ThinkJump Journal

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Entries by Kim Gentes (120)

I know it ain't spiritual, but how the heck do I install this software? (ThinkJump Journal #9 with Kim Gentes)

Wednesday, August 8, 2007 at 10:28PM

Installing Software...

The other day I was talking to a friend who was having trouble with some computer related stuff. Being a geek from way back (yes, I am formally trained as a computer geek), I take it for granted that every house has someone who lives and speaks "geek". But alas, it's just not true. So while this journal entry may not be a joyfest for those who regularly read for deep spiritual truth, hopefully this can be a bit of a reference point should you ever run into problems installing software.

For those who care, I spent several years working in the software engineering for many companies. One of my specialities for a while was writing installation software for device drivers (deeply geeky programs). One of the companies I worked for (Intel) used a driver installer I wrote for a graphics driver of theirs, which eventually ended up on over 20 million computers. What that means to the developer is that you get 20 million chances to be wrong about something :). That being true, I found out all the errors I could make, and some that people make trying to install software. What I found out is that people sometimes don't necessarily know what to do when told "install the software". If it doesn't work, then they get lost.

This little guide is something I wrote that is meant to help troubleshoot when things go wrong when you are trying to install software. Hopefully, if you ever have a problem with installing something you bought or downloaded, this little guide can serve as a place of help.

That's it! Hope it helps!

your friendly neighborhood geek for God

Kim Gentes

Troubleshooting guide for installations: "I am having problems installing software. What should I do now? "

1. Follow instructions!

Doh! Ok, so you just downloaded the software and tried to install it. You didn't read any instructions because you don't need to. Right? Well, if that is you, you should probably start over by reading the actual instructions that came with the software package you are trying to install. Typically, with the download email you got from the store you purchased the software from online (if it was an online purchase for a download), you will have received the URL for the program to download AND instructions along with it that describe any important details you should follow when installing the software. So if you have specific instructions on how to install a software program, you should be sure to follow them.

2. Do the standard thing!

Installing software on Windows machines (computers that run Microsoft Windows 95,98,Me, NT, 2000 or XP operating systems) usually follows a few short steps:

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OK, I went and tried the above steps, but the installation still doesn't work. What should I do now?

Having problems installing software can be the result of a few things. I have been a software engineer for years, much of it spent writing installation programs, just like the one you are now using to install your software. When a problem of this type happens, it usually signifies that some portion of the target machine is constraining its environment in some way. If that is not the case, it can mean there is user error during the installation. Finally, a third main category of failing installations is that the installation program itself is faulty. To help explain possibilities and probable remedies for these broad categories, I have taken and expounded on detailed possibilities that I am aware of that can cause these three main areas of installation failure. I am listing these detailed problems here for your information, hoping that it can help you can recognize and diagnose the problem.

My disclaimer: Since I am not at your home, I can't diagnose the problem for you. Take extreme caution in how you change or alter your computer in any way. I give you this list as possibilities, but you must determine for yourself what is reasonable and applicable for your situation, and be sure you backup and validate your changes so that you do not further harm your PC. I hope these suggestions are helpful for diagnosing and fixing the installation problems you are having. Remember: while that is a decent list of installation problem areas that can occur, it is not exhaustive (though it may be exhausting!). If none of the above helps you out, the best thing you can do is contact the software development company directly!

Here is the list of possible problems or conditions that can occur on your computer that can affect the operation of a software installation:

1. Installation User Privileges on the system

Typically, on Windows based machines, you must be a user with full system privileges to be allowed to install new software on a system. This can manifest itself in a variety of ways, the most common of which being a visible failure during the installation process. You might see an error screen report something about user and administrative priviledges, if this has occurred. To mitigate this issue, you should be logged in as an administrator on the PC to install software (you can run software at other levels, but for installation it is usually required that you be an admin).

