Installation: Best Practices

Question:
Do you have a list of "best practices" to follow when installing your software?

Answer:

Installing your Palo Alto Software program shouldn't require any special steps as long as you have the administrative rights to install software on your computer. However, we do have a list of "best practices" which can be followed to ensure that the software installs normally on your computer.

    Tips:
  • We rely upon Windows to provide a stable and secure environment for installation and operation of our software. As such, we recommend downloading and installing the latest updates for Windows from Microsoft's Windows Update Web site.
  • Always ensure that your computer is virus and spyware free before installing any important software on your computer.

    Note: If you have already installed the program and wish to "reinstall" the software, you should use the Add/Remove Programs utility in the Windows Control Panel to remove the software prior to following these steps.

Download the latest installer:

We always recommend using the latest downloaded installer as this will install the software and the latest updates in one step. 

  1. Go to the download area of our web site:
    http://www.paloalto.com/sw
  2. Enter the product information requested and click Go.
  3. Download the installer for your software. When prompted, choose to save the file to disk and direct the file to the Desktop of your computer.
  4. Once the download has completed, proceed to the next section to install the software.

Restart the computer:

We recommend restarting the computer to ensure that no other software is running in the background of Windows which may interfere with the installation process. When possible, restarting into a "Clean Boot" or Diagnostic Mode of Windows is recommended to ensure that no programs load during the Windows Startup which might interfere with the installation as well.

How to perform a Diagnostic Mode boot in Windows XP

Note: You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group to follow these steps. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from follow these steps.

  1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
  2. On the General tab, click Diagnostic Startup. 
  3. On the Services tab, click the word Service at the top of the list to alphabetize the services, then locate and check the box for Windows Installer.
  4. Click OK, and then click Restart to restart your computer. 
  5. Once the computer has restarted, click OK to the message which appears and then Cancel to the System Configuration Utility.

How to perform a "Clean boot" in Windows 98 or ME:

  1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
  2. On the General tab, click Selective Startup
  3. Click on Selective Startup and then un-check the box for Load Startup Group items
  4. Click Ok to save the changes and then restart your computer .

Windows NT 4 and Windows 2000:

If you are using Windows NT4.0 or 2000, you will be unable to 'Clean Boot' your operating system. In this situation you should restart your computer and use the Windows Task Manager to close down any background applications.

Installing the software:

Clear the Windows Temp files and proceed to install the software:

  1. Clear the Windows Temp files:
    1. Click on Start, then Run, type the following command into the Open:  box and click OK.
      %TEMP%
    2. Click on Edit and then choose Select all
    3. Press Delete to delete all of the temporary files in the directory
  2. Next, double click on the downloaded file to install the Palo Alto Software program on your computer. Follow the instructions provided to complete the installation.
  3. Once the software has been installed, test the program while remaining in the Diagnostic Mode or Clean Boot of Windows and note whether the problem is resolved or not.

Once this is done, return to the MSCONFIG utility and select the Normal Startup option to return the computer back to the Normal Startup Mode of Windows 98, ME, or XP.