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How to Install and Configure DSS on Faculty PCs

Information Technology Services (ITS) has created the latest desktop software suite (DSS) for faculty PCs to offer significant functional enhancements over previous installation. This suite is not only built with latest operating system (Windows XP, SP2) and new office tools (Office 2003) for end-users, but also configured with new installation methods for Information Technology Consultant (ITC), which will decrease the system down-time while improving the overall installation and configuration processes.

This document is designed to provide step-by-step procedures for ITCs to install and configure DSS. Please be sure not to skip any steps.

 

STEP ONE: Check-list before installing the new DSS

1. Update the latest BIOS of your Dell system. Check the Dell download page for that information
   
   
2. Add additional memory if necessary (min. 512MB) to your Dell system
   
   
   
3. Collect computer name, IP address and other relevant information for your future reference. You can use “ipconfig /all > %computername%.txt” on Command prompt.
   
   
4. Most importantly, BACKUP USER’S DATA before initiating the installation process. You can use PC Transplant for quick data backup. Please contact Andy Pesich at 3-2717 for more information.
    

STEP TWO: Software Suite Installation with disk imaging process

1. Obtain or burn a bootable CD of the ISO image. This used to be a download; if necessary, contact Ryan Chan at 3-5015 for the lastest ISO file and, in turn, burn it to a CD.
   
   
2. Insert your CD and reboot the system.
   
   
3. Press F12 to reorder the boot sequence.
   
   
4. Chose CD on the menu

   

5. Windows 98 loads into RAM and is given the drive letter f:. A menu appears to select an image server depending on your location or needs. Select your server.
   

   

    
   
   
6. Enter "y" to have the NIC card detected.
   

   

   
   
7. Select Faculty image.
   

   

   
   

   
   

8. Connection with the server is established. "Restore an image" is already higlighted. All navigation in this part of Altiris Deployment is done usually with the [alt] key pressed together with [N] (for "next") or [F] (for "finish"). Press [Alt]+[N].
   

   

9. Press [Alt]+[W] for "browse".

   

10. The image is usually under an "IMG" tree.

    

11. The file needs to have the extension ".IMG"

    

12. If you get here (the disk size screen), just press [Alt]+[F] to start the download.

    

13. This is the download screen. After a few minutes a fairly accurate estimate of how long the process will be will appear.

    

14. The last phase of configuration is a system adjustment, which is initiated by Windows XP during the first boot. When you see the following dialog box, please wait until the adjustment process completes, and reboot the system when you are prompted to do so. Sometimes you may not see the system adjustment process. In this case, you have to manually reboot the system.
    

    

STEP THREE: Post-configuration

1. There are three phases of post-configuration, basic system information,
   1. Input of basic system information.
   2. System lock-down (which varies from system to system)
   3. Checking the system settings and making final corrections.
   A full screen similar to the following should appear. Enter the host name of the system (This system is named "sample").
   
   

    

   [PLEASE READ THIS] You may see a message stating that there is a duplicate name in the network. You can ignore this message. Just click “Ok” to close it. This message will disappear after the second phase of post-configuration.
   
   
   

2. Four more pop-ups will ask you for
   • Location of the PC.
   • Jack number.
   • Ownership.
   • State Tag.
   This information will be loaded into registry keys which, in turn, will be read by Altiris.
   
   
   
   
   

    

3. After reboot, the second phase of post-configuration will start automatically. Depending on the machine, this process may take a few minutes to several. There is no input; wait until the next reboot.
   
   
4. The third and final phase of post-configuration starts with the installation of ePo agent (a McAfee product).

   
   

    

5. A full screen with pop-up appears next. In order to complete this final section, you must clear warnings of "blocked content" and closed system tools. Check the box "Do not show me this message again" and right click on the warning at the top of the page to allow blocked content. Click on "Yes" on resulting pop-up. Then, click on the "next >>" area on the screen to get to the disk management portion.
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

6. Changing the Zip drive (if there is one) to Z and the CD-ROM to X is no longer required. However, if you want to do this, then click on the pink shape and open disk.csu. The steps within dsk.csu are not shown here. However, if you wish to do this, here's the hint: much of it requires using right click.

   
    

   
    

7. The next two clicks of "next >>" produces "ipconfig /all" in a cmd window and the System Properties pages. This is a good place to see whether you have established the correct network connection and whether the machine has joined the "academic.ad.calstatela.edu" domain..

   
    

   
    

8. The last section checks what users and groups have been added to the machine. This is a good place to check if Academic\ITCacad and other essential users has been added to the administrator's group.
   
   
    
   
   

9. If there seem to be inconsistancies in the last few sections, you may wish to repeat postconfig with restarting C:\Winbatch.32\Faccfg1 or contacting DSG for assistance. Otherwise, click on "here" and logoff from the user prepadm.
   
   
    

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