The PeopleFinder series of CD-ROM-based investigative software products
provides the User with
access to data files containing the Name, Address, Telephone Number
and Date of Birth of the majority
of adults in the United States- all cross-referenced and searchable
by any field. Some PeopleFinder
products contain additional vital data, such as driver license records.
The PeopleFinder series has been designed to be as user-friendly and
as cost-efficient as possible.
There are no "meters" or "expiration dates" programmed
into any PeopleFinder disc, and so there
are no limits of any kind placed on the number of times that you can
use a PeopleFinder product.
We believe that the PeopleFinder User Interface software has been designed
as logically and intuitively
as possible. This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file has been prepared
to assist the PeopleFinder
user with searching tips and shortcuts.
It is recommended that this FAQ file be printed for convenient future
availability.
To read a duplicate of this Help file at any time, press the "F-1"
function key from the main input screen
of any PeopleFinder CD-ROM.
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IMPORTANT USER TIP: Many PeopleFinder
CD-ROM products are divided into two or more
CD-ROM discs. When searching, please be certain to process your search
through all of the
appropriate CD-ROMs in the set.
The disc that is in your CD drive when you perform a search (i.e.,
when you press or select the
"Accept" button) is the disc that will be searched. You may
manually eject the CD and insert
another CD from the set BEFORE you have performed your search (i.e.,
BEFORE you have
pressed "Accept").
DO NOT EJECT THE DISC WHILE VIEWING A RECORD PREVIEW LIST, VIEWING
A COMPLETE RECORD OR LINK, OR A DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT.
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MENU NAVIGATION :
The PeopleFinder User Interface software supports use of the Page Up-Page
Down keys, the
"arrow" keys, the Tab key, the Return and Enter keys, and
any IBM-compatible mouse or trackball.
Use of a color monitor with the PeopleFinder CD-ROMs is recommended,
and allows the User to
take advantage of the colored highlighting features programmed into
the PeopleFinder User Interface.
PeopleFinder software is an "enhanced" program, designed
for maximum speed, and will run on any IBM-compatible computer operating
with a 386 processor, or better.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If your machine is running
under a 286 processor, or similar, you must use the
"...286.EXE" program to run PeopleFinder on your computer.
(Example: when using PeopleFinder
Texas, type: "TEX286" instead of "TEX", and press
Enter.) This will allow PeopleFinder discs to run
on your 286 processor nearly as fast as on a newer machine.
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USING THE PEOPLEFINDER SEARCH MENU :
The "TRACE" Menu:
All data contained in PeopleFinder discs is accessed through the "TRACE"
menu.
There are a number of different choices available for TRACE request
input:
"Person" (allows tracing by full or partial subject
Name and/or D.O.B.) (shortcut: "F-3" function key)
USER TIP: It is possible to input a "range"
of year(s) of birth, instead of a complete date of birth. (DOB).
Example: entering "67-77" in the "YY" (YEAR) field
searches for a person believed to be in his/her 20s.
USER TIP: If the PeopleFinder multi-CD
set that you are using is separated by alphabetical surnames,
remember to search the People Finder CD-ROM disc containing the correct
surname for your subject.
If the surname is unknown, be sure to search each People Finder CD-ROM
disc in the set.
USER TIP: Using the wildcard feature when
entering data in the Surname field (eg.: "TYLER*" )
will ensure that you will retrieve all variations of that Surname,
including "TYLER JR", "TYLER SR"
"TYLER-JOHNSON", etc. See below for a more detailed explanation
of Wildcard searching.
"Location" (allows tracing by full or partial address
; provides a list of all persons shown cross-
referenced with the address) (shortcut: "F-4" function key)
USER TIP: It is possible to input a "range"
of street numbers, instead of a specific location.
(Example: entering "10-20" in the House Number field and
"MAIN ST*" for the Street Address
will identify all residents of "MAIN ST" (or "MAIN
STREET") having house numbers such as
"10","14","18",etc)
USER TIP: If the PeopleFinder multi-CD
set that you are using is separated by geographical region,
remember to search the People Finder CD-ROM disc for the appropriate
region.
IMPORTANT USER TIP: It is strongly recommended
that you use the Wildcard feature for
the Street Name field. See below for an explanation.
"Telephone" (allows tracing of a telephone number)
(shortcut: "F-5" function key)
USER TIP: If you are using a PeopleFinder
multi-CD set, you are advised to trace the Telephone
Number by using each People Finder CD-ROM disc in the set.
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"WILDCARD" SEARCHING :
"Wildcard" searching is permitted when searching by "Person"
or "Location".
To invoke a wildcard search, simply add an asterisk (*) to the end
of your input, and all records
beginning with your input will be returned.
Example: a wildcard search for the surname "JON*" through
PeopleFinder Texas may return
the following sample initial record set:
JON HEIMBURG, JOY A 041542 ENGLEWOOD TX
JONA, ANDREW D 122454 2145551101 DALLAS TX
JONACK, STEPHAN 041968 9725551004 CARROLTON TX
JONAH, ANNE C 110362 DEAF SMITH TX
... ETC.
