About Distributing Version 5 on Windows

 There are several ways in which you can provide multiple end users with access to Version 5. You can:
  • install the software on each computer directly from the CD-ROM 
  • install the software on each computer by mapping to another computer on which the software has been copied and is accessible.

    When setting up the server you can:

    • copy all the software into the same folder (as illustrated above)
    • or, given that the software is distributed on several CDs ( 1, 2 ...), copy the contents of each CD into a separate folder for each CD, making sure that the name of each folder corresponds to the CD number ( 1, 2 ...) etc.

Both solutions are ideal if you want the best level of performance, and involve installing and maintaining the software on each computer.

This section explains how to:

  • distribute the software from a source computer to a client computer using the StartB batch installation command on the client computer
  • distribute the software from a source computer to a client computer using the RCMD command (part of the Windows Workstation Resource Kit)
  • access the software installed on the server from a "light" client on which only a runtime environment is installed, but no code
  • distribute the software in compressed form
  • distribute a service pack from an archive file.
  Code distribution scenarios based on the use of the Install Shield silent installation file mechanism are no longer supported, and are replaced by the use of the StartB batch installation command.
There are two types of profile available to end users:
  • local user profiles
  • roaming profiles.

Your roaming profile is the same on every computer you use. Windows system administrators should ensure that Version 5 end users use roaming profiles. This will enable end users to log onto different computers to run Version 5 and recover their customizations. Refer to your Windows online documentation for more information about roaming profiles.