Windows Vista: Dealing with User Account Control If Necessary

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When you start a setup routine running, you may see a User Account Control dialog box. Windows displays this dialog box to make sure that it’s you who has set the routine running rather than someone remote or some malware.

Choose what to do:

•    If you’ve launched the setup routine yourself, you’ll know what the file is. Click the Allow button to proceed. But sometimes the setup routine for one program may launch the installation for another. If in doubt, make certain of the program’s identity before proceeding with the installation.

•    If you’re not sure about what the file is, click the Details button to display the file’s name and location, which may help you identify it, as shown here:

•    If you don’t want to proceed, click the Cancel button. If you wait for several minutes without clicking any button, Windows figures that you don’t want to proceed with the installation and cancels it for you. This automatic cancellation helps to protect your computer if an auto- mated process rather than a live person has set the setup routine running.

The Splash Screen and License Agreement

The setup routine often begins with a splash screen that gives the product’s name and explains the basics of the installation procedure, as in the example here. If you’ve inserted a disc that contains several related programs, the splash screen may let you choose which program to install. In other cases, you may have to install all the applications in a prescribed order. After the splash screen, you typically see a license agreement. You must select the acceptance option button or check box to enable the Next button, which you then click to continue the installation, as in this example:

Entering Your Name and Organization Name

If the program or its registration needs to know your name and that of your organization if any, the setup routine prompts you to enter them, as in this example:

Entering Your Product Key

Most commercial programs use product keys to help ensure that only the person who has bought the program can install it. The following illustration shows an example of such a screen. If you bought the software on a CD or DVD, the product key is most likely on the packaging - or perhaps in a slip of paper that’s all too easy to lose. For safety, use a CD marker pen to write the product key on the CD or DVD itself so that you can’t lose it or forget which product key belongs with which program. For software that you buy over the Internet and download, print out the product key and keep it safe, or keep a simple document for example, a text file of program names and product keys on your computer or on an online storage site.

Choosing the Setup Type

Many programs let you choose among two or more types of setup, such as Complete or Custom. Some programs offer a minimal installation which is sometimes named Compact, which is useful when you need only some of the features or when your computer’s hard disk is short of space. The following illustration shows an example of a setup type screen.

If you choose a Custom installation, you see a Custom Setup screen such as the one shown next. You can expand any of the items that have a plus + sign next to it to see a list of its components. For each component that has a box with a picture of a drive, you can click the drop-down arrow and choose from the resulting menu whether to install the component, install the component and all its subcomponents if it has any, or make it unavailable in other words, not install it. Most setup routines automatically install the program for all users of the computer, including the Guest user. Some setup routines let you choose between installing the program just for yourself in other words, for the user account under which you’re currently logged on and installing it for all users. This choice is useful when you want to prevent other users from running the program you’re installing - for example, because you don’t want them to be able to open your files or because the program has very strict license terms.

Letting the Setup Routine Run, and Restarting Windows If Necessary

After you’ve clicked the final Next button or the Install Now button, let the setup routine complete the installation. While this is happening, it’s best not to run other programs on your computer if you can help it. Giving the setup routine free rein and as many processor cycles and memory as it needs also help it to finish the installation as quickly as possible. At the end of the setup routine, you usually get a message box telling you that setup completed successfully. This message box may also tell you that you need to restart Windows to complete the installation. If so, close any programs that you have been running, and then restart.

Using Compatibility Mode

If Windows Vista detects that a program fails to install because of compatibility issues, the Program Compatibility Assistant opens  You then have three choices:

•    Click the Reinstall Using Recommended Settings button if you want to retry installation, using Windows Vista’s recommended settings for the program. Windows Vista has a compatibility database called AppCompat - application compatibility - that contains settings for thousands of programs. The Program Compatibility Assistant applies the settings and restarts the setup routine automatically.

•    Click the This Program Installed Correctly button if the program actually did install and you don’t need the Program Compatibility Assistant’s help.

•    Click the Cancel button if you don’t want to proceed with the installation after all.

Removing a Program

Removing a program is typically easier and faster than installing a program, because you don’t usually have to have the setup medium CD, floppy, or whatever or installation file, and you have to make even fewer decisions. To remove a program, follow these steps:

1.  Choose Start   Control Panel. Windows displays Control Panel.

2.  In Control Panel Home, click the Uninstall a Program link in the Programs topic. In Classic view, double-click the Programs and Features icon. Windows displays the Programs and Features window 3.  Click the program you want to remove. The bar at the top of the window displays buttons that show the options available for the program - for example, an Uninstall button, a Change button or an Uninstall/Change button, and a Repair button. Different programs have different sets of buttons; for example, some have only an Uninstall button, and others have an Uninstall button and a Change button.

4.  If you need to make sure you’ve got the right program, look at the panel at the bottom of the window, which shows details about the program selected in the list.

The Installed Programs list displays the programs sorted by program name at first. If you have a lot of programs installed, you may find another sort order better. Click a column heading once to sort the programs in ascending order by that column; click the same column heading again to sort them in descending order by that column. You can also click the drop-down arrow at the right end of the selected column heading and use the resulting panel to divide the programs into groups. For example, the drop-down panel on the Publisher column lets you group the programs by publisher, and the drop-down panel on the Size column lets you group by size. To view more information about the programs, right-click any of the column headings, and then choose more from the drop-down panel. Windows displays the Choose Details dialog box, which lets add any of about 15 other categories of details to the list by selecting the appropriate check boxes. For example, you might select the Last Used On check box to add a column that lets you sort the programs by the date on which they were last used. Or you could select the Location check box to add a column showing the folder in which each program is installed.

5.  Click the Uninstall button, and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control if neces- sary. Windows checks to see whether other users are using the computer because they might be using the program that you’re about to remove. If any other user is logged on, Windows displays a Warning dialog box, as shown here.

•    At this point, you can click the Switch User button to display the login screen, then log on as each user from there and log them off. You’ll need to know each user’s password in order to log in under that username. Usually you’ll find it easier to use the Users page of Task Manager to either switch to the other users or simply log them off.

•    When you’re ready, click the Continue button. You can also simply click the Continue button without logging off the other users, but Windows may not be able to remove the program completely if another user is running it.

6.  Windows starts the uninstall routine for the program. Windows then confirms the uninstallation, as shown here.

7.  Click the Yes button. If you want to skip this check whenever you remove a program from now on, select the In the Future, Do Not Show Me This Dialog Box check box before clicking the Yes button.

8.  If the uninstall routine tells you that it was unable to remove some parts of the program that you’ve asked to uninstall completely, it usually lets you know which parts are left. You will then need to delete these folders manually by using Explorer unless you want to leave them lying around.