Vista - Fact or Fiction - Restart Window between Program Installations

Hi,

I have always been under the impression that once a software program is
installed on a Windows machine, Windows should be restarted. I believe it had
something to do with the writing of information to the registry.

I recently purchased a new system. I am preparing to reload all of the
software that I used on a regular basis. Depending on how many programs I
feel I need for my current workload, this will be anywhere between 50 and 125
programs.

Is it "ideal" to restart Windows after the installation of each program? (Or
in some cases between the installation of a suite of software (such as MS
Office).)

I'm not looking to do any more than necessary; but, I'm not looking to cut
corners either.

Thanks for any input.

Jeff

Windows tells you if you need to restart. Restarts are inevitable anyway..
:-)

--
Mike Hall - MVP
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx
Posting Productively.. http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm



"Jeff" <Jeff@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:545F35F6-F857-4DD0-9ADE-4760192A0C29@xxxxxx

Jeff

It depends on how the installation routine was programmed for the particular
application. If a restart is required, the program should notify you of that
fact after it completes. Usually an installation only requires a restart if
you are going to begin using the program immediately.

Best practices would dictate that if you are going to be installing 'many'
programs in a short period of time, an 'occassional' reboot would be
prudent.



--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User


"Jeff" <Jeff@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:545F35F6-F857-4DD0-9ADE-4760192A0C29@xxxxxx

Depends on the Program or how Windows feels about it. The other day I did an
upgrade from Office XP to Office 2007 and the program requested I restart
the system to configure the installation.
--
Andre
Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
My Vista Quickstart Guide:
http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
"Jeff" <Jeff@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:545F35F6-F857-4DD0-9ADE-4760192A0C29@xxxxxx

Jeff wrote:
Installs often alter the registry and it is not impossible for a
subsequent install to rely on some value that has not been updated from
an unfinished install - some value that maybe cannot be changed while
the system is running. This is very unlikely though.

However this is more important with things like "Drivers" because the
chances that registry entries cannot be updated while it is running
increase... and also you don't want to have files locked when they need
to be replaced, which again is unlikely but not impossible. You have to
judge this based upon how close the software gets to the heart of the
system and how dependent it may be on something else.

Generally I try to shut down all Antivirus and Security software and
prevent it starting at boot time. Then reboot and install drivers etc
from an archive I already saved somewhere easy like the desktop. Install
each part separately (if more than one) and then reboot again. Once all
is done, set security stuff to start with windows again and reboot.

MS updates will tell you when, other things I do not rely on, especially
drivers.

Most times this is over the top, but hey I almost never have "Mystery"
problems either. This applies to all operating systems, Windows, Linux,
anything, no installer can take account of every possible combination.

I always reboot after a program installation - even if I am not told to do
so.

I have seen some programs that did not need a reboot, flash a message during
the reboot - "Please wait while your system is configured".

Now, I don't know if it is putting files into their final resting place or
if the registry is being updated. But again, a reboot was not deemed
necessary by the program installer.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)



"Jeff" <Jeff@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:545F35F6-F857-4DD0-9ADE-4760192A0C29@xxxxxx

Hi,

Thanks to everyone who responded to my post.

The various responses lead me to the conclusion that there may not be one
right answer. I have always restarted Windows, even if not asked to do so by
the installing program. Other than taking some extra time, I suppose there's
no drawback to doing so. If I get brave I may just restart at selected times;
otherwise, I may continue to restart between application installs.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Jeff

"Jeff" wrote:

NoStop wrote:Lost again doris? RS is waiting for you over at the open sores chapel.
You know what he wants don't you...ahahaha...lol!
Don't keep him waiting!
Frank

That's correct, there's not one right answer.

Many applications over-reboot, some may under-reboot. For example, the
Windows Media Player 10 install installing to a system where the deskband
was in use by the shell. You "should" reboot to get the updated deskband
available in the shell - but if you don't, the player is still functional
(just not the deskband). Should you reboot? (The answer was that the
player installer will say you can use WMP now, but it won't work fully until
reboot.)

If you check the PendingFileRenames queue and the RunOnce, RunOnceEx, and
etc queues, you can get an appromixate feel for whether or not a reboot was
really needed.

The only particularly dangerous times as regards reboots are where they put
in a non-temp-pathed file into the pendingfile queue. If you then installed
something that reinstalled that marked-deleted file and rebooted, you'd end
up in a rogue state.

There's a little unsupported command line powertoy, rebootchk.exe, I wrote
once that has a vague idea about reboots. If you look for that on MS Live
search, you'll find it (Google evidently didn't notice it). It's dumb, but a
minor time saver. *shrug*

There's definitely not one perfect answer here, not from your standpoint,
and not really from any standpoint. =)

--
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--
"Jeff" <Jeff@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:0005E940-9D38-4280-80B5-2B2B17C8EECC@xxxxxx

zachd [MSFT] wrote:
Thanks for visiting again, I appreciate that "Insiders" get a lot of
annoyance which likely puts them off visiting these groups but when some
real solid info is forthcoming it helps everybody here a lot, in fact
I'd say that lack of such visits actually contributes to
dissatisfaction, but at the same time it is understood that employees
are in a vulnerable position and unable to directly influence corporate
policy. I am sure many frustrations are common to all but the less said
the better