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Frequently Asked Questions Installation and Configuration Table of Contents
Q. Which Operating systems are supported?A. AmirusMM™ is currently supported on Windows NT® version 4 (SP 6), Windows 2000, and Windows XP Professional edition. Support for Linux is almost ready for release; support for VMS is planned. There is no support for Windows 98 nor Windows ME, although the management utility MMManager will run under these systems. Contact Citrus Controls for the most recent information and release schedule. Although Windows NT is supported, NT may not be sufficiently robust for most turnkey applications (this is an NT/network issue, and is not related to the reliability of AmirusMM). Citrus Controls recommends Windows 2000 as a robust platform for this software for most applications. The current implementation of AmirusMM is designed for Pentium processors only. Back to TopQ. Does the demo kit contain spyware or other nonsense?A. No. Back to TopQ What is the difference between Single, Multiple and Self-extracting archive installations?A. AmirusMM™ is distributed in three ways -- as a Single machine distribution, as a Multiple machine distribution, and as a Self-extracting archive file. The Single and Multiple machine installations first load a bootstrap program, which then requests additional files from our web site. The Self-extracting archive contains all the files of the distribution within it, and these files are reconstructed when the file is executed on a Windows system. Generally, you use the Single machine distribution if you are installing AmirusMM on a single machine. This machine must be connected to the internet, as the installation process will request additional component files from our web site. During a single machine installation, you are able to decide which components you wish to install. This is useful if you want to try out the product on a single machine -- although it is designed for multiple-machine network installation, all components can be tested and examined in a single machine 'sandbox'. AmirusMM can also be used for productive work on a single machine -- applications on a single machine can use the memory monitoring application programmer interface to monitor the memory accesses of other programs. Microsoft refers to the single machine installation as a Normal Installation. You use the Multiple machine distribution to save internet bandwidth when installing on several machines over your local network. This is a multi-step process. First, you run the installation to copy code from our website onto any accessible disk drive on your local network. The installation procedure doesn't allow you to select specific components; the entire distribution tree is copied to the location you specify, and a new installation MSI file is created at the root of the target directory tree. Next, you run the installation again for each machine you wish to install the software on by clicking on the MSI file. You are allowed to select which components you wish to install, and decide if they are to be installed locally or are to be run over the network from your local distribution site. Citrus recommends that you install all components locally, especially if the network you intend to use for AmirusMM data exchange is shared. Microsoft refers to the multiple machine installation as an Administrative Installation. The Self-extracting archive contains the entire 9-file distribution kit as internal data. When you run this file on a Windows system, the files are reconstructed, and then the installation procedure is automatically started. Installation proceeds just as a Single machine installation, but instead of requesting component files from the internet, they are requested from the local disk. You use this mechanism to perform an installation if you are having problems accessing the internet through a firewall. You may also use this mechanism if your target machine isn't directly connected to the internet, and your Internet-accessible download machine doesn't run Windows. This form of distribution is used exclusively by our purchasing partners and independent software download sites. It is also the form you receive the distribution on if you order the software on CDROM.
Some customer policies require that a computer virus check
be performed for all software downloaded from the internet, even if the
code is digitally signed. To prevent the Self-extracting archive from
automatically running, so that the extracted executables can be verified, you
use the -noexec flag. Then, after verification, the installation can
proceed by running the SetupLocal_x86.exe file. Back to TopQ. Tell me about the trial license.A. The installation kit contains an integral trial license. Citrus Controls encourages you try the software prior to purchase, and the trial license provides for a fully functional kit with no limitations. A license for the optional hardware bridge component is also included. The trial license is time limited. Since the product is designed for a turn-key environment where there need not be any interaction between the user and the program, it is not possible to warn you automatically that the trial license period is at an end. Termination of the trial license is indicated when the product fails to function, in which case the system Application Error log will contain an error message stating that the license has expired. If the trial license has expired in the kit you have downloaded, please contact Citrus Controls for a new valid trial license. Sometimes, our distribution sites cache older versions of the software with licenses that have expired. You can check on the license information - including how much time remains before expiration - by running the MMManager utility. The MMManager utility splash screen tells you about the license information. This information is also displayed when you select "Help"/"About MMManager". A trial license cannot be extended. After the trial period expires, you must either delete the software or purchase a full license. During the Single machine installation process, you will be asked if you wish to select the trial license or provide a full license. During the Multi machine installation you are asked which license you wish to use only when you install the software on each individual node; you may complete the multi-machine installation to a local network disk without providing a license. You may upgrade to a full license at any time. You may also install a full license prior to software installation; you select the full license option during installation and bypass the trial license installation. Note that if you select the trial license during installation when you have already installed a full license, the full license will be overridden; if you accidentally select the trial license option, you must install your full license prior to running the program. Back to TopQ. Tell me about the retail license.A. A retail license will be sent to you after your order has been processed. You will receive the license in an e-mail message or on a floppy disk. The license is a NT registry script which you can click on; it writes a registry constant which permits you to run the software on a specific node. You will receive a separate license for each machine that you wish to run the software on. There are three different types of license you can purchase:-
There are no time restrictions on the license; retail licenses will never expire. There are therefore no recurring charges for running the AmirusMM software, although you may wish to purchase a support and upgrade package to provide you with updates and bug fixes after the warranty period has expired.
