| Today, almost all new software comes to your PC from one of two sources: a CD or the Internet. The era of floppy-disk installers is over; you'd need a wheelbarrow to hold all the floppies required to install the average program these days. Modern software usually comes with an installer program that's designed to transfer the software files to the correct places on your hard drive. The installer also adds the new program's name to the Start  All Programs menu, tells Windows about the kinds of files (file extensions) it can open , and makes certain changes to your registry (Section 16.10). 6.10.1 The Pre-Installation Checklist You can often get away with blindly installing some new program without heeding the checklist below. But for the healthiest PC and the least time on hold with tech support, answer these questions before you install anything: -
Are you an administrator ? Windows XP derives part of its security and stability by handling new software installations with suspicion. For example, you can't install most programs unless you have an administrator account (see Section 17.3.1). (The exception: You may be able to install new software if you upgraded your PC from a copy of Windows 2000 on a corporate network, and your account was in the Power Users group .) If you have only a normal account, most attempts to install new software crash and burn with some kind of error message. (If it's a relatively new program, the message might make sense: "To install this program, you must be an administrator or have administrator approval." Programs that predate Windows XP, on the other hand, may chug along happily for about a minute before conking out with some bizarre message of confusion.) -
Does it run in Windows XP ? Windows XP is compatible with far more programs than Windows 2000 was ”but far fewer than, say, Windows 98 or Windows Me. If the software or its Web site specifically says it's compatible with Windows XP, great. Install away. Otherwise, consult the Microsoft Web site, which includes a list ”not a complete one, but a long one ”of all XP-compatible programs. (The easiest way to get there is to choose Start Help and Support, then click the "Find compatible hardware and software for Windows XP" link.) POWER USERS' CLINIC
Who Gets the Software? As you're probably becoming increasingly aware, Microsoft designed Windows XP from Day 1 to be a multi- user operating system, in which each person who logs in enjoys an independent environment ”from the desktop pattern to the email In Outlook Express. The question arises: When someone installs the new program, does every account holder have equal access to it? In general, the answer is yes. If an administrator (Section 17.3.1) installs a new program, a shortcut winds up in the Local Disk (C:) Documents and Settings All Users Start Menu Programs folder. In other words, a newly installed program generally shows up on the Start All Programs menu of every account holder. Occasionally, a program's installer may offer you a choice: Install the new software so that it's available either to everybody or only to you, the currently logged-in account holder. Also occasionally, certain programs might just install software into your own account, so that nobody else who logs in even knows that the program exists. In that case, you can proceed in either of two ways. First, you can simply log in to each account, one after another, reinstalling the program for each account. Second, you may be able to get away with moving the program's shortcut from your own personal account folder to the corresponding location in the All Users folder. As Section 17.8 makes clear, Windows XP actually maintains two different types of Programs folders: one that's shared by everybody, and another for each individual account holder. Here's where that information pays off: Open your Start All Programs menu; right-click the name of the program you want everyone to be able to access, and choose Copy from the shortcut menu. Now right-click the Start menu; from the shortcut menu, choose Open All Users. In the window that appears, right-click the Programs folder and choose Paste from the shortcut menu. The program now appears on the Start menu of everybody who uses the machine. |
NOTE See "Older Programs" later in this chapter for compatibility tips. -
Is the coast clear ? Exit all your open programs. (One quick way: Right-click the buttons on the taskbar, one at a time, and choose Close from the shortcut menu.) You should also turn off your virus-scanning software, which may take the arrival of your new software the wrong way. -
Am I prepared to backtrack ? If you're at all concerned about the health and safety of the software you're about to install, remember that the System Restore feature (Section 16.1) takes an automatic snapshot of your Windows system just before any new software installation. If the new program you've installed turns out to be a bit hostile , you can rewind your system to its current happier working condition, in the process wiping out every trace of damage (and software) that you've introduced. 6.10.2 Installing Software from a CD Most commercial software these days comes on a CD. On each one is a program called Setup, which, on most installation CDs, runs automatically when you insert the disk into the machine. You're witnessing the AutoPlay feature at work. If Autoplay is working, a few seconds after you insert the CD into your drive, the hourglass cursor appears. A few seconds later, the Welcome screen for your new software appears, and you may be asked to answer a few onscreen questions (for example, to specify the folder into which you want the new program installed). Along the way, the program may ask you to type in a serial number, which is usually on a sticker on the CD envelope or the registration card. If the last installer window has a Finish button, click it. The installation program transfers the software files to your hard drive. When it's all over, you may be asked to restart the machine. In any case, open the Start menu; a yellow "New programs have been installed" balloon appears next to the All Programs button. If you click there, the program's name appears highlighted in orange, and your Start All Programs menu is now ready for action. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION
