Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware- protects you from getting or spreading a virus, worm, or Trojan horse. It also prevents the unauthorized access of information from both spyware and adware.
Enhanced Firewall- Helps you block the hackers. It protects your computer form any one trying to access it without authorization.
I have also done a system restore, this allows you to go back to a recovery point that you have made earlier. This is very useful when you install new software that doesn’t work correctly and cause your computer to crash or freeze. When this happens system restore will allow you to go back to a recovery point that you made before installing the new software. Your computer is also able to automatically create restore checkpoints. It will do it by itself and depending on how often you use your computer will depend on how many checkpoints your computer does. These checkpoints will be stored in a calendar which will allow you to quickly locate the checkpoint you are looking for.
I have created system restore so when I install new software or upgrade software and the software will not work properly then I can go back to a restore point that I have created. Using recovery point I will not lose any data that I had before the installation or upgrade of the software.
I have planed my installation and upgrade because it will help me prepare and prevent any problems that may occur during the installation or upgrade . You need to make sure that the system requirements of your computer meet the needs this will save you time if you do this before installing or upgrading us you will not have to uninstall. When you plan you need to know what the users wants, this will prevent from installing the wrong software that is not needed by the user. You need to know if the installation or upgrade is required this will prevent from installing 2 of the same software. Also you need to collect all the material and instruction need for the installation or upgrade this will prevent from you wasting your time looking for things like installation CD or product key if you have them ready before you do the installation. You also need to plan the suitable time to do the installation this will prevent you from disturbing the users work. You also plan the risk reduction measures this will prevent from any data lose in case something goes wrong.
D2: Evaluate the risks involved in the installation or upgrade of software and explain how the risk could be minimised.
When you upgrade or install new software the data that you have may be lost. This could be because when the software is upgrade the old version is deleted and the data connected to the software may be deleted as well. For example when you upgrade your operating system from Microsoft Windows XP to Microsoft Windows 7.
To minimise the risk of losing data you need to make backups. You can backup your data on flash disks, CDs and any other memorable devices. To back up you simply copy the data on you memorable device and put it in a save place. Also you could make a restore point but this will cause your software or upgrade to be deleted.
In some cases when the installation or upgrade is made the computer may not be used them for a company may lose income because it can’t use the computers. For example when you upgrade your operating system from Microsoft Windows XP to Microsoft Windows 7.
The best way to minimise this risk is to do the installation or the upgrade outside of working hours of the company. This way you will not disturber any ones work. If you are installing or upgrading on many computers then you could install on one computer at a time, this way the other computers could be used and the company will not lose as much income us they would if all the computers were not functional.
The new version may be unstable on the user’s computer, it may cause problems such us crashing or freezing the computer. This happens when the new software is not prepared for that type of computer in this cases the manufacture tries to work out what’s wrong with the software and makes software patches that should fix the problem. For example in computer games like “Fallout 3” a lot of computers had problem with that game and the manufacture very quickly made patches which resolved the problems.
To minimise the risk of unstable software you have to check if it has bugs, if that is the case then you have to connect the manufacture and get a patch for the software that will fix the problem.
The user may be used to the old version of the software the for he or she may not like the new software or it may be too difficult to operate the new version. This could happen if the different between the old version and the new version is very big. For example Microsoft Office 2003 has a much different layout then Microsoft Office 2007 the for some people may have complications in finding the tools ect. in the newer version.
To minimise this risk you need to know what the user wants. If he or she has problems with operating the new version then you could give them training. You could also give a presentation to the user and tell him or her what better features the new version has and how it can improve the user’s work.
The software that the user wants to upgrade or install may not work on the computer that the user is using, this can be because the hardware may be incompatible with the software. For example game like “Dragon Age: Origins” has very high system requirements and some hardware may not be able to open the game for example graphic card.
To minimise the risk of incompatible hardware with the new software you should check the system requirements before you install or upgrade. If the system is not compatible with the requirements you will have to upgrade the hardware of your computer so it will meet the requirements. If you can’t upgrade the hardware then you will have to look for different software with lower requirements.
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