2. Disk Space

If you are drastically low on hard drive space, you can get this type of error during installation, since it requires that the temporary file space needed for installation processing will be about 2 or 3 times the final "footprint" of data space you will need once a successful installation is complete and the program is working. If you do not have plenty of disk space, such an error can occur. For example, if the file is about 33 Mb, I would recommend at least 100 Mb of file space available for installation. This does not mean the installation program will leave that much on your disk, only that (during the installation process) it may require that much in expanding, comparing and installing all the files it must contend with.

3. Virus Checking

Many systems have virus checking software installed on them which monitors all file operations and limits some installation activities that it considers a possible risk. It is highly advisable to turn off all virus scanning during software installations. The dichotomy of this is that the installation process is the best time for software to actually introduce a virus into a system. This is the reason that I recommend you only install software you know to be free of viruses, by recommendation of friends. You can also pre scan any file (including a demo installation file) for viruses before you execute the installation. Once you have pre scanned it, then turn off ALL virus scanning, and install the software.

4. Current Virus Infestation

Another problem that can occur during installation is actual virus activity. This is not virus scanning by good tools like TrendMicro or Nod32- it is actual infected systems that hamper the proper operation and installation of software on a computer system. Again, scanning the ENTIRE system prior to installation with a trusted tool is a critical step in safeguarding your computer and helping software install and operate properly.

5. Ad-ware & Bloatware

A serious consideration now, on almost any system (especially Windows machines), is the amount of notorious spam software that gets installed on a PC. This can happen by legitimate software packages embedding "spam" software inside of the installation of real programs (for example, when you install one program and others get installed along with it). Many major software programs now do exactly that type of thing- they install add-on software that is purely marketing, or user tracking "hidden" programs. Unwanted installation of software can also happen simply by surfing the internet. Many web pages install "spam-ware" right on your computer to track how user operations of the computer, and spam the user with its ads. After several months a computer can become almost completely crippled into uselessness. Recently, I helped a friend with his computer system on which I found 600+ bloat-ware/ad-ware files and registry entries that simply were unwanted programs executing on his PC. His PC had become almost totally useless. Not only, could I not install anything on it (without GREAT time and effort), but he could barely even log in to his machine anymore, because the ad/bloat ware was completely consuming his machine resources. FORTUNATELY, there is a cure for this-- it is a FREE program called "Ad-Aware". I use this program notoriously to clean up my machine from the junk it collects while surfing the internet. You can find out more information about it at http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/ . You can download the software at : http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/ . Running that software will help any computer immensely in recovering disk space, registry cleaning and resource allocation.

6. Directory/File Permissions

Occasionally, a user is able to do some portions of an install and then it fails. Often times this happens when the install has been written such that it has to overwrite files on the target machines. This is required in cases where the install has been done multiple times, and the installation program needs to clean up after a previously failed install. Depending on the version of Windows you are running, the "fix" for this is slightly different. You sound like a knowledgeable person with computers, so I will just tell you what to do, and hopefully you will understand the "how-tos" of getting it done. Simply, you must set the permissions on the target paths (the directories into which the software is being installed) to allow the installation software to overwrite the files it is attempting to write as part of the installation. You can do this by selecting the folder or the drive, and using the right mouse properties to expose the file/directory permissions. Your OS should be able to allow you to assign overwrite permissions to the entire folder/drive and all its children files. File and directory permissions are a difficult and complicated problem, even though they appear to be simple. The problem occurs because while you assign things to a drive and folder and file on your PC, the installation may have its own property settings on its files it is delivering during the installation. Those files permissions are kept with the copying of those files to your system, which means that they could be set to not allow the overwriting of those same files, causing problems for later installations.

7. Network Shares and File Mounts

Often, people in office environments use network shares or network drives the same way that they use local drives. This works great with data, but not so well with installation programs. Many installation programs talk to the OS through file commands that aren't compatible with operations across a network. This only means that the installation should be done on a local media (hard drive or CD ROM), and not attempted across a network mapped drive (in the case of windows machines). It also means that locationally, you want to install only on drives that are local, including data paths. Allowing the source (the program to be installed) and the target (the destination of the software and its data) to be local hard drives is the safest way to insure everything will install with the best possible chance of completion.

