Checking Open Office Requirements

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Before the process can begin communication with the organisations involved in the process is key. The reason for this is so that everything that needs to be done is thought about before the whole process is started. The IT department needs to produce an installation log in case the new software doesn’t work and it needs to be restored. Having an installation log will makes things a lot easier when restoring back to an older state. Communication may occur via telephone, e-mail or text messages. Installing and upgrading these numbers of machines will require a lot of planning so things can go smoothly. Communication is very important in the whole upgrade process. Communication will help a lot to ensure that the whole process is completed successfully. Effective communication is the very first step of the upgrade process.

Step-2/Permissions:

All machines in the organisation will be password protected. This means the people working on the upgrade will have to get the passwords and permissions to allow them to upgrade the systems correctly. Usually the computer administrator will know all the passwords to the systems. Usually the BIOS will also have a password which will be needed to upgrade the system to Windows 7. IT staff will need permission from the company to carry out the upgrades. They will also need to follow certain steps and work as a team. They may need to seek permission from the companies head office. There are different levels of permissions: full control, modify, read and execute, read and write.

Step-3/Contracts:

Staff should ensure that they do not break any contracts. They will need to check with the computer manufacturers like Dell. Dell may or may not allow the company to upgrade their machines. The manufacturer should provide technical support for the Windows 7 operating system and they will also tell the company if their computer systems are compatible with the new upgrade. If the company upgrades without the manufacturers permission they may not receive the technical support if anything goes wrong in the process and in the future. The company must follow the rules of the manufacturer properly or else the contract will be void.

Step-4/Check current system Specifications:

Checking the current system specifications is a very important part of the upgrade process. If they are not up to par then the upgrade cannot take place. If Windows 7 is installed on a PC with low specifications it will not run efficiently and will lag or freeze. The current specification of the 20 machines are as follows:

Part(s)

Specification

Processor

Intel Quad Core 2ghz

Ram

2GB

Hard drive

1TB

Optical Drive

Standard Light scribe multi burner

Graphics

Nvidia 1GB extreme

Step-5/Windows 7 Hardware Requirements:

The 20 machines are easily capable of running Windows 7 at 32 bit. Here are the requirements of Windows 7 that Microsoft Recommends:

1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)

16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Hardware requirements source: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/products/system-requirements

Step-6/Checking Open Office Requirements:

Once all machines have successfully been upgraded to Windows 7. Open Office will need to be installed on each of the machines. The minimum requirements for Open office are very low so all the 20 machines can run the software at full potential.

Here are the requirements for Open Office On Microsoft Windows:

Windows 2000 (Service Pack 2 or higher), Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7

256 Mbytes RAM (512 MB RAM recommended)

At least 650 Mbytes available disk space for a default install (including a JRE) via download.

After installation and deletion of temporary installation files, OpenOffice.org will use approximately 440 Mbytes disk space.

1024 x 768 or higher resolution with at least 256 colours

Open Office requirements source: http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/source/sys_reqs_30.html

Step-7/Timing:

Timing is important as the company will need to use the computers during office hours. The business could potentially lose a lot of customers and profits if they do not get the work finished on time. The best time to carry out the upgrade would be outside the working hours or at the weekend e.g. a Sunday as there will be a full day to carry out the full upgrade.

Step -8/Backing up Procedure:

Before the upgrade process commences the staff need to create backups of everything. This is very important as there will be a lot of important data stored on the PCs. The staff will need to backup existing files, folders, programs and anything else that is deemed important. The backups can be stored on removable media such as, CDs, DVDs, external hard drives etc. There should be at least two backups just in case one fails. The staff might also want to take a snapshot of the PCs in their current position. This is useful if anything goes wrong and they need to restore the systems.

Step-9/Materials-Final Step:

The staff member will have to create installation logs to make a note of everything that is taking place. The staff will need an installation disk for Windows 7 and use the USB to install Open Office. The media with the backups needs to be kept on hand and safe just in case of failure. It is handy to have a few components on hand just in case of emergency like USB cables, extra hard drives, DVD drives and monitors. An external USB hub may be handy if some of the built in USB ports do not appear to be working. Finally a working telephone is essential if the staff member requires assistance or needs clarification on something that they are unsure about.

