Summary:

There are several options for upgrading to the latest release of Prism Pack on computers where PictureTaker or older Prism Pack components are already installed. The method you choose will depend in part on whether you need to retain customizations if any have been made to the existing rules.ini file.

Details:

For the Administrator

To upgrade on the administrator's computer, run setup.exe from the Prism Pack CD-ROM or launch the executable that you downloaded from New Boundary Technologies. This file runs the standard installation program that gives you the Prism Pack Editor, the interface for creating Prism files.

The standard installation assumes that the existing (perhaps customized) rules.ini file belongs to the administrator and must be preserved in its entirety. Therefore, the standard installation merges the new rules.ini file into the administrator's customized rules.ini file, which is on the computer. The installation program looks for an existing rules.ini file in the default Prism Pack directory. When upgrading from PictureTaker to Prism Pack, you have two options for ensuring that Prism Pack correctly merges the new entries into the existing customized rules.ini file. Do one of the following:

·         Install Prism Pack in the same location as PictureTaker, instead of installing it in the default location.

·         Before installing Prism Pack, create a new folder called “Prism Pack” in C:\Program Files and copy your customized rules.ini into this new folder.

For the Client

You have several options for upgrading existing installations of the Client. The Prism Pack Client install includes a Service for Windows NT/2000/XP. Therefore, the first two installation methods must be run by an administrator-level user. If an earlier PictureTaker Service has already been installed, the third method (Prism file) can be carried out using a normal user’s account.

NOTE:  If upgrading from PictureTaker to Prism Pack, Prism Pack’s client is now “paclient.exe”. Be sure to update all your scripts and command-lines to point to the new client.

Installation Program. Run PACSETUP.EXE on the target computers. This setup program can be found on the Prism Pack CD-ROM or in the folder where Prism Pack is installed on the administrator’s PC. On Windows NT/2000/XP or higher computers, an administrator must run this installation program because it configures the Prism Pack service.

The Prism Pack Client installation program merges the new rules.ini file into the existing rules.ini on the target computer. To ensure that the installation program locates the customized rules.ini file, install the Prism Pack Client in the same folder as the existing rules.ini file, instead of installing it in the default location. This method lets you retain rules.ini customizations on the target computers.

/InstallClient Command: Run the /InstallClient command on the client computers. The syntax of this command is “paclient.exe /IC <source> <destination> /all”.  For details on the syntax of the /InstallClient command, see Appendix A of the Prism Pack User’s Guide. As with the first option, you must be an administrator on Windows NT/2000/XP or higher computers in order to install the Prism Pack Client.

Installing the Client with the /InstallClient command replaces the existing rules.ini on the target computer with the new rules.ini file. If the rules.ini file on a target computer is customized, use the merged rules.ini created on the Administrator's computer as the source file. The /InstallClient command can be used without any additional preparation if the existing rules.ini file is not customized.

Prism file: Install a Package that contains the new Prism Pack Client files and shell extensions. The Package must be built by finding the changes that occur when you upgrade a system from an earlier version of PictureTaker’s Client or Prism Pack's Client to the latest version (using one of the methods discussed above).

IMPORTANT:  If upgrading from PictureTaker to Prism Pack, you MUST build and edit this Package using PictureTaker. Because your target PCs will be using the existing client to install this Package, the Package must be built using the older PictureTaker format. Run the PictureTaker executables from a network share when building this Package. (If you are upgrading an older version of Prism Pack, you do not need to be concerned about the version of the Package.)

Before starting to build the Package, open the existing rules.ini file and comment out the following lines in the [Ignore Registry] section. These changes let PictureTaker or Prism Pack include the required registry entries in the Package.

Key=Software\LANovation\PictureTaker

Key=Software\Lanovation\Prism Deploy  (if it exists)

If rules.ini contains updates that need to be rolled out, be sure to also edit RULES.INI [File Definitions] to include the following. This change must also be made to the RULES.INI that is being referenced when installing the Package to target PCs.

ExcludeINI= WINWORD.INI,MMC.INI,RULES.INI

The resulting Package should contain the files prismxl.sys, paclient.exe, ptshlext.dll, rules.ini, and new Prism Pack registry entries. Apply this Package using your usual methods. A reboot will be required before the upgrade is complete.