Unlike documents, which you can freely copy to your hard disk and use on the spot, any new program you acquire needs to be installed before you can use it. The installation process configures the software to work with your particular hardware and software. The process also creates an icon or program group on your All Programs menu so that you can start the new program as you would any other. You need to install a program only once, not each time you intend to use it. Once you’ve installed a program from a disk, you can put the disk from which you installed away for safe keeping. You’ll need the original installation disk to reinstall the program only if you accidentally delete it from your hard disk or if some sort of hard disk crash damages the program on your hard disk.

Playing It Safe with Program Installations

Programs you buy in a store aren’t likely to contain any malicious code such as viruses, worms, or spyware. Those things tend to be spread by e-mail attachments and freebie downloads from the Web. However, there’s always an outside chance that the new program is incompatible with Windows Vista or a hardware device on your computer. So there may be times when you need to uninstall a program and then get all your system files back into shape to undo any changes made to your system by the new program. Windows Vista’s System Protection greatly simplifies the task of getting things back in shape should a program installation or upgrade cause problems. But it only helps if it’s turned on and you know how to use it.

Updates versus Upgrades

Normal (non-nerd) people often assume that updates and upgrades are the same thing. They aren’t. An update is usually something you do online. There is nothing to buy at a store, no disk to insert in a disk drive. Updates are generally free, and automatic. So you don’t have to make an effort to seek those out and install them. Updates for some programs may not be quite so automatic. But you can often find out if any updates are available right from the program’s Help menu. For example, in many Microsoft Office programs, you can choose Help  ->  Check for Updates from the program’s menu bar to see what free updates are available for that program. Unlike updates, upgrades are usually not free. You have to purchase them and install them. For example, let’s say you have Microsoft Office XP or 2003 installed on a computer. You want to get Office 2007 on that computer. In that case, you’d seek out an Office 2007 Upgrade Edition (which is cheaper than the regular edition). Then you’d install that upgrade edition right over your existing version. In other words, you wouldn’t uninstall (remove) your existing version first.

Installing and Upgrading from a Disk

Before we get started here, know that you must have administrative privileges to install a program. In other words, you need to know the password for an administrative account on your computer. If you have a limited user account and don’t know the administrative password, you’ll need to get an administrator to install the program for you. Most programs that you purchase will be delivered on a CD or DVD disk. You should always follow the installation instructions that come with such a program. But just so you know what to expect, here’s how the process usually works, once you have the CD (or DVD) in hand:

1. Close all open program windows on your desktop by clicking their Close buttons or by right-clicking their taskbar buttons and choosing Close. You want to start from a clean Windows desktop.

You don’t need to close programs whose icons are in the Notification area, unless specifically instructed to by the installation instructions for the program you’re installing.

2. Insert the CD or DVD into your computer’s CD or DVD drive and wait a few seconds.

3. Wait for the installation program to appear on your screen. If it doesn’t appear within 30 seconds, see “Using the installed program” later in this article.

4. Follow the onscreen instructions to perform the installation.

That really is all there is to it. You will be presented with some questions and options along the way. Exactly what you see varies from one program to the next. But some common items include the End User License Agreement (EULA), and choosing a folder in which to store the program, which I’ll discuss in a moment. If nothing happens within half a minute or so after inserting a program’s installation CD into your computer’s CD drive, you may need to start the installation program manually. Here’s how:

1. Open your Computer folder (click the Start button and choose Computer).

2. Open the icon that represents the drive into which you placed the disk.

3. If the installation program doesn’t start automatically in a few seconds, open the icon named Setup or Setup.exe. (Click or double-click that icon.)

That should be enough to get the installation program started. From there you can follow the onscreen instructions to complete the installation. The onscreen instructions and prompts you see during the installation will vary from one program to the next. In the next section I’ll discuss some common things you’re likely to come across when installing just about any program.

You need not install a program every time you want to use it. You need only install the program once. From then on you can run it from the Start menu without the installation disk.

Installing programs from CDs is easy to do. It’s basically a matter of putting the program installation CD into your CD drive and following the onscreen instructions. Here’s a quick summary of the main points presented in this article:

- Consider creating a protection point before installing any program. That way, if the new program creates problems, you can uninstall and return to the protection point to undo every change made during the program installation.

- You need only install a program once, not each time you want to use it. Once installed, you run the program from the Start menu, without the program CD in the drive.

- If you’re upgrading a program that’s already installed, do not remove the existing version.

- Standard operating procedure for installing a new program is to insert the program’s installation CD and follow the onscreen instructions.

- If nothing happens within a minute of inserting the installation CD, open your Computer folder, open the icon for the CD drive, and double-click the Setup or Setup.exe icon on the CD.

- When the installation is complete, store the installation CD in a safe place. You won’t need it to run the program. But you may need it to re-install the program should some mishap cause you to lose the program.