How to install a software program

How to install a software program

The installation process for software depends on your operating system and the program you are installing. As a result of these many combinations, we have created the steps below as a general guideline. The following does not cover errors during the installation process, as they are too vast for one document. 

Search on our site for further information on errors during the setup.

• General Tips
• How to install in Microsoft Windows
• Install from the Windows command line
• How to install and update a computer driver

General Tips

• Make sure your computer meets the system requirements of the program, game, or utility you are attempting to install.
• The manual or the readme file contains exact instructions on how to install a program and are in the same directory as the installation files.
• When installing a program, utility, or game, it is always a good idea first to close or disable any other programs that are running.
• After installing a new program, if it prompts you to reboot the computer, do it.

Microsoft Windows users

1. How to install from a CD or DVD
2. How to install from a download
3. How to install from a USB flash drive

How to install from a CD or DVD

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Autorun from a CD or DVD

Many software programs, games, and utilities have an AutoPlay feature. This feature automatically starts a setup screen for the software program when inserting a CD or DVD. If your program contains this feature, follow the steps that appear after inserting the disc into the computer.

No Autorun Feature

Open My Computer.

Within the My Computer window, open the drive that contains the installation files. For example, if the files are on the CD-ROM drive, open the D: drive or letter of your CD-ROM drive.

Within the drive that contains your files, locate either the executable setup (i.e. "setup.exe") or install file. Double-clicking on this file starts the installation process. If you see multiple setup or install files, try to locate an executable file or double-click each of the setup or install files until you find the file that starts the installation. Many times the icons associated with the installation files have the same name.

Install a CD on computer with no disc drive

Some of the new computers may no longer have a disc drive. If your computer does not have a disc drive try installing what is on the CD from the Internet. Computer drivers, software for hardware devices, and some games and other programs are available for downloaded and can be installed from a download.

If the program is not available for download copy the contents all of the CD or DVD to another drive on another computer. For example, you could copy the contents of the disc to a USB flash drive and then install the program from the USB flash drive.

Computer powers on and then immediately turns off

How to install from a Download

Tip: If you need help with downloading a program see our how to download page.

Download the program from the website providing the program.
Open the download folder.

If the file you downloaded is an executable file, double-click the file icon to start the setup process. If the downloaded file is compressed (e.g., .zip), you must extract the file's contents before setup can begin. Fortunately, this function is build into most versions of Windows.

Once the files are extracted, double-click the setup to install.

How to install from a USB flash drive

Open Windows Explorer or My Computer and find the USB drive that is typically the last drive letter.

Once the drive is opened find the setup or executable file, double-click the file icon to start the setup process.

Installing from MS-DOS or the Windows command line

Users installing a program from Microsoft DOS should have a basic understanding of the MS-DOS commands. If you are unfamiliar with any of the commands listed below, click the link to get additional information on that specific command.

Before installing a program in MS-DOS, you must switch to the drive or directory that contains the installation files. If you are installing a program from a CD or diskette, switch to that drive. If the installation files are located in a different directory, use the dir command to list the directories and the cd command to switch to the appropriate directory.

Once you are in the directory or drive that contains the installation files, run the executable for setup. Many times this can be done by typing setup or install at the prompt to start the installation. If both of these commands give a bad command or file name error message, type dir *.exe or dir *.com or dir *.bat. These commands list any executable files found in the directory or drive. If any files are listed, execute these files to run the installation or setup of the program. If no files are listed when typing all three of the above commands, you are in the incorrect directory or drive letter for that program.

How do I run a file from MS-DOS?

Additional information

I have problems in Windows after installing new software.
How do I extract or uncompress a compressed file?
How do I change my Windows mouse cursor?
How to run a computer software program.
Top 10 free PC programs everyone should have.
How to download software.
How to uninstall software.
See the software definition for further information and related links.
Software help and support.
How do I view hidden files

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Top 10 free PC programs everyone should have

Top 10 free PC programs everyone should have

There are millions of free and open source projects available, many of them better than any commercially available product. Below is a short listing of what we think are the best out there, broken down into ten categories.

Antivirus and malware protection

Most PC users realize that they need protection on their computer or may have an installed antivirus program from their computer manufacturer. What most don't realize is that there are free programs that are just as good and in some cases better than the commercial products. Below are our recommendations.
Antivirus program: Avast!
Malware and Spyware protection: Malwarebytes

Backup solutions

There are dozens of free and commercially available backup programs for computers. Unfortunately, many of those backups are stored locally, meaning if your house were to catch fire, get robbed, or if you lost your backup discs, all your data would be lost. To avoid loss of important data, we suggest users use online backup services.
Online backup solution: Mozy or Dropbox

Browsers

Although Microsoft Internet Explorer comes pre-installed on Windows computers. There are several excellent free alternatives that everyone should try. These free alternatives can often be faster, have more options, and in many cases be more secure than Internet Explorer.
Internet Browser: Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome

Compression utility

When downloading files on the Internet you'll eventually encounter a .zip, .rar, or other compressed file. Dealing with these files can be easy with our below free file compression utility.
File compression utility: 7-Zip

Disc ripper and creation utility

Creating an audio or data CD/DVD, ripping the data from an audio CD, or creating a CD from a .ISO file can also be done freely using our below free recommendation.
CD burner utility: CDBurnerXP

E-mail

E-mail is yet another service that can be done freely. Most users today use online e-mail solutions like the one listed below. However, for those still using an e-mail client such as Microsoft Outlook we strongly suggest one or both of the below suggestions.
E-mail client: Mozilla Thunderbird
Online e-mail: Gmail

FTP, SFTP, and SSH Utility

Users who maintain their own web page or need to upload or download files to or from a server have to use an FTP utility or an SSH client. There are many commercial programs capable of doing this but our below free recommendations beats them all.
FTP client: Filezilla
SSH client: MobaXterm and Putty

Image editor, paint program, and picture organizer

There are many great free solutions for editing, creating, and organizing your images on your computer. Many of the programs capable of doing these tasks can be several hundred dollars, but all of the below programs are completely free.

Image editor: GIMP
Paint program: Paint.net
Picture organizer: Google Photos

Multimedia

There are dozens of different multimedia programs with different capabilities and limitations. Below are our top free multimedia programs for watching video files and recording audio.
Audio editing and creating tool: Audacity
Video and DVD Player: VLC and MPC-HC

Office Suite

An Office suite such as Microsoft Office is often one of the most expensive programs that a user can install on their computer. Why install these expensive programs when there are free solutions that are just as good.
Office suite: OpenOffice
Notepad and Source code editor: Notepad++

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