can get a free program to make those certifcates into a pdf file instead of printing them out and using a lot of paper and ink or indeed if you don't have a printer. You can find the free pdf program at www.dopdf.com and during the installation it asks if you want to set it as your default printer. It is not my program and I don't have anything to do with the company that makes it but I use it myself to save on paper.
If you can't find the answer here, email me by clicking here, giving as much detail as possible as to the problem. Include details about your computer system if appropriate e.g. Windows XP, 256 MB RAM etc. We will get back to you quite quickly as we check our mail regularly.
Use the back button on your browser to return to where you were.
Thanks for the TERRIFIC software at a great price! Suzanne, USA
I've been a happy Olltwit user for years - I downloaded several of your programs back in '04, for my older son to use. Now it's time for my younger son to use them, and I've come back to your site to find 1) I owe you, and 2) you have more great stuff. I'm happy to pay up because I know the quality of your programs. Mary Beth, Indiana, USA
We got your DVD and its fab!
Many thanks
Lorrane, Scotland
Thank you for creating these programs.
I have ADHD like your son, Richard, and got really much help from your great educational programs.
Paal, Norway
