Tip #1957 - System Requirements and Pre-installation Routine
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System
Compatibility
No, this has nothing
to do with computer dating. Before buying or downloading, you should make
sure your PC meets the program's Minimum System Requirements.
Sometimes just
called Requirements, they're written at the bottom of every software listing
in our online software
store. You can also find them on the back or bottom panels of most
boxes or disk cases, usually in really tiny letters. They tell you what
standards your system has to meet to be able to run that piece of software.
These requirements
typically include which version of Windows, what speed processor and how
much RAM you have, and then hardware requirements (CD-Roms or CD-burners,
DVD players or burners, printers, monitor settings, video or sound cards),
and the amount of hard disk space you'll need to make this program work.
Many modern programs
also list Recommended System Requirements. You can think
of these standards as what your system should have to run that program
well. If you meet the Minimums but not the Recommended list, the program
maybe taxing a component of your system. The program may run slowly or
you may not be able to use all of its features. You may need to shut down
all other running processes before you start this program. Basically,
it'll run on your system, but it could run better.
You can find your
version of Windows, processor speed, and amount of RAM by right-clicking
the My Computer icon and looking under the General
tab. Older versions of Windows are laid out differently, so if you don't
have a My Computer icon, start at the Control
Panel and look for an icon labeled along the lines of System
Properties.
Find the amount of
hard disk space available in your system by double-clicking My
Computer, Right-clicking your C: drive,
and choosing Properties.
Under the General
tab, you'll see the amount of free space left on your hard drive.
To find out how much
RAM you have available at any given moment, hold down Control,
Alt, and tap Delete. Give it a second, because
hitting this combo twice will reboot or shut down your PC, depending on
your settings. The Windows Task Manager will appear.
Under the Performance
tab, you'll see Physical Memory, Available. This is the
number of kilobytes of available RAM you've got. Divide by 1000 to bet
the Mb of available RAM. The more programs you have running, the lower
the amount of available RAM.
To see if your system
meets hardware requirements, go to the Control Panel
and click the Systems icon. The System Properties
window will appear. Go to the Hardware tab and use the
Device Manager to see the complete list of hardware on
your system.
Before installing
software, it's a good idea to do an extra round of the usual maintenance
tasks. Think of it like vacuuming the carpet before moving in a new couch.
It's going to be easier now than afterwards. In this case, it may also
prevent some common annoying installation problems.
First, check that
your antivirus
and antispyware
program definitions are current and scan your computer to make sure it's
clean. Following the carpet analogy, cleaning up the mess once the couch
is in the room will only take longer. Of
course, you'll want to scan any download for viruses or spyware before
opening or installing it.
Second, if you haven't
done so in the last week or so, run Disk
Clean (or ScanDisk
for older Windows versions) and follow it up with Disk
Defragment. This will make more disk space available and arrange it
in larger, uninterrupted chunks.
Now that you have
all the usual cleanup done, you'll want to set a Restore Point. This way,
if something goes wrong during the installation, you can tell your computer
to put things back to the way they were in this squeaky clean moment.
I wish I could set a "Cleaned up" restore point for my living
room, but this is where the couch analogy falls apart.
To set a Restore Point,
XP users can go to the Start menu, All Programs.
In the Accessories group of programs, go to System
Tools, and choose System Restore.
The System Restore
Window will open. Choose Create a Restore Point and click
Next to follow the Wizard through the process.
Give it a name that
you will recognize later on, like preDownload1, replacing
"Download1" with the name of the program you're installing.
You're almost ready
to start that installation. Power down and reboot your PC, and then turn
off all your unnecessary running programs. I mean all
of them, including all the programs in your startup
menu (ME and
2000 directions) and your screensaver. Before removing items from
the Startup menu, I'd recommend taking a notepad and writing down the
file names of what had been running. This lets you put 1 or 2 of them
right back in the starting lineup if you notice problems with other programs
after your new installation. (There's a tool that promises to make this
a bit easier coming up in next week's Download!)
To shut down your
screensaver, right-click on your desktop and choose Properties.
Under the Screen Saver tab, Choose None.
Click Apply, then OK.
Finally, while you're
installing your new program, take the time to read each window of text
carefully before clicking OK or making choices. I don't want to tell you
how many calls we get each week about easily-prevented installation problems.
Usually, it's someone who installed the extra demo or trial-period software
rather than the official program they bought. Sometimes, they installed
both but the intended program won't open without the installation code
for the demo software. So if you're offered demo software along with a
program, I'd suggest you only install the program you bought.
The other big cause
for down-the-road problems is not writing down serial
numbers or registration info exactly (case-sensitive, dashes or spaces,
etc.) as you go. You may need them to re-install that program onto a new
PC later, for example.
~ Chris
Fisher