8. C-Drive Centricity

In the years that I worked in software installation programming, I found that one error which occurred all too frequently with installation programs and developers is the incorrect assumption of the presence and function of a "C" drive. Ultimately, all software should install on any drive, at any folder. Practically speaking, many software installation programs are not written with "all cases" in mind. Either through error or cost-cutting, the developer many have coded the installation to only properly install on the C drive of a Windows computer. I know this is poor design, and you and I wouldn't do it that way, but this is amazingly common among installation programs, especially with "legacy" installs (a situation where the programs which have changed over the years, but the installation solution has not been updated to conform to new standards). The best, simplest way to try to "help" the installation along in this case is to allow the install to happen exclusively on the C drive. This means pointing it to program and data paths on the most standard locations of your C drive. The one problem you can have with this is if you have installed your OS on a drive other than the C drive. If you have done that (which newer versions of Windows allows you to do), it's very tough for older installation programs to install their software on your PC.

9. Corrupt Drive

Very rarely, a PC hard drive will have problems with placing certain files at certain locations, due to actual hard drive corruption. No amount of file deletion and re-installation will do anything. The only way to fix this is to run Windows-based hard drive inspection and repair on your hard drive (Windows programs such as Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter). Doing these tasks can sometimes find the problem. Occasionally, they can also fix the problem. Sometimes, however, they can only identify the bad disk section, but the problem is not fixable. In these rare cases, you will need to extract needed data from that drive and replace it.

10. Windows Versions

Occasionally, software is restricted to proper operation on "Target" OS versions. In this case, you need to be sure to install the software only on the OS versions that the actual software recommends. Often times demo software is even more restrictive than the full package, because it is not written with as much effort as the full software. In these cases, stick to only the OS versions which are described as being the "best" ones for this software. Trying to install it on other OS versions not only might fail the installation and operation of the software, but might harm the other operations of the target computer (which is a bummer when it happens!).

11. Other Programs In Operation During Install

Occasionally, programs require exclusive rights on a system during the installation of software. This is especially true of multi-resource software (programs which use IO other than just the screen and keyboard). Things like printer software, audio and video software, mouse and other device related software are notorious for resource locking during installation. Music software can be occasionally problematic in this area. To avoid this, simply be sure you are not running other programs. Exit all application before installation. Also shut down any applications running in the "system tray" to insure you are not having conflicts with these apps.

12. User Error

Well, it can't all be the computers fault, I suppose! For posterity sake, we should point out that well over 80% of errors found in all software are simply user induced. No user likes to hear this, but it is the truth. I can't tell you how many times I have fixed simple computing problems that were nothing more than bad communication, training or operation of standard computer functions by, yes, the notorious computer user! Alas, all is not lost--- even us humans can learn. If installations seem to fail all the time, only for you, and never for anyone else.... well, uh, what can I say? There's a reason all right, it just isn't a technical one. Seriously, though, if you need help with installing a program, all of us know people who use computers for a living who can likely help out in a situation that is just getting plain frustrating. Consider calling one of us "geek" friends that you might have, if all else fails! At the very least, maybe they can help you figure out which of the OTHER problems on this list is happening to the failing install.

13. Installation Software Failure

When all else fails, it's still quite fasionable to blame the software! Heck, why not you too? Blaming someone else has been going on since the beginning of time, so it's no wonder we "humans" don't have a problem saying "it's not my fault, the computer program said to do it"! Anyways, if you have truly exhausted all the other points of possible conflict, you might have found a legitimate computer installation problem. If you come to this point, you should contact the software developer of the program and ask for technical support. In the end, this is the only advice that can truly help you, if there is a problem with the actual software.

14. You Are Clueless

We can't help you this much.

Kim Gentes |