In Section 3 of the project - Install Software (Due 29^th May 2001) you need to prepare a detailed written plan for the installation of the software on around 20 machines (all exactly the same hardware), and the use of Ghost software (or similar) may be particularly relevant.

Last week we spent some time loading some software onto two laptop computers (WS1 & WS2) using Norton Ghost. The purpose of this exercise was to show you how cloning software (Norton Ghost), works and how it can help to install software in a quick and efficient manner.

In the exercise we basically started with two computers on which the hardware had been completely wiped and we installed software and set up the computers from a ghost image on CD. In about 10 minutes we were able to install the following:

• Windows 98SE operating system.
• Microsoft Office 97.
• Norton Antivirus.
• Adobe Acrobat 4.0 (for reading PDF files).
• Winzip 8.0.

The ghost image had been created by me in a way that allowed us to connect to some shared folders on a 3^rd computer (WS 13) and obtain access to various files. Prior to creating the Ghost image the laptop was set up so that a shared folder on WS13 called User1 was mapped as Drive D. The MS Office software was then setup so that the default folder for saving and retrieving documents, was set as a folder called document on Drive D

The exercise clearly demonstrated that using Ghost to setup multiple machines with the same software was very efficient, probably saving around 2 to 3 hours per machine. It was also noted there were a couple of disadvantages or potential problems in using Ghost as follows:

• The hardware on all machines needs to be similar, if not identical. This was demonstrated when we loaded one of the laptops from a ghost image that I had previously created for a group of desktop machines.
• If the Ghost image has a problem such as incorrectly configured software, or incorrect hardware drivers loaded then those problems will be carried through to all machines loaded from that image.

In summary to obtain the most effective use from this type of software careful planning is required. Consider a situation where a business has purchased new hardware and you have to load MS Office, NAV, Winzip & Acrobat 4.0 onto 10 machines. On 4 of those machines you also had to have Quicken accounting software and then they all had to be connected to an NT server. You also have to transfer data from a previous system. How would you achieve this in the most efficient way?

One way of achieving this would be as follows:

1. Write a written plan for the installation. Fully detail all requirements taking into account network drives (both common areas, and private areas) that need to be mapped, connection to printers, etc. What would the security requirements be (who needs to access what)? The purpose of this is so you are completely sure on what all the objectives are, and nothing is missed during the installation.
2. Setup one machine with the all relevant software (except quicken), and map any common network drives, etc.
3. Test the setup to ensure all objectives have been achieved, and everything works properly.
4. Create a Ghost image of the setup on a network drive.
5. "Burn" a CD with the ghost image, the Ghost program, and any other drivers that may be needed during the installation. Label the CD as CD1 and record on the label what software is included.
6. Create a "boot" floppy disk that will load drivers to run the CD drive when a clean machine is booted.
7. Test the CD you have created by loading the Ghost image onto a 2^nd clean machine. Make sure the machine performs as expected.
8. If all worked correctly load the accounting software onto the 1^st machine, and make sure all software is still working correctly.
9. Create another Ghost image of the setup, which includes the accounting software, on a network drive.
10. If all is correct "Burn" a CD with the 2^nd ghost image, the Ghost program, and any other drivers that may be needed during the installation. Label the CD as CD2 and record on the label what software is included.
11. Test the CD you have created by loading the Ghost image onto a clean machine. Make sure the machine performs as expected.
12. Make additional copies of CD1 & CD2, as required, to help speed up the installation process.

The above steps will take a considerable amount of time, possibly 5 to 7 hours, however, good planning and checking during this process will save a lot of time when loading the other machines.

13. Install ghost images as appropriate on the other machines, and check to ensure they all work correctly.
14. Setup NT security etc, connect to printers and make sure all is working as planned.
15. Ensure licenses, as appropriate, are held for all software you have installed (including the Ghost software).
16. Record details of the licenses held and store together with original software in an appropriate place.
17. Just prior to staff working with the new system, transfer any data from existing system and ensure all works as expected.

The above is an example to give you an idea of some of the issues that may need to be considered, when designing your installation plan for the project. You will need to take into account all issues you established from your interview with the client (Section 1), and the recommendations you made in (Section 2).

Over the next few weeks I will give everybody the opportunity to work on the laptops in smaller groups (5 or 6 people in each group at the most) for about 45 to 60 minutes. We will still have the same machines as last week and WS1, WS2 & WS13.

At the start of each week WS1 & WS2 will have W98SE installed and I would like you to perform the following exercise:

• Connect to WS13 and map the shared folder User 1 as Drive D.
• Connect to WS13 and map the shared folder User 2 as Drive E.
• Install MS Office 97 Software from CD.
• Install NAV software from CD.
• Install Adobe Acrobat 4.0 software from the setup file in the folder D:\adobe.
• Install Winzip 8.0 software from the setup file in the folder D:\winzip.
• Setup the MS Office software so that the default folder for saving and retrieving work is the D:\document.
• Check all software is working as appropriate.
• Create a ghost image of your machine on drive. The file should be called "testws1.gho" or "testws2.gho", depending which machine you are working on.

If there is any time available after completing the above you can do the following:

• Wipe the hard disk on the machines.
• Reload the machines from the Ghost image containing all the software, and then reboot.
• Go into network setup and change the identification of the machine to allow it to connect to the network.
• Reboot the machine and make sure network connection has been established and all software works as expected.
• Go to the folder nav-upd on drive d and double click on the file 0313i32.exe to install the latest virus definitions.