Installation (or setup) of a program (including drivers) is the act and the effect of putting the program in a computer system so that it can be executed.
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Installation (or setup) of a program (including drivers) is the act and the effect of putting the program in a computer system so that it can be executed.
Most programs are supplied in a condensed form intended for sale and distribution. In order to be used, they must be 'unpacked' and the relevant information placed correctly on the computer, taking account of variations between computers, and any customized settings required by the user. During installation, various tests are made of system suitability, and the computer is configured to store the relevant files and any necessary settings required for that program to operate correctly.
Because the requisite process varies for each program and each computer, many programs (including operating systems) come with a general-purpose or dedicated installer – a specialized program which automates most of the work required for their installation.
Some software is designed to be installed simply by copying their files to the desired location, and there is no formal installation process. This was once usual for many programs of MS-DOS, MacOS, Atari TOS, AmigaOS since early versions of these operating systems and actually it is very common and "de facto" standard in Mac OS X applications and is also used for many Windows applications. Operating systems also exist which don't require installation, and can therefore be run directly from a bootable CD, DVD, or USB drive, without affecting other operating systems installed on the machine. An example is AmigaOS 4.0, Knoppix Linux, MorphOS AmigaOS clone, or Mac OS 1-9.
The term then naturally extends to plugins, device drivers and software files which are not by themselves programs.
Common operations performed during software installations include creation or modification of:
- Shared and non-shared program files
- Folders/directories
- Windows registry entries (Windows only)
- Configuration file entries
- Environment variables
- Links or shortcuts
Some jargon expressions
- Silent installation
- Installation that does not display messages or windows during its progress. "Silent installation" is not a synonym of "unattended installation", though it is often improperly used as such.
- Unattended installation
- Installation that is performed without user interaction during its progress or, in a stricter sense, with no user present at all, except eventually for the initial launch of the process. An installation process usually requires a user who "attends" it to make choices at request: accepting an EULA, specifying preferences and passwords, etc. In graphical environments, installers that offer a wizard-based interface are common. However these installers may also provide command line switches that allow performing unattended installations. Some unattended installation can be driven by a script providing answers to the various choices such as the answer file which can be used when installing Microsoft Windows on a large number of machines.
