The User Preferences window is accessed in the Main Display window through the Edit->Preferences menu. The General tab allows the user to configure many of the general settings within McIDAS-V. The image below represents the default settings for the General tab.

Image 1: General Preferences (Default)

• Show Help Tips on start - Displays the help tip window on start up.
• Show Data Explorer on start - Opens the Data Explorer window when McIDAS-V starts.
• Check for new version and notice on start - Checks at startup to see if your current version of McIDAS-V is up to date and checks for important notices from SSEC.
• Include prereleases in version check - Checks at startup to see if there is an updated prerelease version ready for download.
• Confirm before exiting - Asks the user to confirm before the exiting McIDAS-V.
• Automatically save default layout at exit - Stores the position of the Data Explorer for the next session.
• Save visibility of Data Explorer - Stores the visibility of the Data Explorer for the next session.
• Confirm removal of all data sources - Asks the user to confirm before removing all data sources.
• Confirm removal of all layers - Asks the user to confirm before removing all layers.
• Confirm removal of all layers and data sources - Asks the user to confirm before removing all layers and data sources.

• How to open bundle - Determines how the bundle will open. The dropdown list contains four options for opening bundles: Create new window(s), Merge with active tab(s), Add new tab(s) to current window, and Replace session.
• Prompt when opening bundles - Opens a window asking how to open the bundle, allowing you to choose each time you open a bundle.
• Prompt for location for zipped data - Allows you to specify a directory to place zipped data files, or choose to create a temporary directory.

• Show windows when they are created - Specifies that when a display is created its control window is automatically shown.
• Use fast rendering - Uses fast rendering to display data layers (images, contours, etc.); see Performance Tuning for more information. A separate fast rendering option for map layers is available in the Map Controls.
• Auto-select data when loading a template - Displays can be saved as a template without data. When it is created, should McIDAS-V attempt to automatically select the appropriate data fields.

• Remove the layer(s) - Specifies that when a display's window is closed then the layer itself is removed.
• Remove standalone layers - Removes the layer when the window is closed for a standalone layer (i.e., one that does not have a display component in the Main Display window).