Holger's Elaborate

Holger's Elaborate

Start

Beruf

Projekte

QtIAX eng

DeStar eng

Patcher eng

PXA Tools eng

Ramses eng

Linux on PXA CPUs eng

Alte Projekte deu

The Windows Installation Headache

Have you ever had to install windows workstations? How many? One, ten, fourty, one thousand? Probably you know how time consuming this can be. It's a real headache, especially if you also need to install various application.

Existing approaches

Now, there have been many solutions been suggested to this problem. Here is a quick overview:

Approach	Benefit	Drawback
Manual installation	Works always and everywhere Doesn't need lot's of preparation	Time consuming and therefore expensive Does not scale very well
Hard disk mirroring	Quite easy Helper applications (like Norton Ghost) readily available	Doesn't work too well when your hardware is inhomogeneous. Doesn't address licensing issues, e.g. you don't have enought licenses of all programs for all workstations Additional installations (e.g. software updates) must still be installed manually
Network based installations (the `SETUP /N` method)	Usually documented in the manual of the application (assuming there is one)	Only some applications (e.g. Office97) can be installed this way, other not Difficult (especially with Updates and local customizations)

What properties should an Installer have?

When you boil this down, you end up with the following problem list:

Many workstations: should be as automated as possible
Inhomogenious hardware: should be able to install low-level drivers
Handle license issues: should not force you to install all applications at all programs
Ease of use: should allow transparent and on-the-fly installation of applications
Ease of install: should be fairly easy to understand for technicians
Time saver: the solution should not force you to go physically to every computer when some update is necessary
Security: should allow enterprise-wide policies
Affordable: there is no point for many people in spending 8000 US$ ...

When you look at those lists, you might realize that such a solution doesn't yet exist. Or, does it?

WinMason

I have created created such an environment. It's not just an approach, it's a concept. WinMason is one of it's key components. But all together we have three components:

Windows installation script: install Windows as automated as possible
WinMason: this generic installer installs Programs, Patches, Hardware drivers etc.
Program launcher: install Programs on the fly, when needed and monitors licenses

So, enjoy the tour throught those programs. Or look quickly how much time they can save you. A complete Windows installation with customized applications in a mere 10 minutes. Incredible!