Fact or Fiction - Restart Window between Program Installations

[Guest]

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

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

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

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

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.

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

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.

 

[Charlie Tame]

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

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.

 

[Richard Urban]

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)

 

[Guest]

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

 

[NoStop]

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

You would. That's just part of the Windoze experience and what makes it so
productive.

Cheers.

--
Remove Vista Activation Completely ...
http://tinyurl.com/2w8qqo

Frank - seek help immediately! Visit ...
http://www.binsa.org/

 

[Frank]

Richard Urban wrote:



You would. That's just part of the Windoze experience and what makes it so
productive.

Cheers.

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

 

[zachd [MSFT]]

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. =)

 

[Charlie Tame]

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. =)

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

 

[zachd [MSFT]]

Thanks for visiting again, I appreciate that "Insiders" get a lot of
annoyance which likely puts them off visiting these groups

I think you learn to have thick skin, but it's close to impossible to wade
through pages upon pages of flame wars to find where you can add value.

Anybody who wants the group to be positive, wants to give Microsoft and
Vista that much more of an opportunity to improve, really needs to avoid
flame wars, off-topic posting, et cetera. *shrug*
There's filtering methods, but there aren't great ones - and putting that
burden on every user means that it's excruciating for a random Microsoft
person to try to lend a hand or ear. =\

The thing is, it doesn't really matter if you like Mac, U*ix, Vista, BeOS,
etc - Vista getting better helps everyone by challenging other vendors to do
better. I regularly help third parties with their issues because that just
raises the tide, makes it that much more important for every other vendor to
be delivering excellence. A great Mac experience challenges Vista to be
better - and vice versa.

Yes, I am an idealist. But I'm a patient idealist, so it's OK. =)

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

Well, the 'neat' thing (if I may be so bold) is that it's possible to often
identify bugs/problems/feature requests in specific, and then potentially
act on those. But if I'm having to dig through 10,000 posts (as I did
today) to get a couple kernels of knowledge - that's just ineffective for
both sides of this equation. You want me to use my
non-work-but-trying-to-help-time in more effective ways. You don't even
want me here if that's the way the newsgroup is going to be. =\

I'll try to lend a hand/ear where I can, but the madness in this newsgroup
severely impacts the quality and quantity of assistance I can provide. =\

I generally stick to windowsmedia.player newsgroup where things are lot
saner. But I'd heartily prefer to spend my time learning about your
experiences with Vista and how it could be improved.

<3
-Zach

 

[Charlie Tame]

If I may reply in line...

I think you learn to have thick skin, but it's close to impossible to wade
through pages upon pages of flame wars to find where you can add value.

Anybody who wants the group to be positive, wants to give Microsoft and
Vista that much more of an opportunity to improve, really needs to avoid
flame wars, off-topic posting, et cetera. *shrug*
There's filtering methods, but there aren't great ones - and putting that
burden on every user means that it's excruciating for a random Microsoft
person to try to lend a hand or ear. =\

The thing is, it doesn't really matter if you like Mac, U*ix, Vista, BeOS,
etc - Vista getting better helps everyone by challenging other vendors to do
better. I regularly help third parties with their issues because that just
raises the tide, makes it that much more important for every other vendor to
be delivering excellence. A great Mac experience challenges Vista to be
better - and vice versa.

Exactly, it is one thing to rant about a specific OS and quite another
to pour out mindless advocacy, this only prolongs the flame wars and
hides the value stuff in the process.

Sorry to say it but MS does currently have the reputation of being the
uncaring giant, and whilst I am sure this is not true of 99% of the
company (Employees) it comes over that way as a result of "Some" senior
members of management and even more as a result of the apparent "Policy"
the company displays. I say "Apparent" because appearances are what we see.

Yes, I am an idealist. But I'm a patient idealist, so it's OK. =)

You can't "Not" be an idealist and succeed in this environment, nor lack
patience

Well, the 'neat' thing (if I may be so bold) is that it's possible to often
identify bugs/problems/feature requests in specific, and then potentially
act on those. But if I'm having to dig through 10,000 posts (as I did
today) to get a couple kernels of knowledge - that's just ineffective for
both sides of this equation. You want me to use my
non-work-but-trying-to-help-time in more effective ways. You don't even
want me here if that's the way the newsgroup is going to be. =\

And nobody expects MS employees to work all day and then come home and
work some more for free, not everyone can treat work as part work / part
hobby. However it is generally very good for the company and the
industry in general to have a bit of honest discussion, especially from
a quality improvement perspective.

I'll try to lend a hand/ear where I can, but the madness in this newsgroup
severely impacts the quality and quantity of assistance I can provide. =\

I generally stick to windowsmedia.player newsgroup where things are lot
saner. But I'd heartily prefer to spend my time learning about your
experiences with Vista and how it could be improved.

<3
-Zach

Personally I am not too unhappy with much of Vista, however there are
some areas that I find disappointing since they "Appear" to repeat some
long standing irritations. I am more dissatisfied with things that are
not really technical issues but issues related to the aforementioned
company policies and the implementation thereof. I know these are things
that you personally would be reluctant to comment upon and respect that,
so no point in aiming criticism at you or your immediate colleagues.

I am sure the odd mistakes will be made, but your supervisory staff
(Departmental / Whatever) should be aware of the tremendous value a
contribution from someone "Inside" such as yourself adds to these
discussions. You know, even from a simplistic point of view it "Just
looks as if somebody cares".