Microsoft KB Archive/294727

= How To Perform a Flat Copy/Flat Installation from CD to Hard Drive =

Article ID: 294727

Article Last Modified on 8/15/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise Edition

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This article was previously published under Q294727



SUMMARY
A &quot;flat installation&quot; is a software installation performed from an image that has been copied to a hard drive rather than directly from other installation media, such as a CD-ROM. A flat installation can help with problematic software installations because performing a flat copy (the process of copying the &quot;known good&quot; image to a hard drive) is much easier for the computer than the random access reads required during a normal installation. Performing a flat copy will also allow verification that all files were successfully copied prior to the installation. In a flat installation, the CD-ROM is read prior to the processor-intensive installation.



MORE INFORMATION
Installing software is very processor-intensive. Depending on the specific hardware, the CD drive and processor may have difficulty handling this load. In Windows 98, disabling Direct Memory Access (DMA) might help. To do so, point to Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel. Start the System utility. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Device Manager tab. In the resulting tree, expand CDROM, select the CD drive being used, and click Properties. If DMA is selected, clear this setting. Close all dialog boxes by clicking the OK buttons. This change might be sufficient to allow an installation to proceed successfully, so that the flat copy/installation process is not necessary.

If disabling DMA does not resolve the installation problem, leave this option disabled and proceed with the flat copy and flat installation process as described in this article. Note that disabling DMA will result in a performance reduction, but this reduction is usually considered negligible.

A flat installation will provide for faster installation due to quicker reads from a hard drive resource compared to the read speed of a CD drive. This becomes more significant for multiple installations across a network. Products such as the MSDN Library lend themselves well to flat installations and some now have special programs to assist in the process. See &quot;MSDN&quot; later in this article for additional information.

Space Requirement on the Target Hard Drive Partition
The target location on the hard drive should have sufficient space to accommodate the image, usually 650 MB. If the product is to be installed on the same disk partition, the free space available must be sufficient to handle both. If the operating system is on the same partition, the virtual memory file size increase will also reduce the free space available. See &quot;Virtual Memory File&quot; later in this article for additional information.

Steps to Perform Flat Copy

 * 1) Create a folder on the root of the hard drive. Use a name that follows the DOS 8.3 format, such as VSImage (this is not case-sensitive).
 * 2) If the installation will be on remote or multiple computers, share this folder so all the clients have the minimum read permissions.
 * 3) Insert the product CD-ROM into the CD drive. The following example uses a CD drive letter of &quot;S:&quot;.
 * 4) If the product installation CD automatically starts the Installation Wizard, click cancel and then exit.
 * 5) Open a command prompt through the Start menu item, or by clicking Start, clicking Run, typing command and clicking OK.
 * 6) Type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each one. (They are not case-sensitive.) Make appropriate changes to the drive letters and folder name as needed. In this case, the source (CD) drive letter is &quot;S:&quot;, the target hard drive letter is &quot;C:&quot;, and the target folder name is &quot;VSImage&quot;.

S:

XCopy *.* C:\VSImage\ /v /s /h

The flags are:
 * /v - verification

/s - subfolder or directories

/h - hidden files

For additional information on the use of the XCopy command, use the /? flag.

If this process completes without errors, continue with the flat installation. If this processes results in errors, see &quot;Troubleshooting.&quot;

Perform the Flat Installation
Install the product by executing the Setup.exe file in the C:\VSImage\ folder (altering the path if necessary).

Troubleshooting
Inability of the XCopy statement to cause the copying of the files to the hard drive could be an indication of a faulty CD drive. Check the hardware and CD driver. If possible, try another CD drive on either the same computer, or if a network is being used, share out a CD reader on another computer. If XCopy fails when you are using a known good CD drive try, check the CD for removable dirt and try the XCopy again, or use a different disc.

MSDN
MSDN Library January 2000 edition and later include a NetCopy utility (NetCopy.exe). By running NetCopy.exe from the MSDN Library Disc 1, users can connect to the install point and run Setup. See the Readmedn.htm file on MSDN Library Disc 1. For additional information on manual network sharing of the MSDN Library, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

271776 How To Create an MSDN Library Shared Install Point on the Network

Virtual Memory File
The default setting for Windows operating system virtual memory file is dynamic and is located on the system partition, usually C:. As Windows determines that additional memory resources are required, as is the case for a product installation, the operating system will increase the size of the virtual memory file, thereby reducing the available free disk space. The installation will fail if the free disk space is depleted too far.

As a general rule, 20 to 25 percent free space is consider good practice and should allow for good performance.

For a flat installation, calculate the size of the image by examining the size of the original source, normally about 650 MB for a single CD-ROM. Consult the product specifications for the estimated disk requirements. Lastly, you can estimate the virtual memory file size. Normally the virtual memory file will not go beyond 2 to 2.5 times the amount of physical RAM installed on the computer. To check the physical RAM available, point to Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Open the System utility. On the General tab, in the System Properties dialog box, the last line will show the amount of physical RAM. For example, if this shows 261,688 KB RAM, this represents 256 MB and will require virtual memory file resources of 512 to 614 MB.

In extremely tight free space situations, the virtual memory file location and size can be set manually. For example, if there are multiple hard drive partitions, select a partition that is always available and has sufficient space. Change both the Initial (Minimum) and the Maximum settings to the same value (2 to 2.4 times the physical RAM). If too little RAM is specified, Windows will not start. Search on &quot;virtual memory settings&quot; in your operating system Help for additional information.

