Transcript Upgrading Software

CIT 1100
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
You can control when / if Windows does updates
Control Panel
Updating to a new version any operating
system can lead to potential problems:
1. Compatibility issues
2. Upgrade issues
3. Potential data loss
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
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
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
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
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Operating systems require a certain level of
hardware to function properly:
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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
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
Operating
System
Bit
Complexity
CPU
RAM
Hard Drive
Space
Win XP
32-bit
233 MHz
64 MB
1.5 GB
Vista
32-bit
800 MHz
512 MB
1.5 GB
Vista
64-bit
1Ghz X64
1 GB
15 GB
Win 7
32-bit
1 GHz
1 GB
16 GB
Win 7
64-bit
1Ght X64
2 GB
20 GB
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Licensing
Software developers release programs under
three types of licenses:
 Commercial
 Shareware
 Freeware
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.
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
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
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Some programs require Internet access to
work properly
When you install the game on an Internetready 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
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To remove unwanted software from your
computer, use the Control Panel in Windows
Many programs have an uninstall option as
well