After you have reviewed the initial set of records matching your search
criteria, you can then select
individual records for "expansion" (viewing the complete
record) by using the arrow keys on your
keyboard to move the highlighted bar to the record that you wish to
expand, and then pressing the
RETURN (or ENTER) key.
(Note: There is no wildcard searching
permitted when tracing a telephone number.)
IMPORTANT USER TIP: When running a "Location"
trace, you MUST use a wildcard search if you
do not know if the input address is a "Street","Avenue",
"Lane", etc.
(Example: "WILSON*" will match "WILSON", "WILSON
ST", WILSON STREET", "WILSONDALE
PARK", etc. Even when the street type is known, it is suggested
that you invoke the Wildcard feature to
accommodate possible variation in the database itself. If your target
is listed under "WILSON STREET", and
you input a search for "WILSON ST", the record will not be
found. However, using the Wildcard feature,
and inputing a search for "WILSON*" (note the asterisk),
will return the desired record.
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"Limit"-ing a Trace :
IMPORTANT USER TIP: Certain "PERSON"
traces, especially surname-only traces using the
"wildcard" feature, might return a large and unmanageable
number of records. For that reason, the
PeopleFinder software provides the User with a "LIMIT" feature,
available from the "TRACE - PERSON"
screen. Invoking the "LIMIT" command allows the User to "limit"
the search for a person to a specific
City and/or Zip Code and/or Street.
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IMPORTANT USER TIP: It is possible to
halt a search while it is still running. Simply press the
<Escape> (or <ESC>) key on your keyboard, and the search
operation will stop. You will then be
provided with all of the records assembled to that point in the search.
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"LINKS" to a Trace-d Record :
Once you have completed a Search, and selected ONE (1) specific record
from the Record Preview
Screen, it is possible to "LINK" that selected record to
other related records. This is one of the most
powerful features of the PeopleFinder software.
To invoke this feature, click on the "LINKS" button on the
bottom of the "RECORD DISPLAY"
screen (or press the letter "L" on your keyboard).
You are able to identify LINKS between the record you have found, and
other PeopleFinder records
that contain the same:
FULL NAME and CITY (Helps to identify address variations or
multiple addresses.)
LAST NAME , STREET and ZIP CODE (Allows flexibility in locating
persons living together.)
LAST NAME and CITY (Useful for identifying family members, or
an individual using a
variety of given name(s).)
FIRST NAME and DOB (Useful for determining a female's "married"
and "maiden" names.)
COMPLETE ADDRESS (Alert: this will return an EXACT address match,
including
apartment, so use this LINK only for an exact match.)
TELEPHONE NUMBER (Can help to identify persons using the same
telephone number.)
FULL NAME and DOB (Useful for developing multiple addresses
for the same person.)
FULL NAME and ZIP (Can identify inadvertent address variations.)
LAST NAME and DOB (Useful for identifying a person using a variety
of given name(s).)
LAST NAME and ZIP (Useful to provide a degree of flexibility
in the search.)
STREET ADDRESS (More forgiving than "COMPLETE ADDRESS".
Looks for other
people residing in the same building.)
STREET and ZIP CODE (An easy way to get a list of neighbors.)
To allow for the highest level of "on disc investigation",
multiple levels of "LINK"-ing of
records is possible.
NOTE: "LINK"-ing across different
discs of a multi-CD set is not supported.
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"DEMOGRAPHICS" of a Trace-d Record :
Once you have completed a Search, and selected ONE (1) specific record
from the Record Preview
Screen, it is possible to obtain the DEMOGRAPHICS for the address (Zip
Code) cross-referenced
to that selected record.
To invoke this feature, click on the "DEMOGRAPHICS" button
on the bottom of the "RECORD
DISPLAY" screen.
Included in the on-disc DEMOGRAPHICS report are: (area) population,
number of males and females,
(area) racial compositions, average area income, and average area household
value.
SOURCE NOTE: All "DEMOGRAPHICS"
data contained in the PeopleFinder discs has been extracted
from updates to the most recent United States census. Although we have
been able to provide demographic
data for the vast majority of locations, certain areas do not have
figures calculated for them by the U.S.
Bureau of the Census, and therefore a request for DEMOGRAPHICS data
for those few zip codes will
not return information.
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The "OPTIONS" Menu:
For your convenience, the PeopleFinder discs can be modified by the
User to display the preview
"Summary Screen" in a variety of formats :
"NAME, DOB, ADDR, CITY, STATE"
"NAME, ADDR, CITY, STATE, ZIP"
"NAME, DOB, PHONE, CITY, STATE, ZIP"
To select an output format, use the arrow keys, or your mouse, to
highlight the preferred output,
and then select "OK".
IMPORTANT USER TIP: You must select a
different output format BEFORE running a trace,
if you do not desire the default preview output format.
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The "HELP" Menu:
The HELP Menu typically provides a menu interface to five (5) text
files (although this may
vary slightly) :
"Register"
"PeopleFinder..."
"About The Wingate Group"
"Advanced Skiptracing"
"CD-ROM Products".
"Register" contains important information regarding discounts
and special offers available to
registered users of the PeopleFinder software products. (If you are
already a PeopleFinder
CD-ROM
PRODUCTS