Upgrading Software CIT 1100 Chapter4

Upgrading Software In this chapter you will learn how to: Describe the risks involved with upgrading and not upgrading Discuss the process of upgrading software Explain steps to take once you've upgraded

Upgrading Sofware Software comes out of the box ready to install and use The operating system (OS) provides both the interface for you to work with the hardware and a structure to install applications and store files Applications enable you to accomplish specific tasks When OS or Application is released, the software developers essentially pro­claim that the software is complete and ready for use When its put through its paces by users flaws can occur Software may conflict with other software or hardware Users may want additional features New technology may impact existing features

Patches Depending on the number and scope of changes made developers will release new software as a patch, a service pack, or an upgrade A patch fixes a problem and usually happens right after the initial release Smaller programs might get one or two big patches over the course of the program's life Once patched, programs work better and often can do things that they previously couldn't

Service Packs With big, complicated programs or operating systems, like Windows, the developers just keep patching for the lifespan of that piece of software Microsoft periodically bun­dles patches together into service packs and releases those to users

Patches Some hackers wait until Microsoft detects a flaw and release patches, then exploit the weakness knowing that many users do not keep the system updated Patches designed to fix flaws in security should always be applied Application patches fix problems in the original program and should be applied

Upgrades An upgrade is generally a new program you need to purchase To upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 was about $150.00 Many users refused to upgrade to Vista and maintained Windows XP Microsoft’s announcement that they would no longer support XP forced many to upgrade to Windows 7

Upgrades The cost to Upgrade from Ubuntu 11.04 to Ubuntu 11.10 was $0.00 Ubuntu has made a commitment to upgrade there operating system every 6 months at no cost to the user Not only is Ubuntu free it includes nearly all the applications at no charge there are few paid applications available for Ubuntu

Upgrades Upgrading a system always has an element of risk involved Different OSes use different methods for patching and upgrading software Windows does things one way, while Mac OS and Linux do things differently The risks and issues associated with the process, however, are the same for each OS

BSOD Automatic Updates Microsoft constantly works to make Windows stable and safe Early versions of Windows, patches and service packs were made available assuming people would voluntarily download and install them When that didn't happen, people got hit with viruses and security exploits that Microsoft had already fixed, Microsoft came up with a new system Current versions of Windows use Windows Update to update automatically any computer connected to the Internet One major risk by allowing automatic updates to your computer - What if Microsoft gets it wrong and applies a buggy patch to your computer… BSOD Updates typically occur Tuesday evenings

Controlling Updates to Windows You can control when / if Windows does updates Control Panel

Version Updates 1. Compatibility issues 2. Upgrade issues Updating to a new version any operating system can lead to potential problems: 1. Compatibility issues 2. Upgrade issues 3. Potential data loss

Version Updates Compatibility Issues A lot of people ran out and purchased copies of Windows 7 when it was first released Many were running Windows XP, not Vista which was the intended upgrade The dif­ference between hardware capable of running Windows XP and computers capable of running Windows 7 is pretty extreme Many couldn't install Windows 7 or found that various parts of the computer didn't work with the new OS In some cases, the PC didn't meet the minimum hardware requirements necessary to install Windows 7 Often the hardware must be upgraded before installing a new operating system 140

Upgrade Issues If your current system is problematic do not necessarily assume that upgrading the operating system will fix the problem In many cases the best method to upgrade to a new operating system is to do a clean install to prevent problems migrating from the old O/S to the new one This means you have to install everything from scratch, including all of your applications

Upgrade Issues To ensure a successful upgrade, you can use the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, available for free from Microsoft's Web site http://windows.microsoft.com/upgradeadvisor

Upgrade Issues Potential Data Loss - During the upgrade process you have the option to format the hard drive, essentially erasing everything from the drive, including user data Always back up your data before you upgrade the O/S

Minimum Requirements Operating systems require a certain level of hardware to function properly: Fast enough CPU RAM Free hard drive space Video Display controllers With Apple computers, there’s less worry because Apple controls the hardware that runs Mac OS X Apple writes the OS to work with specific hardware Windows computers, in contrast, offers a lot of variety in hardware

Administrative Rights You need administrative rights to install software in every modem operating system You get administrator rights by logging in as the Administrator account in Windows or as Root in OS X or any Linux OS If you're logged in as a standard user, the OS will prompt you to type in the account name and password for an account that has administrator rights if you attempt to load software

Windows Minimum System Requirements Operating System Bit Complexity CPU RAM Hard Drive Space Win XP 32-bit 233 MHz 64 MB 1.5 GB Vista 800 MHz 512 MB 64-bit 1Ghz X64 1 GB 15 GB Win 7 1 GHz 16 GB 1Ght X64 2 GB 20 GB

Licensing Licensing Software developers release programs under three types of licenses:  Commercial Shareware Freeware

Licensing A commercial license gives you permission to install a program on 1computer, maybe 2 (rare) Your payment for the program gives you a com­mercial license Most commercial licenses allow you to install the software on a second machine, but only if you remove it from the first machine. 149

Licensing A shareware license enables you to install the program on any number of computers, but usually imposes some limit on the software You might have 30 days of free use, for example, to evaluate the program, but after 30 days, you'd need to pay for it or it would stop working Other companies release shareware without a time limit, but disable many important features, similar to Sysoft’s Sandra that we use in our Labs

Licensing Freeware is just what it sounds like: free You can install it on any number of com­puters Most freeware is distributed under the GNU Public License (GPL), which says you can use the freeware and even customize it, but you can't charge other people money for the changed version You must make the altered software available as a free download The many Linux op­erating systems available follow this pattern, as do many of the applications written for those OSes

Firewall Access Some programs require Internet access to work properly When you install the game on an Internet- ready computer, the installer will automatically make changes to settings in your firewall With some other programs, though, you'll be prompted before such changes are made

Software Removal To remove unwanted software from your computer, use the Control Panel in Windows Many programs have an uninstall option as well