Preparing for installation

Having downloaded the software, the next task is to unpack the installer files, and install the application on your machine.

All versions of windows since Windows XP, have the capacity to manage compressed Zip files as folders, natively in an explorer window. All you need to do is open the zip folder, and run the installers by clicking them. Before you do this inspect the files, to ensure that you install in the correct manner.

The three files that we ship in our distributable zip files, have the following names;

• vcredist_x86.exe
• setup.exe
• XXXDeploy.msi

     where XXX represents the name of the application which you are installing.

Our applications are currently designed to run primarily on Windows Vista. When you install one of our applications it is designed to "connect" with the operating system. Since we assume that the operating system is Windows Vista, the application will directly install on this platform with no complications.

If you are trying to install on Windows XP, some of the parts of the operating system we expect to see may not be present since Windows Vista was designed after Windows XP. To solve this problem we also provide a Microsoft "redistributable installer", and this is the file vcredist_x86.exe. If you are intending to use our software on Windows XP, it is imperative that you run this installer first. If you intend to use our software on Windows Vista or later you can skip this next bit, and move on to Installing.

MS Windows CRT redistributable installation (Windows XP only)

Double click vcredist_x86.exe, and depending on whether you extracted the three files above from the zip file, you may get the following dialog box;

This dialog appears because the installer is still inside the zip folder. This is a Microsoft module that they allow anyone to distribute. From their perspective it is possible that there are other Microsoft files with vcredist_x86.exe that may need installing. Since the file is in a compressed folder, their installer cannot read those files if it needs to use them. Fortunately, the way we use their module, it needs no such files, so it is quite safe to click the run button outlined in orange.

The Microsoft redistributable installer will require you to accept the Microsoft licensing terms and will ask you to click "next" a couple of times. There shouldn't be a problem with this part of the installation, but if there is, then we're in the same boat as you because we did not create it. If you have problems a good place to start is here. Assuming everything goes well, then you should get the following dialog;