Installing and uninstalling software is relatively simple and
painless depending on how the software is bundled together. I’m going to talk a
little about how software is bundled first then tell you how to install it. So
let’s begin shall we? Software is bundled in several ways: they can be on
floppy disks, CD-ROM, archived in a compression format like WinZip or WinRar,
archived into a self extracting executable file, archived into a self
installing executable file, or archived into a MSI file. There are probably
more ways to bundle software but these are the ones that are most common, for
me at least anyway. I realize that some of this is geek to you and I will
clarify as we go along. Right, let’s get started shall we?
The floppy disk software
bundle is slowly fading away to nothing; however, they still exist, I’m not
sure when they will die, but I am sure that they will die some day. You may be
wondering way they are called floppy disks or what the heck is a floppy disk.
Well wonder no more the geek is here to tell you all about them.
You know those little plastic
disks with the sliding metal end and turning disk on the bottom; that is a
floppy disk. You may be thinking that they don’t look very floppy to you, so
why are they called floppies? Well back in the computer stone-age when
computers zoomed along at the blazing speed of 35 MHz (Mega Hertz), they
actually were floppy. They were 5 1/4 inches wide and could hold between 360Kb
to 750Kb (Kilo bytes or 1000 bytes). There was even an 8 inch floppy with a capacity
of a whopping 160Kb (sarcasm intended). Both the 8 inch and the 5 ¼ inch were
very thin and flexible, hence the name floppy. To days floppies are smaller,
stiffer, and hold more and can hold 1.44 Mb (Mega bytes or 1 million bytes) of
data. They do make higher capacity floppies but they are more expensive and
require expensive drives to use them.
Software bundled on floppies
are usually small programs like drivers (software that is use to run hardware)
or small games and such. The larger the program the more floppies needed to
install it. You won’t normally find more than 1 to 3 floppies for a program,
but it is possible albeit rare. So here is how you install the program, I am
assuming that the program is something other than drivers for hardware on your
computer. Just follow these steps:
1. Put the floppy disk into the floppy drive. If you have
more than one put it into the top one.
2. I normally use Windows Explorer (not Internet
Exploder), but for simplicity we will use My Computer. Not My Computer literally
but on you desktop there is the Icon called My Computer.
3. Double-click my computer. The floppy drives are
labeled are labeled A and B if you have two floppy drives.
4. Double-click the A drive. If you get an error message
saying drive not ready, click Cancel, make sure that the floppy is inserted all
the way, or if you have two floppy drives put the disk in the other drive.
Note: If you have more than one install disk be sure that the disk labeled
install disk 1 is the disk in the drive.
5. Assuming there are no errors a window should come up
with a bunch of files. Find the one that says Setup. If there is no Setup then
find the one that says Install.
6. Double-click Setup or Install. If on the off chance
that the install file is an MSI click here.
7. The installation program should start running. In a
few seconds you should get a window that says this will install program blah,
blah on your computer, click next.
8. In some cases it will bring you right to the license
agreement. In any case select the I agree or I accept radio button and click
next.
9. If the software prompts you for a registration key,
usually found on the box clearly labeled registration key or activation key,
enter that key exactly as shown. If it asks for your name and organization fill
in the blanks. I usually put none in the organization box, because the next
button will some times be grayed out until all boxes have been filled.
Note: Sometimes the program doesn’t require a key at all, and sometimes it
won’t prompt you to enter the key until the end of the installation process, or
in the case of Shareware you won’t have to enter a key until you buy it.
10.
Click the next
button and keep clicking until you can’t click anymore. With programs that have
more than one disk it will prompt you to insert the next disk. If the program
requires you to reboot (Restart your computer) it will usually ask you if you
want to restart your computer now. Click yes and your computer will restart.
Other wise you will have to do it yourself.
11.
If the program
doesn’t require a restart it is a good idea to restart your computer anyway.
CD-ROM is the most common
type of software bundle that you will get when purchasing software from a store
or online. The installation is even easier than floppies, just insert the CD
into the CD-ROM drive and close the tray. In a few seconds the installation
begins. So let’s go through the installation step by step.
1. Open the tray by pressing the far right button. If you
have more than one CD-ROM then put it in the one you most often use.
2. Insert the CD into the tray and close it by pressing
the same button you used to open it.
3. A few seconds later the installation program will run.
4. If it doesn’t then double-click My Computer, then
double-click the CD_ROM drive. Its drive designation can be any letter from D
on up. It will never be C, as C is your hard drive which contains all the
software on your computer including your Operating System. You will also notice
that the CD-ROM drive may have a funny looking picture representing the drive,
plus it will have the letter designation below it. If all you see is a little
CD Icon (a picture that represents a command or object.) then the CD-ROM either
didn’t read the CD, or you may have more than one CD-ROM. If the later is the
case then keep looking for the graphic of the program you are running.
Hint: All software bundles in a CD are given a volume label that will show up
beneath the CD Icon. This is how you know that the CD was read by the CD-ROM.
They usually have a cute little graphic to go with it. If you double click the
Default CD Icon you will get a drive not ready error.
