General software installation guidelines for Macintosh and Windows

Age : 45 Joined : 08 Mar 2008 Posts : 1850

This TechNote discusses general tips and guidelines for installation of Macromedia software on Windows and Macintosh systems. For more specific information about installation issues, please refer to theSupport Center of the product in which you are experiencing problems.

Software installation is often successful and problem-free, however, there are specific conditions that can interfere with the installation.The most common installation issues are due to mistyped serial number information and machine specific conflicts.

Serialization
When filling out the information in the Serialization dialog box, follow these guidelines from the TechNote Serial number not accepted (TechNote 15282). Once all the information has been entered correctly, a check mark (shown below) will appear. If this check mark does not appear, try re-entering the information.

When troubleshooting the installation of Macromedia software, note the guidelines below:

Virus protection software can interfere with installation. Be sure to disable any virus protection software such as Norton or McAfee before installation.

Instructions should be located in the manual for your particular software. On Mac OS 9.2 and below, running with base OS extensions will disable virus software (see steps below).
Close all other programs and tasks. On Windows, tasks can be viewed by pressing the Control, Alt and Delete keys simultaneously. Be sure to press this keystroke only once. If pressed twice, Windows will restart.

On Windows 98 and ME, close all tasks in the task manager except for Explorer and Systray. On Windows NT, 2000, and XP, close all tasks.
Disconnect from any networks. This will avoid any possible network conflicts.
Disconnect any peripherals. (printers, external drives, scanners, etc.)
Be sure drivers for sound and video cards, as well as other hardware, are updated. Drivers can be found on the hardware manufacturer's web site.
Installing software on a Mac OS X system requires an Admin account and password.
Be sure you are using the appropriate serial number when installing. Some Macromedia Studio products only have one serial number for all products in the studio.

Other studios, including Director Shockwave Studio, have separate serial numbers for each piece of software. If you are installing an upgrade, the new upgrade serial number and the serial number for your previous version may be required during installation.

Disabling virus protection software/ Running base extensions on Macintosh OS 9.x and below
Macintosh OS extensions can be disabled by holding the Shift key while booting. The Macintosh welcome screen will indicate that extensions are turned off. The following the steps will also disable all but the base OS extensions:

Click on the Apple icon on the top left hand corner of the desktop
Go to Control Panels->Extension Manager
From the drop down list of predefined sets, select 'Mac OS (version) base'. (Where version is the version of Mac OS in use.)
Restart

Note:For more information about troubleshooting Macintosh issues including information about Macintosh OS X, see General Macintosh troubleshooting (TechNote 3500).

Other general tips for installation
CD's are rarely defective. However, if installation from a CD continues to be unsuccessful, try the following:

Copying the contents of the CD to the machines hard drive and install from there.
Check the CD for dust and clean if necessary
Try installing on another machine to verify program installs successfully.