Task 2-Requirements(M1)

Communication:

Before anything happens communication has to happen first. It is essential that everyone communicates so that the upgrade can take place successfully. Communication can take place amongst staff members, the general public and the companies that are involved e.g. Microsoft. Communication can occur by written letters, e-mails, SMS messages, phone calls, social networking etc. We can communicate with each other to seek help, get others opinions and get certain clarification if it is needed. In this upgrade process there will need to be a lot of communication to ensure that it all goes very smoothly and if not how it can be rectified. Generally the upgrade staff will have a mobile phone or smart phone on hand to communicate with others.

Timing:

It is essential for the process to stay within the time limits. As the business is open a lot of the time it is essential that the upgrade occurs all in one day. The ideal day for the upgrade is a Sunday as the business is closed on this day. The problem with having it happen on a Sunday is it might be a struggle to get the upgrade staff to come in. The operating system install should roughly take about 40 minutes, open office should take 5 mins max per machine. Considering there are only 5 installation disks the whole process could take roughly 200-300 minutes. The open office install may also take an hour to install on all the machines as there is only one USB drive with the software on it. To save time the staff could install open office from the internet if a connection is available. Open office is a free piece of software so the company do not have to worry about site licences, etc. Logging the installs may also be time consuming depending on how fast the staff member is at doing it.

Materials:

Materials are important as without them the upgrade cannot simply take place. To backup the systems an external source will be required like an external hard drive. The operating system install disks will be required to install Windows 7 and there will be exactly 5 disks. The USB with the Open Office software will also be required for the upgrade or the internet could be used if a connection is available. To backup the computers the staff could use free tools e.g. Easus free hard disk clone which will take a snapshot of the computer's hard drives and is free to download. The staff might also want to keep some extra computer tools like a spare CD drive just in case. The staff will also need to have something to communicate with e.g. a Smartphone. To log the installation the staff could use a laptop, IPad, tablet or Mac book.

Backup procedures:

Backing up is very important in case of a failure. It can also be very useful if the company wishes to revert back to Windows XP. The backups could contain a lot of sensitive data like customer records, stock numbers etc. It is important that the backups are stored securely. The backup would be best stored on a hard drive with flash storage. Flash storage is very reliable than the old style hard drives as it does not contain moving parts. The hard drive can still fail just like all electronics so it is important that there are at least two backups. Backups can potentially save the company if the upgrade was to go wrong. Backing up is now standard in most industries.

Hardware Requirements:

The machines are being upgraded from XP to Windows 7. The company needs to make sure that the computers meet the specification that Microsoft suggests otherwise Microsoft might not offer them support with the upgrade. Windows 7 has low system requirements so the company should not have a problem with the requirements as the machines are more than capable. If the staff are unsure they can run a free tool which is provided by Microsoft to check if the system is capable. It is called Windows upgrade Advisor and will check all the aspects of the system. A 1GHz processor is required for the upgrade, 1gb of ram, and at least 16gb of hard disk space is required. These figures are the bare minimum however Windows 7 tends to run best with 4gb of ram. Windows 7 will be slow with the minimum requirements so I do not recommend it.

Accounts and Permissions:

Staff that are working on the upgrade will need passwords and special access which will usually be given by the administrator of the network. Without these they will not be able to upgrade the systems as they will be locked with passwords. The BIOS will have a password that has been set and the staff will need access to this. They will need to boot from the Windows 7 disk and might need to change the boot sequences of the PC. The staff will need to keep these secure and away from the general public as they can get into the wrong hands.

Once the upgrade process is completed the staff member can take a snapshot of the PCs in their current state as this is useful when wanting to restore the PCs and also saves a lot of time. The snapshots will come useful for when the machines start to malfunction and need to be restored.

Task-3-Justification-(D1)

There are currently 25 employees working at the business. It would highly benefit the company if they invested some money in better software as the business will grow. Having better software will make the business run more efficiently and be an overall better experience. New software is released frequently making things a lot easier and they can usually do a lot better things than what the older software's could do. Windows XP is still used currently by a lot of businesses but it has now started to become very out-of-date and incompatible with a lot of software. Businesses prefer Windows 7 as it runs smoothly as does not hog a lot of resources. Windows Vista is rarely used anymore because it had a lot of issues and would take up a lot of resources. Windows 7 contains a lot of new security patches and overall has much better security than what Windows XP did. Windows 7 also looks a lot nicer than Windows XP as it now includes the Aero interface which is compatible with most graphics cards on onboard video chips.

Here are some reasons why businesses might want to dump Windows XP and upgrade:

No more support from Microsoft. Microsoft has stopped giving support for XP since April 2009 and now charges you if you require technical support.