5. If it did not start when up double-clicked the CD-ROM
then you will need to find the installation program called either Setup or
Install. You should not have to go any farther than the window you are in;
however, on occasion for reasons that are strange and mysterious the powers
that be put the installation program in its own folder either call setup or
install.
6. Ok, let assume that the CD was read and the
installation program started. Click any thing that says next, ok, or yes. Be
sure to accept the License agreement. Why they even have the stupid License
agreement is beyond me, if you don’t accept then the installation progress
halts.
7. Just keep clicking next until you can’t click no more.
Be sure to have the CD case or box ready with the CD key and enter it when
asked for. Some times the program will want you to register online; I usually
click the register later option and just don’t register. As far as I’m
concerned it’s none of their Bee’s wax who bought their software any way. But
any way that’s just my opinion.
You may notice that though I
have you clicking until you can’t click any more that there are sometimes other
selections to make while installing. There are other options that can be made
when installing software, but these settings should only be used by advanced
users. It is best when starting out to just accept the defaults of the installation
program. When you become more comfortable with installing software then you can
start messing with some of the options.
WinZip
and WinRar are two of the most common file compression and archiving software
tools out there for windows users. They are flexible, able to read many
different compression formats, and both are able to make self extracting
executable compressed archive.
I
know I’m speaking geek again. So here’s the skinny. An archive is a file that
contains multiple files for easy storage and retrieval. In addition to storing
multiple files they can be and often are compressed making them smaller than
the original. Very handy indeed for transport to other locations;
unfortunately, the compression is not as good as some would like. They can’t as
of yet compress say 100Mb into less than 1Mb. If you find a utility that does
please let me know I want it. Anyway, there are several formats zip and rar are
probably the most common.
How
do I tell if it’s a zip or a rar file format? Simple really, you can tell by
the file extension. I know, I know I’m speaking geek again. So here goes the
explanation. After the Jurassic period of the computer age there can the file
naming convention called 7 plus 3. With the invention of Windows 95 long file
names became more common. 7 plus 3, long file names, what? The old method of
naming a file was to give the main name no more than seven characters plus a 3
character file extension. They would be separated by a dot, thus myfile.txt
would be a legal file name. The txt file extension meant that the file was a
text file. The old OS’s could not read or understand filename over 7 characters
long. With the invention of long file name support the 7 plus 3 file name became
a thing of the past; however, the 3 character file extension is still in use.
If
you will notice that there are 3 characters in zip and rar. These are file
extensions and it is with these extensions that tell the computer what sort of
program is used to open these files. I will explain in another section how to
show and recognize file extensions. For now you can tell a WinZip or WinRar
file by the Icon representing it, it is necessary to have WinZip or WinRar
installed in order for the Icon to be shown. Otherwise all you will see is a
generic Icon that looks like a window. Ok let’s get down to it.
1. Navigate to the zip or rar file using what ever method
you choose.
2. Double-click the zip or rar file.
3. A window will popup in a few seconds that will contain
all the files within the archive. Press and hold the Ctrl key and press the A
key. Every file and folder should now be selected, if not click the edit menu
in the archive window click select all.
4. Once everything is selected click the extract button.
5. Pay very close attention to the extract to box in the
window that pops up. It should say some thing like C:\windows\temp. Of course
any path (Geek term for location of a file) name can be in this box. What I do
here is change the path to the desktop and create a new folder.
6. To change the path click the browse button, then click
desktop. If the Desktop Icon is not in the window, click the plus sign next to
the C drive, click the plus button next to the windows folder. Now click the
desktop folder and click ok.
7. Now in the extract to box type a folder name by lick
so {C:\windows\desktop\folder name goes here}. I is important to put the slash
or it won’t work.
8. Click Ok. If asked if you want to create the folder
click yes.
Note that some versions of WinRar or WinZip may have different controls to create
folders or to navigate. It is a good idea to learn how your particular version
of WinZip or WinRar works. The help systems that come with these utilities will
help you enough to figure it out.
9. If all has went well you will have a folder on your
desktop, double-click that folder and find the install or setup file and
double-click it.
10.
Be sure to accept
the license agreement, click next when needed, and fill in any pertinent information
required and all should go well. Most installations are pretty straight forward;
and unless you feel comfortable with using the advance features that come with
the installation, just use the default settings.
I
recommend creating a permanent folder on your desktop to extract programs to
for installation; however, not all programs in an archive require the use of an
installation file. Some times they only need to be extracted into its own
folder. Most archives will have a readme file that you can open from within the
archive it is a good idea to read these files as they may contain installation
instructions.
Self extracting executable files are more convenient for
those who do not have WinZip, WinRar, or some other file archiving and
compression utility. But the default location that it will extract to is
C:\windows\temp, this is fine if there is nothing in the temp folder; however,
this is rarely the case. You can change the folder it will extract to by
clicking twice in the extract to box. The reason for clicking twice is to
unselect the text and place the cursor at the end. Hit the backspace key 4
times, then type desktop\{you install folder goes here} and click extract. As with
all other installations find and double-click the install/setup file.
Self installing executable files are even more convenient
than self extracting files all you have to do is double-click and the process
is the same as before. Easy peezy.
MSI
stands for Microsoft Installer, these files are self installing archives just
like any other. The process is the same as Self installing executable archive
files.
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