Microsoft InstallShield? I'm a bit confused . I bought a program from Infinity Workware. But when I run its installer, the Welcome screen says InstallShield. Who actually made my software? Most of the time, the installer program isn't part of the software you bought or downloaded, and doesn't even come from the same company. Most software companies pay a license to installer-software companies. That's why, when you're trying to install a new program called, say, JailhouseDoctor, the first screen you see says InstallShield. (InstallShield is the most popular installation software.) |
6.10.2.1 Installing software using "Add or Remove Programs" Windows XP offers a second, more universal installation method: the greatly improved, but still ingeniously named, Add or Remove Programs program. To see it, open Start Control Panel Add or Remove Programs. As shown in Figure 6-16, this listing shows every program on your PC ”well, at least those that were installed using a standard Windows installer. Click the name of one to expand its "panel," a thick gray bar that shows you how much disk space the program takes, when you last used it, and so on. Figure 6-16. Use the "Sort by" drop-down menu to sort the list by Frequency of Use. This view lets you see which programs have been eating up disk space unnecessarily ”programs you hardly ever use. To vaporize a program, click its name to reveal its gray, highlighted panel, as shown here, and then click the Change/Remove button.  NOTE Some programs include a "Click here for support information" link, which produces a little window revealing the name, Web site, and sometimes the phone number of the software company responsible for the software in question. Use "Add or Remove Programs" whenever the usual auto-starting CD installation routine doesn't apply ”for example, when the CD hasn't been programmed for AutoPlay, when the installer comes on floppy disks (remember those?), or when the installer is somewhere else on your office network. To make it work, insert the floppy disk or CD that contains the software you want to install. Then click the Add New Programs button at the left side of the window. Finally, click the CD or Floppy button to make Windows look around for the Setup program on the disk or CD you've inserted. If the technology gods are smiling, the installation process now begins, exactly as described above. 6.10.3 Installing Downloaded Software The files you download from the Internet (see Figure 6-13) usually aren't ready-to-use, double-clickable applications. Instead, almost all of them arrive on your PC in the form of a compressed file, with all the software pieces crammed together into a single, easily downloaded icon. The first step in savoring your downloaded delights is restoring this compressed file to its natural state, as described in Section 15.2.2. Figure 6-13. You can find thousands of Windows programs (demos, free programs, and shareware) at Web sites like http://downloads.com, http:// tucows .com, or http://computingcentral.msn.com. Top: When you click a link to download something, this box appears. Click the Save button. Bottom: To avoid losing the download in some deeply nested folder, choose Desktop from the "Save in:" drop-down list at the top of this box. After the download is complete, quit your browser. Unzip the file, if necessary, and then run the downloaded installer.  After unzipping the software (if it doesn't unzip itself), you'll usually find, among the resulting pieces, an installer, just like the ones described in the previous section. 6.10.4 Installing Pre-Loaded Software As you probably know, Microsoft doesn't actually sell PCs (yet). Therefore, you bought your machine from a different company, which probably installed Windows on it before you took delivery. Many PC companies sweeten the pot by preinstalling other programs, such as Quicken, Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office, more games , educational software, and so on. The great thing about preloaded programs is that they don't need installing. Just double-click their desktop icons, or choose their names from the Start All Programs menu, and you're off and working. 6.10.5 Installing Windows Components The Windows XP installer may have dumped over a gigabyte of software onto your hard drive, but it was only warming up. Plenty of second- tier programs and features are left behind on the CD ”stuff that Microsoft didn't want to burden you with right off the bat, but included on the CD just in case. To see the master list of software components that you have and haven't yet installed, choose Start Control Panel Add or Remove Programs." Click the Add/Remove Windows Components button at the left side of the window. You've just launched the Windows Components Wizard ”basically a list of all the optional Windows software chunks . Checkmarks appear next to some of them; these are the ones you already have. The checkboxes that aren't turned on are the options you still haven't installed. As you peruse the list, keep in mind the following: -
To learn what something is, click its name once. A description appears below the list. -
Turn on the checkboxes for software bits you want to install. Clear the checkboxes of elements you already have, but that you'd like Windows to delete in order to create more free space on your hard drive. -
To the right of the name of each software chunk , you can see how much disk space it uses when it's installed. Keep an eye on the "Space available on disk" statistic at the bottom of the dialog box to make sure you don't overwhelm your hard drive. -
Windows may ask you to insert your Windows CD. -