On August 14, 2014 all support ends for windows XP so you will not be able to get any security patches leaving the computers vulnerable to threats and viruses.

All applications that are released are being written for windows vista/7 now meaning that a lot of applications will not work on Windows XP.

Information source: http://windows.about.com/od/windowsosversions/a/win7beatsXP.htm

The newer machines that the company are investing in will easily support the minimum Windows 7 requirements. They will have better hard drives, motherboards, ram etc. This will mean that the systems will be much quicker compared to the current ones that are being used in the business. The machines might even be capable of running different operating systems in the future like Windows 9 when it is released. They should also be able to run different types of operating systems like Mandriva which is Linux based. If the company were to switch to Linux they will have to train all of their staff which could be very costly and time consuming.

The company is currently using Microsoft Office 2003 small business edition which is now 10 years old. This will not have the updated security patches and new features meaning that the business may not be able to do certain things. The company will have to buy the latest version which is Microsoft Office 2010 and this will bring great benefits. Microsoft office 2010 can be purchased with lots of licenses so it can be installed on all of the PCs. The company will also need to invest in Visio 2010 and Project 2010. The 2007 versions and above have the new ribbon feature which makes everything a lot more user friendly and quicker. Training may need to take place as some users might not know how to use the new software. Usually the newer versions are a lot better than the previous ones and have a lot of bug fixes etc.

Costing and recommendations:

Operating System/Windows 7 Pro

For the operating system I would recommend Windows 7 Professional. It offers a lot of features and can be used for business purposes. It does not include the media centre feature which the Ultimate version does however this is a lot cheaper than Windows 7 Ultimate. Windows 7 Professional OEM x64bit (Download Delivery)

There are 25 computers so 25 licences will need to be purchased.

One copy of Win7 Pro costs £130 inc VAT and shipping costs.

25 licences will cost roughly £3250 in VAT and Shipping.

Software/Office 2010

Microsoft Office will include Word, PowerPoint, Publisher and Excel. The company will have to purchase Visio and Project completely separately. http://office-watch.com/articlefiles/1358-Office%202010%20-%20Home%20and%20Business%20box%20shot.jpg

One licence will cost roughly £80 inc VAT and shipping.

The total price for all 25 computers comes to £2000 inc VAT and shipping.

Software/Microsoft Visio 2010http://img.misco.eu/resources/images/products/106/MIC/D8/D87-04394/D87-04394_9_1600x1600.jpg

Microsoft Visio will cost roughly £70 inc VAT for one licence.

25 licences will cost £1750 inc VAT and shipping.

Visio can be used to design things and make drawings.

Software/Microsoft Project 2010

Microsoft Project 2010 will also cost roughly £70 inc VAT for one licence.

The total price for 25 computers will be roughly £2000 inc VAT and shipping.

Microsoft Project is very good for planning projects and is a project management software.

The total cost for the complete upgrade is as follows:

Item

Cost

WINDOWS 7 PRO

£3250

MICROSOFT OFFICE

£2000

MICROSOFT VISIO

£1750

MICROSOFT PROJECT

£2000

TOTAL

£9000

The total cost of the complete upgrade comes to approximately £9000.

I think that the upgrade to Windows 7 will bring a lot of great benefits to the company. The company will have an up to date operating system which will improve the functionality and security of the company. The Windows 7 operating system has a much more modern interface than Windows XP and overall looks at lot more nicer. Microsoft is dropping their support for older versions of software so the company will not receive any support if they stick with the current software that is on the machines. Upgrading office to 2010 will also have a number of benefits over office 2003 as the newer version is easier to use and has better security features. Visio and Project should also be updated as Microsoft will provide support for the latest versions. Windows 7 is becoming the most popular option for businesses now as Windows 8 is still to new and has quite a lot of bugs including compatibility issues. The employees may prefer the new software or hate it. Some employees might need to be trained on how to use the programs.

Changes from XP in updated software:

Ribbon:WordPad Ribbon Windows 7

The ribbon interface was released in Office 2007 and is also included in Office 2010. WordPad on windows 7 also has the ribbon interface included. Paint also has the ribbon included in the software.

Aero Desktop:Windows 7 Aero Desktop vs Windows XP

Aero interface makes Windows 7 look really modern and good. Everything looks transparent and see through. Nearly all graphics cards that are purchased today will be able to support the aero interface.

These are just a few major changes that have occurred since Windows XP.

END OF ASSIGNMENT