This phase involves four significant efforts: preparing the site, conducting the installation, testing the installation, and restoring the system.
Preparing the site involves ensuring that the location of each computer, the computer itself, and the hard disk in particular are all ready for Windows 98 to be installed. In terms of the physical site, make sure that you have the appropriate jacks for connecting to the network.
For the computer itself, make sure that it has the appropriate hard disk space, RAM (16 MB minimum), and processor (486DX/66 MHz minimum) to run Windows 98.
In addition, run virus detection, disk scanning, and defragmentation programs on the computer to correct any problems before installation. Although the computer may appear to be operating properly, software upgrades often uncover hardware or software problems because of the way they read and write data to the hard disk. Correct any such problems before installing Windows 98.
When preparing the site, be sure to back up critical data, the registry, and configuration files for the system, in case the installation fails or you need to revert to the previous operating system for some reason. This includes backing up INI files (such as System.ini), GRP files, Autoexec.bat, Config.sys, and all key data files. As an added precaution, create a system startup disk and back up the Windows and MS-DOS® directories and all the files in the root directory.
If you need to automate the restoration, consider using a commercial backup program instead of copying the files by hand.
Caution
Replacing configuration files alone, such as INI files, is not sufficient to restore your system.
For more information on system requirements, backup procedures, and other preparation steps for installing Windows 98, see Chapter 2, "Setting Up Windows 98. "
Before setting up Windows 98 for the first time, verify that the computer’s existing network is working properly. Then use Part 1, "Deployment and Installation," in the Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit to help you install and configure Windows 98 correctly Chapter 3, "Custom Installations, " includes instructions on how to customize the installations using setup scripts. Take note of which options you want to predefine as entries for the Msbatch.inf file used for the setup script.
After you have set up a computer with Windows 98, you must run a variety of tests to make sure that it runs correctly on your network and that you can still perform all your usual tasks. Use your own testing methodology, or test the following to verify correct system operation:
Make sure to test all mission-critical applications for proper function. If you encounter problems, try removing related features from the proposed configuration as a solution. Document any changes made to the original configuration.
If the preferred client configuration works as expected, you may also want to conduct additional testing of the optional software features and components in Windows 98. This can help you determine whether you are running Windows 98 optimally. For this kind of testing, conduct side-by-side evaluations on two computers, changing individual features on each one, to determine the following:
To evaluate network client software for Novell NetWare, run your network performance tests in the following configurations:
Perform several common tasks such as connecting to the network, administering a remote NetWare server, and so on, to test for ease of use. Similarly, run any business-specific NetWare applications under Microsoft Client for NetWare Networks to make sure that they are compatible. Any stability issues should become apparent during this testing.
When you have identified a configuration that performs well during testing, test the same configuration using other hardware from your company.
See Part 3, "Networking and Intranets," in the Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit to understand the differences in functionality between network clients.
After thorough testing of the preferred client configuration, completely restore one of the test computers to the previous client configuration, and document the process. The degree to which you need to test and restore the computer depends on the tools available. Chapter 5, "Setup Technical Discussion, " documents how to remove Windows 98 and restore the previous operating system manually.