What is an installation? Types of computer installation and their description

The article tells about what an installation is, what this process is for, and describes the installation of games and software.

The Digital Age

Nowadays computers are becoming more widespread, many are no longer living without them, and almost all businesses have switched to electronic document management. But even some 15 years ago the presence of a home PC could boast of not all, as well as high-speed unlimited access to the network. And the development of new software has become for many a profitable business that has brought billions. If you look at the statistics of popular professions in the labor market, then every year more and more programmers and other similar specialists are required.

And this is natural, because even the most powerful and modern computer without software is nothing more than a set of expensive microcircuits. Operating systems and programs are a kind of layer between a person and a machine that serve to interact with them. But for the work of programs they must first be installed, because you can not just transfer a set of files to the computer and wait for everything to work by itself, for this you need their correct installation. So what is an installation? What it happens and what is needed? In this we will understand.

Installation

Before answering this question, it is worthwhile to go a little deeper into the way programs work. In its pure form, any of them is a set of sequences of ones and zeros that the processor of a computer or other device interprets into one or another command. But similar programs were distributed a long time ago, when PCs did not have a graphical interface and they were "fed" programs directly.

And now, if you look at almost any software, then in addition to the interface, you can notice a lot of other things: additional fonts, language packs, help files, online check for updates and much more. All this is covered in special system libraries, and they need to be copied correctly. True, the installation is different, but everything in order. So what is an installation?

Definition

Almost all programs are delivered in compressed or packed form, which is natural, because it is much easier to download one installation archive and already get everything you need from it than download or copy dozens or even hundreds of different files. For example, just look in the directory of any software to ask the question: "What is the installation?"

Installation is the process of copying and installing software on the end user's computer. You can not call it usual copying to the file system, because during the installation a special program (batch manager) checks the computer for compatibility, availability of the necessary companion software and so on.

Then the installer places files on the disk in the required sequence, creates additional directories, if necessary, makes entries in the registry, startup, associates files, etc. So now we know what the installation program is.

As you can see, during this process the computer performs a lot of actions, although the user, most often, does not notice anything of this. It is also worth noting that this term will be used in relation to plug-ins and drivers, although they are not programs themselves.

Kinds

There are also several basic types of installation. And although they perform the same work, their methods are somewhat different. And considering the question what is the installation of software, it is worth mentioning the most common ones.

For example, a silent installation is performed without displaying pop-up windows or anything else. The user starts the process and after a while simply gets a ready-to-use program.

Automatic installation (the most common) occurs without the participation of a person, of course, except for the launch itself and some settings, for example, instructions on how to unpack the software, create a shortcut for launching, etc.

The manual installation is different in that it requires a lot of complicated actions.

There are also programs that are not required to install , and the whole installation is just that they simply copy files to the hard drive themselves. So now we know what the installation program is.

Games

Computer games have long ceased to be some sort of childish or primitive entertainment. This is a lucrative business, and many large companies spend tens, if not hundreds, millions on the creation of another toy that brings in profits several times more.

So what is the installation of the game? In fact, this is the same as installing another program. In the process, game materials (models, sound, textures, etc.) and executable files are copied onto the hard disk, which collect all of this into a three-dimensional controlled picture.