|
| Installing New Applications in
Windows 95 and 98:
Ever had a problem installing a new program or game. Most people with
this problem are installing some educational software or a game for
their children and the application either installs then does not run
properly or, the computer begins displaying various errors messages. So what can you do when this occurs? Make certain you have the correct software and then plan the installation. The first step takes place when you purchase the application. Make certain it is compatible with your operating system. First check that it will work with Windows 95 and/or 98. Then check the RAM memory requirements. If it requires 64 megabytes of RAM and you only have 32, save your money because this application will not run well on your computer. Also check the amount of hard drive space it requires. New applications can be huge. There is no point purchasing an application that requires more than 300 megabytes of hard drive space if you only have 100 megabytes left on your hard drive. Read the installation instructions. Most problems are directly related some step in the process that was completely ignored. Instructions are especially important when adding a peripheral such as a printer, zip drive, scanner, etc. With these you have to make certain that you load things in the proper order. Scanners are notorious for this. Some scanners require you to connect the scanner and then install the software. Others will not recognize the scanner at all unless you install the software before you connect the scanner to the computer. Only the instructions will let you know what steps to follow in each case. Most software applications install in a similar manner. That is, you place the CD disk in the CD and the program automatically starts and displays instructions on the screen. These instructions are critical. There may be other programs on the CD disk that you are not interested in installing. There may also be advertising material that you do not want. Avoid this by carefully reading the screen and making the right choices. Once you are ready to start installing the application, another screen will appear that warns you to close all applications that are running. Depending on your computer, there will be just one or two or perhaps even six or more applications running in the background. Many of the name brand computers are in the habit of setting up many applications to run in the background. This is done in the interest of convenience and ease of use but it often adversely affects computer performance and creates problems when installing new applications. I usually help my customers to remove these programs from the background but that is a subject for another newsletter. Now we need to close these applications while installing a new one. Most applications running in the background have an icon in the bottom right hand side of the task bar. Usually the only icon that needs to be there is the speaker and the mouse. Everything else can be closed or removed. Before starting to install a new application, right click on each of the icons at the right side of the task bar and then select either close or exit. This will temporarily stop the application from running in the background. This is temporary since this icon will return when you restart your computer. |
 |