Installation

Video Plus is distributed primarily for use by a licensed number of users — typically in schools, colleges and universities — rather than for individuals. This means that the set-up arrangements require someone to look after the individual computers in a computer room, copy CD-ROMs, or with the ability to run a local network.

There are several options for the installation of this software, but the exact nature of installation depends on your local circumstances. You may already know what suits you and your network, or you may want to explore the options discussed below with a view to finding out which works best.

Before exploring the wider options, details about the most straightforward installation (the 'Typical' Installation) are presented, so that if you just want to get started with the software, you can do so quickly.

Please note that in some versions of Windows (NT4, 2000, XP) you may require adminstrator privileges to install the software properly. If you can't install the software, or if certain aspects of it don't work after installation, try installing the package with a username that has full rights for software installation. Ask for help and advice from your local technical sources.

After the 'Typical' instructions, more options are presented in technical detail. Some of them may look confusing at first glance, but it's worth remembering that many computer packages are sold with very little flexibility in the way they can be used; this can lead to frustration and in some cases to a package that remains seriously underused. In contrast, Video Plus can be installed flexibly, according to the individual needs of educational institutions from place to place, and hence the options have to be presented in more detail. And in any case they're really meant for people with some technical knowledge or aptitude, so most users of the software will never have to see them. Experienced network operators will find enough information about how the package operates in the closing sections.

With the freedom to copy CDs or install the software via a network comes the responsibility to adhere to the license agreement that you make. Please ensure that you pay for the level of installation you carry out, and stick to that level. This is a matter of professional trust.

Basic Installation: 'Typical'

Put the CD in your CD drive, go to 'My Computer', and double click on the CD drive icon.

A list of files appears, including one called setup.exe: double click on setup.exe to start the installation procedure.

The title 'Installing Video Plus' appears on your screen, and the first instructions you see tell you to close any other programs you happen to be working on. When you're ready, click on the button marked 'Next'.

The next window concerns the location of the Video Plus files. The best place is the one suggested (though if you have good reason to put the files elsewhere you can browse to it and use that instead). Click 'Next'.

If you're installing the software for the first time, the software asks you whether the required directory should be set up for you: click 'Yes' to do that.

The next stage concerns options you can consider for the location of the various files.

The 'Typical' installation puts a few files on your hard disk, and keeps the video files on the CD (to save your hard disk space); this means you must have the CD in the CD drive whenever you use the software. The 'Custom/Complete' option is explained below; ignore it for now and click on 'Typical'.

A few files are copied onto your system, and your display shows you how much progress is being made. After a short wait, once everything is in place, the message 'Video Plus has been installed' appears, and you should click 'Finish'.

The set up routines will normally put a shortcut to the software in your Start Menu. Follow Start Menu > Programs > Video Plus , and click on the program item to start the software.

If no shortcut is available, navigate your way to Program Files > Video Plus > German and then double click on the vidplusG.exe program. You can also create a desktop icon if you want, using the command "C:\Program Files\Video Plus\German\vidplusG.exe".

However you start the program, the first page to appear is the Main Menu, from which you can get to any of the ten units available.

Basic Installation: 'Custom/Complete'

There are other options within the basic setup routine provided, and they are available at the point where you choose between a 'Typical' installation and a 'Custom/Complete' installation.

As described, the Typical installation installs a few files on your system, but keep the video files on the CD.

If you go for the Custom option, you can choose to keep all the files on the CD, or to install them on your system.

There are 3 components to the software, and they are mentioned in the 'Custom/Complete' option:

The choices you have to make regarding their installation concern their exact location. Each component can be kept in one of two places:

If you select an option — that is, put a tick alongside it — then that component will be stored on your local drive. If you leave it blank — that is, remove any tick — the component will be used from its source location, the CD or network drive.

For most users, this means there are two options beyond the 'Typical' one. You can run the application entirely from the CD (CD-only), or you can run it entirely from your hard disk without the CD (Complete Installation).

CD-only installation

The advantage is that no files are put onto your system, so your disk space isn't used up. And you may not have the time or knowledge to use network options.

The disadvantages include performance. The software may run a bit slower and the reponse times with the video buttons may also be slightly slower, depending on the capabilities and configuration of your CD drive; some high-speed CD drives can take a few seconds to reach their top speed, and this may introduce a delay into the playing of the video excerpts. You must also have CDs in place in every CD drive if you want to run the software, and this means CDs have to be copied, counted, inserted and re-gathered on a regular basis.

To use the CD-only option, deselect (that is, remove the ticks) from all three components on the list. When installation proceeds, only a shortcut for the program is added to the start menu.

Complete Installation

The advantage is that you get the best and quickest possible performance from the software (within the limits of your system). A single CD can be used to install the software once on all the machines, and thereafter the use of the CD, or managing a collection of CDs, is not necessary.

