Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to use Second Life (SL)?

There is no charge for using Second Life. You can register your avatar and download the software for no charge. You only need to spend money if you wish to buy clothes and other items for your avatar or to build on your own land.

I am trying to install the software at work but something stops it.

Many places of work and educational establishments use virus checkers and security systems which will stop the viewer software from unpacking. However, you will probably find that you can unpack the software at home or on your own laptop perfectly OK. You can copy the files onto your work machine and run it by double clicking on the file SecondLife.exe (on PCs).

When I try to log on to Second Life it stops before it completes.

When you log in the progress is shown on a horizontal bar on your screen. If this gets part way and stops it could be because of firewall security at your place of work. To fix this talk to the people who control your network and direct them to this page http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Configuring_your_hardware_firewall on the SL web site.  You are very unlikely to have firewall problems on your own computer.

Do I need a powerful computer to run Second Life?

Most fairly new computers will run it perfectly well. Having a good graphics card will make it run better. Look here http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/  for some advice but don’t be put off if your system doesn’t match the list. Try it and it will probably work fine.

Second Life runs but its very slow. What can I do?

You may have too many facilities turned on. Start the viewer software and then go to the Me menu top left and select Preferences and then click on the Graphics tab. Make sure the Draw Distance is low – around 100 metres. This will put less of a load on your computer. You can experiment with these settings while using SL. You can also uncheck other boxes. Generally the better quality the image the more work your computer has to do.

Can I change things about my avatar?

You can change almost everything except the name you log on with. You can use different shapes and skins to change the gender and apparent age of your avatar. You can even change between animals and robots. The library at the bottom of your inventory has many assets for this and you can buy more in SL or even make your own.

Can I have more than one avatar?

Yes, there is no limit but if you try to register many from the same computer you may find you are limited. However, if you have a good reason (e.g. wanting many avatars for students) you can create a support request to have your computer white listed. This removes the limit. Alternatively you can use a computer somewhere else to register avatars. There are no restrictions about which avatars can be used on which computers.

Can I run Second Life on my Macintosh computer?

Yes there are versions of the viewer for Windows, Macintosh and Linux computers. The viewer software is available to anyone so there are also other viewers available in addition to those from Linden Labs. Use a search engine to find these.

Where can I get further help?

There is a lot more help on the Second Life web site, you can email Alan Hudson on alan@alanhudson.org but one of the best sources is the users of Second Life. If you are near someone in SL ask them using open chat or an instant message (IM). Most people in SL are helpful and friendly. There are also many groups designed to help the members. If you have a particular interest or hobby there is probably a group in SL. Join the group and ask questions by group IMs. There are also free classes in SL. You can attend and learn about using and building in SL or talk about your favourite poet or film maker.