The retail license is limited to a specific machine. This is determined by the
physical hardware address of any network adapter on your machine, and other
information. During the ordering process, you use the MSK
utility program to determine the machine specific characteristics; later, you either
copy this information onto the order form or send us an e-mail with the
information. You must purchase a separate license for each machine you wish to
license. Citrus Controls has special programs for site-wide licenses and OEM
discounts. Please contact us for further information. Back to TopQ. What happens to the license if I need to change network adapters?A. The machine license is limited to a specific machine. If you have to change network adapters or other hardware (during maintenance, for example), the license may not continue to be valid. An invalid license will cause the premature failure of the software components, which will be evident if you examine the Application Error Log. You can update your valid machine license on-line, by going to our license update screen in the Customer Area (username and password are required). On this screen, you specify the license information you provided on your original order and your new hardware configuration information. The on-line utility then provides you with a supplemental license which will validate your current license with the new hardware configuration. The URL of the support site can be found from the information provided by the installation. Use "Setting"/"Control Panel"/"Add/remove programs", select "Amirus Mirror Memory" and click on "support information" for more details.
There is no charge for a replacement license if you are
just changing hardware configuration during hardware maintenance. Back to TopQ. How do I uninstall the product?A. AmirusMM™ is fully integrated with the Microsoft installation utilities. To uninstall the product, click "Settings"/"Control Panel"/"Add/Remove programs" and select "Amirus Mirror Memory". Then click "Remove". If you have installed any of the example VB.NET programs, you should remove these too. Cleanup will include removing all code, shortcuts, menu items, examples and registry entries. Any license information will be removed too. If you decide later to reinstall the software, you will have to reinstall any full and replacement licenses you are entitled to. If your original installation requested the Microsoft Installer (v2), this will not be removed if you uninstall AmirusMM. Back to TopQ. Are there any other installation restrictions?A. Just one. Although it is possible to perform a Multi-machine installation with the help system registered as "advertised", the utilities which use context-sensitive help (MMManager, MMMonitor and MMServiceConfigurer) are not fully integrated with the Microsoft deferred file installation procedures. You should make sure that the help system is installed to run locally if you wish to be able to use context sensitive help with the utilities. Back to TopQ. Why is the installation attempting to contact Microsoft?A. Installation requires the Microsoft Installer (v2). If your system isn't currently up to the proper revision, the installation procedure will automatically attempt to install the needed software from Microsoft. You will be prompted before this installation occurs, and given the opportunity to reject the install. However, you will not be able to install AmirusMM without this upgrade. If you are attempting an installation on a machine which isn't connected to the internet (for example, if you are using the Self-extracting archive installation method), you may need to upgrade to the proper version of MS Installer first. See www.microsoft.com for details on Microsoft upgrades. If we need to update Microsoft Installer, we request files only from the official Microsoft distribution center, not from a mirror or 3rd party site.. If you subsequently uninstall Amirus Mirror Memory, the Microsoft installer v2 remains installed. Back to TopQ. Which network broadcast address does the default installation use?A. On first installation, AmirusMM is configured to run a 'default' mirror memory Ring with 512Kbytes of memory. This Ring is also configured to use the IP Limited Broadcast address "255.255.255.255" as the address to transmit and receive data from other Ring members. This is the only address which is guaranteed to run on any arbitrary configuration of machines, as long as the machines share the same physical network without being connected by network routers. If you are testing the installation on a machine connected to the network through a slow link (DSL, ISDN or straight dial-up), remember to disconnect the slow link first -- the default configuration can't keep up with slow network connections and the AmirusMM ring will fragment. If you wish to connect machines which are on different network segments, or if one of the machines you intend to configure is multi-homed (connected to more than one network at the same time), then you will generally want to reconfigure the transport protocol to use either a subnet-directed or a multicast address. The on-line help files contain detailed instructions and information on how to do this.
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