The disadvantage for some is the amount of hard disk space a full installation may require (the video files are quite large). Occasional reinstallation or re-configuration may be necessary.

To use the Compete Installation, select all three items (that is, make sure each one has a tick alongside it). When installation proceeds, all the files, including the video files, are transferred to the system before the shortcut is added to the start menu. This takes a few minutes longer than the other installations.

Network Installation Options

If you have a good local network in place, you can store the software and video files on a network drive and run everything from there; little or no intervention on individual machines is required.

A good local network has the capacity to run data at 100 megabits per second (sometimes called 100 baseT). This means that even when a dozen or so students access the software and video files at the same time, the network can handle it without performance being noticeably affected.

Lesser networks — 10 megabit (10 baseT), say — may be able to handle smaller groups accessing the software, or to handle individuals accessing it for personal work and revision.

There are of course numerous other factors — and some may be very detailed or subtle — which determine how well any local network runs, and you may require the intervention of a network expert to get the best out of this software on your particular network.

Basic Installation from a network drive

If you simply copy the entire contents of the CD onto your server, you can run the setup routine on your client machines just as you would from a CD drive. It works exactly as described above, and the options you have are the same, except that the source of your files is the network drive rather than a CD drive.

If you want to run everything from your network drives, with nothing other than a shortcut and an .ini file placed on the client machines, run the setup.exe program, select the 'Custom/Complete' option when asked, and deselect all three components.

The disadvantage of this approach is that you still have to run the setup routine on every single computer at least once. Once installed, starting the program can be slower across a network. And if the network becomes inactive for any reason, the software will be completely unavailable unless other provision has been made.

The advantages are that no one needs to use or copy a CD to run the software, since as long as the network drive names and locations remain the same, the software will always run. (If you do change anything, either reinstall the software or alter the vidplus.ini file required on each machine, as described below.) Disk space on individual hard drives is saved as the video files are used from the central, networked source.

To ensure that more than one person can use the software at any one time, all the Video Plus files and folders must be set to 'read only' on the server.

Other Network Installations

The following information is more technically detailed. It should be enough to enable technical specialists to configure and install the software flexibly, both on a network and in any combination of approaches which suit your situation.

To run the software on your network, you must copy two folders from the CD onto your server.

The 'German' folder has ten video files, a file to make the video work (mpg4c32.dll) and the main program itself (vidplusG.exe).

The 'TBSystem' folder contains the ToolBook II System Files (for version 8.0 of Toolbook II; if you have other versions, keep them separately in their own folders).

Every computer which runs the software must have a copy of vidplus.ini in its Windows folder. Vidplus.ini contains the exact specification of these two folders, and is referred to by the software every time it starts.

To run the software on client machines, you must do a number of things.

You can write a simple batch file which issues these commands, and create a shortcut available to your network users which runs it.

An example batch file is as follows; if you need to you can adapt it to your situation. 

	@echo off
	copy N:\german\VideoPlus\vidplus.ini C:\windows\vidplus.ini
	copy N:\german\VideoPlus\mpg4c32.dll C:\windows\system\mpg4c32.dll
	N\tb80rtm\TB80RTM.EXE N:\German\VideoPlus\vidplusG.exe

UNC (Universal Naming Convention) names, typically in the format \\servername\sharename, can be used in the batch file, but drive letters should be used in the vidplus.ini file.

System configuration: vidplus.ini

Whichever approach you take to installing and running Video Plus, there is one file which must be carefully managed and looked after on every machine: vidplus.ini. It's this file which tells the system exactly where to look for the software and the files. It should normally be kept on each computer's hard drive in the C:\windows (or equivalent) folder.

There are two lines for each language heading in the vidplus.ini file, for example: 

[Video Plus German Files]
Local Drive=C:\program files\video plus\german
CD or Network Drive=M:\german

If you chose to store the Video Plus files on the hard drive of your computers, the 'local drive' line must give the precise location. Similarly, if you chose to use either the CD Drive or a network drive, the exact specification must be given in the 'CD or Network Drive' line.

If you change the location of the components at any time, you can edit this file by hand (though do it carefully using a text editor such as Notepad). This will save you reinstalling the software from scratch.

Combining Approaches to running the software

It is also possible to combine these different approaches. (For example you might store the video files on the hard drive of every machine, while running the executable files from a server.) Or you may want to install the software in ways not covered here. The details of a combined or different approach will very much depend on the nature of your situation — the suitability of the network, the amount of hard disk space on your client machines, or the capabilities of your machines' CD drives. If you need to, experiment to find out which combination works best; otherwise it's advisable to stick to one approach which is consistent and straightforward. You may even be using non-Windows servers or 'launcher' packages which handle these things in other ways. As the installation of Video Plus is intentionally flexible, you can use any approach you like as long as you keep to the number of users you stipulated when you purchased the software: please stick to the letter and the spirit of your Video Plus software agreement.