The reason the CD's are browser based is that html files are smaller. I had problems getting my cd's to work at start too. Problem was I already had Acrobat reader ver 3 already installed and the cds require Acrobat version 4 which is on the first cd. When I installed Acrobat 4 and left Acrobat 3 on - the cds would not work - glitch after glitch. Solved the problem by uninstalling both acrobat readers 3&4 - rebooted and reinstalled Acrobat4 only from the cd and all was well. You also have to install Flash which I believe is also on the cd. You do not have to be connected to the internet to use them - just make sure EI is opened.