Some of these checkboxes' titles are just titles for bigger groups of independent software chunks (see Figure 6-14). Figure 6-14. Most of the optional installations involve networking and administrative tools designed for corporate computer technicians. One in particular, however, can be useful to just about anybody: Fax Services. This optional installation is the software that turns your PC into a fax machine.  As you click the name of a software component, the Details button may spring to life, " waking up" from its faded look. When you click it, another list of elements appears ”the ones that make up the software category. The truth is, most people find this list more useful for its ability to remove nonessential Windows files (including wallpaper, sounds, screen savers, and so on), saving multimegabytes of disk space on the process. (Some ideas: the 12 MB of games and the 13 MB of MSN Explorer [an America Online-like Web browser].) Just turn off the corresponding checkboxes, click OK, and then restart your machine. 6.10.6 Setting Program Access and Defaults Software is never finished ” especially Microsoft's. That's why, in the fall of 2002, Microsoft released a 330 MB software updater called Service Pack 1. (If your PC didn't come with SP1 already installed, you can download the installer from http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/pro/downloads/servicepacks/sp1/default.asp. The same Web site includes instructions for ordering the SP1 on a CD for $10.) NOTE To find out if you already have SP1, right-click My Computer and choose Properties. You'll see "Service Pack 1" beneath the other System details. SP1 doesn't change XP's looks, features, or speed. It's mostly what Automatic Update (Section 9.23.6) has been feeding you all along: bug fixes, security patches for your Internet programs, and so on. But it also offers a few changes like these: -
It makes Windows recognize USB 2.0, a faster kind of add-on equipment connector that's available on new PCs. -
It installs Java (Missing in Action: Java ). -
If you make substantial changes to your PC's guts ”surgery so dramatic that you have to reactivate XP (Section 1.5) ”you now have a three-day grace period before Windows locks you out of your own machine. The real raison d' tre for SP1, though, is satisfying the U.S. Department of Justice. In its agreement, Microsoft promised to give its competitors a fighting chance at equal footing. For the first time, Windows offers you the chance to hide Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, and a few other standard Microsoft programs, which is presumably a benefit to people who prefer Netscape, Eudora, and Microsoft's other rivals. You can view this new dialog box by choosing Start All Programs Set Program Access and Defaults (a new command). (The long way: Open the Add or Remove Programs icon in the Control Panel, and then click the new Set Program Access and Defaults icon at the left side.) You see the display shown at top in Figure 6-15, where you can choose from among these options: -
Microsoft Windows means, "Use all of Microsoft's utility programs, just as Windows XP has been doing from Day One." You're saying that you prefer Microsoft's Web browser (Internet Explorer), email program (Outlook Express), Media Player (Windows Media Player), and instant messaging program (Windows Messenger). Selecting this option doesn't prevent you from using other browsers, email programs, and so on ”you'll still find them listed in the Start All Programs menu. But this option does put the Internet Explorer and Outlook Express icons, for example, into prime positions at the upper-left section of your Start menu for quick and easy access. -
Non-Microsoft means, "Use anything but Microsoft's programs! Instead, use Netscape Navigator, Eudora, RealPlayer, Sun's Java, or whatever ”just nothing from Microsoft." You should install your preferred alternate programs before selecting this option. Otherwise, the only programs this feature "sees" are Microsoft programs, which would make selecting this option a tad pointless. As with the "Microsoft" option, choosing this option places your preferred programs' icons into the upper-left section of your Start menu. Unlike the "Microsoft" option, however, this option removes access to the corresponding Microsoft programs. If you choose a non-Microsoft program as your email program, for example, Outlook Express disappears completely from the All Programs menu and its folder (in C: Program Files). Figure 6-15 shows the idea. Of course, Microsoft's programs aren't really gone ”they're just hidden. They pop right back when you choose the "Microsoft" option, or when you choose Custom (described below) and then click the associated "Enable access to this program" checkbox. Just remember to click OK to apply your changes. -
Computer Manufacturer means, "Use whatever programs are recommended by Dell" (or whoever made the PC and signed deals with AOL, Real, and so on). This option doesn't appear on all PCs. -
Custom lets you choose each kind of program independently, whether it comes from Microsoft or not. For example, you can choose Netscape, Internet Explorer, or your current Web browser as your default browser. During your selection process, make sure that you've turned on "Enable access to this program" for each program you want to access (whether or not you're choosing it as the default program). Otherwise, Windows may deny access to that program. Figure 6-15. Top: Justice at work. Microsoft's settlement with the U.S. govern -ment included giving you the opportunity of hiding non-Microsoft programs. Choosing "Non-Microsoft" completely hides all traces of Microsoft's Web browser, email programs, and so on. They don't even appear in the Start menu. Bottom: Choosing Custom lets you mix and match: Microsoft software for some functions, other companies for others.  NOTE Not all non-Microsoft programs show up here ”only versions that have been released since SP1 became available.  |
