Silent install *too* silent!
Tony Tovar
Platform: Windows 95
Network type: Novell
Version of norton antivirus: 4.0
We are using NAV32UP (aka NAV Network Manager) to distribute the
latest NAV v4.08 for Win95 and virus-list updates to our Win95 PCs.
Everything works, even!
The problem is that NAV32UP calls "SILENT -WCONFIG.INF -SMS -S" to
update each workstation to latest 4.08 version, which does a
too-silent install. The default "SETUP -SMS -S" didn't reboot the
machine afterwards which caused a crash if the user then tried to run
NAV manually. I downloaded SILENT.ZIP and configured SILENT.EXE and
SILENT.INI in place of SETUP, which allows me to force a reboot *and*
display a warning message to the user, "Do not load any programs
until Windows has rebooted! Software is being installed!"
Since I did all this, though, I have run across several things that
have caused me to disable the NAV32UP for the time being:
- First, the splash screens of programs loaded in the StartUp folder
(e.g. Office97's Shortcut bar, Outlook97) block the view of the
warning message, so the user *can't* read it!
- Second, the login prompts of programs (e.g. Outlook97 and others)
block either the progress of the silent install or the reboot
function (I haven't bothered trying to figure out which!).
- Third, the silent install takes several minutes on slower machines.
Meanwhile users have been loaded other software, included DOS apps.
*** So, I need a way to either:
- require the user to acknowledge the warning message, i.e. "Press
CONTINUE to install the update", instead of just using a timed
warning
... OR ..
- have some sort of indication of the progress of the install so
users know not to use the computer
Thank you for your help!
James Whitted / Symantec
Hi Tony,
Thanks for writing into us at Online Support.
We have received a few messages just like yours.
Right now there is not a solution to make it even more noticeable to the
users that we are installing NAV on the system and not reboot or anything.
We are also aware of the Outlook problems and are working with them for a
solution on this problem.
I wish that there was something I had to help you out with this problem,
but as of this time, there isn't. I don't know if and when this will be
worked out, but I will pass your message along to the management.
James Whitted
Sr. Support Analyst
Symantec Corporation
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Tony Tovar
>
> We have received a few messages just like yours.
>
> Right now there is not a solution to make it even more noticeable to the
> users that we are installing NAV on the system and not
>reboot or anything.
Well, I decided to go ahead and do a silent install without a reboot.
As I understand it, the issues are:
- the installation routine removes the AutoProtect s/w from memory,
so there'll be DLL conflicts, or anything, when the files get
replaced with the new version
- the NAV application will work OK as a "stand-alone" application if
the user tries to use it manually scan for viruses (I thought I saw
the NAV v4.08 lock up if I ran it before I rebooted; v5.0 seems OK).
- until they reboot, there'll be no background virus checking
(because the updated AutoProtect won't load until then)
Assuming my users don't reboot until tomorrow, this means I forgo one
day of virus protection in exchange for a silent update. I would
still prefer that the silent install (with the reboot option
selected) would leave a message on- screen and prompt the user to
reboot. The standard installation process (where you have to respond
to each prompt) does just this - why can't the silent install!
Thanks for responding.