Please close any programs that will be updated during this installation. It is always safest to close all other programs too just in case there is a possibility of some files being locked thus making the installer unable to update them.
If you have other PillarSoft programs in use on your system and are replacing them, you may wish to save their old settings. This may be accomplished by:
Saving your existing ini files.
Uninstalling the old programs.
Installing the new ones.
Copying the old ini files into the new directory structure.
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INSTALLATION SUGGESTIONS
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The Pillarsoft Suite installation program places all the dlls that it uses in a common directory for all of it's programs to use. It also offers you the chance to copy the dll files into an existing directory that is listed in the LIBPATH rather than adding to it. If you decide to use the \os2\dll directory for example, the installer will keep track of them and where they are so they can be removed should you decide to uninstall.
This has advantages for you should you decide to use this method. Perhaps now is the time to consolidate all those smaller apps, dlls and help files into one set of directories so programs like this don't have to add to your config.sys.
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CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING...
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After installing a few applications one always runs up against the dreaded mess that our path statements become. Rather than letting every application add to it why not set up a directory for new applications dll and help files and have just the one extra entry for each of these. While we are at it, we can create an "app" directory for 1 or 2 file applications that we may want to use from the command line.
Granted, you will not want to copy some larger apps with numerous files into these directories but the smaller apps will use them quite nicely and in a more organized fashion.
Suppose I make a "BIN" directory on the root of my boot drive and add directories under it for apps, dlls and help. So I have:
C:\bin\apps
C:\bin\dll
C:\bin\help
Now I can add these directories to the "Set Path", "Libpath" and "Set Help" statements respectively and when I install an application that wants to add to my "Libpath" statement, for example, I can tell the app not to update my "Config.sys" or remove the additional entry it may have made to my "Libpath" statement. Then I can copy all the apps dll's into the C:\bin\dll directory and I'm all set! Another benefit is that anytime I copy files into these directories they are available immediately to the system without having to reboot.
This method is:
Neater - Shorter paths
Safer - No mess in your config.sys
Faster - Short paths mean less duplication and faster searches
All in all, just a much more organized approach
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UNINSTALLING THE PILLARSOFT SUITE
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The installation program will be tracking all of the installation information and can be used to uninstall any of the applications that it installed when doing a standard installation. It will delete all the files, remove the directories and remove the desktop object for each program automatically as well as removing any changes it had made to the os2.ini file. If you've chosen to change the config.sys file, you will have to delete the additions manually. We may add that feature in the future.
In order for the uninstall capabilities to work, you will need to retain the "install.ini" file that will be placed in the base directory of the installation. You can run the install.exe file from the original archive. It should run and work from any directory as long as the "prereq.dat" file accompanies it. Just unzip the archive, run "install.exe" and chose the uninstall button on the program selection page while also selecting which programs to uninstall.
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OTHER NOTES
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You will not be able to install the Pillarsoft Suite into the same directory it is being installed from. If you wish to install into the directory you started this program from you'll need to dismiss this window, "Exit" the installation and move the archive to another directory before restarting it again.
If for any reason, you lose your desktop objects for one or more of the programs, you can: Run the quick and dirty "rebuild.cmd" in each program directory to rebuild the desktop object for that program.
The installer will still query you for an installation directory and the dll file locations. When choosing a location for the dll files, you will be presented with a listbox filled with presently used dll file locations. The installer will suggest a location that is a subdirectory of the location you have chosen for the installation but if you choose one of the locations from the listboxes, the config.sys will NOT have to be modified and you will NOT have to reboot.
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FINAL THOUGHT
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You may see copyright notices that already say 2000 on them when the year is still 1999. I am just getting a jump on it. I'd hate to have to come home right at 12:01 on Jan 1st to change them. :-)
