Silent installations and updates

If you have a large number of identical computers and you want Folder Guard to protect each of them in the same way, you may simplify your work by configuring Folder Guard only on one such computer, and then copying its files and protection settings to other workstations.

The combination of the files and settings of Folder Guard that are necessary to protect a computer in a certain way is called a working set. Folder Guard offers you a command to export its current working set into a shared folder or on a removable disk, which you can later import to other computers, to make them protected in the same way as the first computer, from which you have exported the working set. In more detail, the procedure is as follows:

Initial configuration

1. Select one of the computers as the "main" one. It should run the same version of Windows and have the same folders that you want to protect as the other computers. Install Folder Guard on it and configure its protection the way you want it to be.

2. When you are satisfied with the way the "main" computer is protected, export its working set for use on other computers. First, decide on the location where to place the files of the working set. If your computers are connected into a network, you can designate a shared folder as the place from which to distribute the files to other computers. (Make sure that other computers have at least the read access to the shared folder.) We will assume that this is the case and the path to the shared folder is \\server\share\FG. If your computers are not networked, you may use a removable drive or a floppy disk to distribute the files to other computers.

3. To actually create the working set, choose the Tools - Advanced - Export working set command from the menu of Folder Guard and select a folder where you want the files of the working set to be copied to (see above). You should also specify the path to the log file where you want Folder Guard to report the status of its silent installations on the client computers (see below).

Note that the working set of files does NOT include the User's Guide or other documentation files, nor does it include the main administration program of Folder Guard (FGuard.exe or FGuard64.exe), because such files are only needed to set up the settings, (and you do that on the "main" computer), they are not needed for Folder Guard to perform the protection on other computers.

4. Now repeat the following steps for each other computer that you want to be protected with Folder Guard:

4a. Login to the computer as an administrator or a power user. (You can login directly or use a remote administration tool such as Remote Desktop of Windows XP.

4b. Run the following command to perform the "silent" installation on that computer:

If you use a 32-bit version of Windows:

\\server\share\FG\Setup.exe /IMPORTWS_SILENT

If you use a 64-bit version of Windows:

\\server\share\FG\Setup64.exe /IMPORTWS_SILENT

This command will import the working set that you have previously exported (see step 3 above). If the client computer does not have Folder Guard installed on it, then this command will copy the files from the shared folder into the local folder on the computer's hard drive, and will activate Folder Guard protection with the settings stored in the working set. If it detects that there is a copy of Folder Guard already installed on this computer, and the version number of the installed copy is the same, it will not copy the executable files, it will only replace the configuration files with the updated settings. If, however, the version number of the existing copy is different, then it will attempt to replace the executable files already installed on the hard drive with the files from the shared folder. If some of the files are in use and cannot be replaced immediately, it will copy the new files into a temporary folder on the hard drive, and postpone the update until the computer is restarted. Until that happens, the existing installation of Folder Guard will continue to operate as it was before, with the old settings.

4c. Wait a few seconds for the "silent install" command described above to finish, then open the log file (as specified in step 3) and check the reported status of the installation.

5. Repeat the steps 4a-4c for each computer that you want to protect with Folder Guard in the same way as the "main" one.

Updating the settings and/or files

If later on you want to change some setting of Folder Guard, first make the changes on the "main" computer, described in step 1 above. Then export the new working set (you can select the same folder for it, the new settings will replace the prevous ones, if any), and repeat the steps 4a-4c on each computer, to make them update the settings.

Similarly, if you want to upgrade to a new version of Folder Guard, do it on the "main" computer first (by running the installation with the new version and following the instructions displayed on the screen). After the update is completed successfully on the main computer, export the updated working set to the shared folder, as described in step 3, and repeat the steps 4a-4c on each client computer, to perform "silent update" on them. Be sure to review the User's Guide of the updated version of Folder Guard for any updated information regarding the upgrade!

"Silent" uninstall

If you want to remove Folder Guard from the client computer "silently" without any messages displayed to the user, then login to the computer as an administrator or a "power user" and execute the following command:

If you use a 32-bit version of Windows:

"C:\Program Files\Folder Guard\Setup.exe" /USILENT

If you use a 64-bit version of Windows:

"C:\Program Files\Folder Guard x64\Setup64.exe" /USILENT

This command will deactivate Folder Guard, delete the files from its installation folder that are not currently in use, and it will also schedule the removal of the remaining files to happen automatically next time the computer is restarted.

Importng the working set non-silently

If you want Folder Guard to display its user interface while importing the working set, you could do that by using the following command instead of the one described in step 4b:

If you use a 32-bit version of Windows:

\\server\share\FG\Setup.exe /IMPORTWS

If you use a 64-bit version of Windows:

\\server\share\FG\Setup64.exe /IMPORTWS

This command will have the same effect as the one described in step 4b, except that instead of reporting the status into the log file, this command will display the messages directly on the screen.

The format of the log file

The "silent install" command described above reports the result of its work by writing records into the log file (see step 3 above). The log file has a simple text format as follows:

[date and time of the record]
Code=(the numeric code of the result)
Description=(the textual description of the result)

The following result codes may be reported:

Code Explanation

0 Folder Guard has been successfully installed on this computer. No further action is required.
1 Folder Guard has been successfully prepared for an update. The update will finish after the computer has been restarted.
2 Error: could not locate the Setup.ini file in the folder where you have created the working set. Repeat the step 3 above.
3 Error: could not load information from the Setup.ini file. This can be a result of direct editing of the file with a text editor and not preserving its format. Repeat the step 3 described above to restore the original version of this file.
4 Error: could not continue the installation because your user account does not have enough privileges. Login as an administrator or a "power user" to the client computer and try again.
5 Error: could not continue the installation because the local Group Policy restricts running the installation utility.
6 Error: could not continue the installation because the LicenseAccepted entry in the Setup.ini file is missing or incorrect. You may need to reinstall Folder Guard on the "main" computer and then repeat the steps 1-5 described above.
7 Error: could not continue the installation because the existing older version of Folder Guard must be uninstalled first. Uninstall the existing installation of Folder Guard from the client computer, then repeat the steps 4a-4c again.
8 Error: could not continue the installation because some of the required files are missing. Repeat the steps 3-4 described above.
9 Error: could not create the destination directory on the hard drive. Login as an administrator or a "power user" and try again.
10 Error: could not copy some files from the shared folder to the destination folder. This could be a result of a network problem. Correct the problem and then try again.
11 Error: could not delete some files that are no longer needed in the destination folder. Login as an administrator or a "power user" and try again.
12 Error: could not complete the installation, some items were not created or updated. Login as an administrator or a "power user" and try again.
13 Error: could not install because the version of Windows running on the computer is not supported by the current version of Folder Guard.
14 Error: could not continue because the previous installation has not finished yet. Restart the computer to complete the pending update, then try again.
15 Error: could not continue because the previous uninstall has not finished yet. Restart the computer to complete the pending uninstall, then try again.

Notes:

When you are importing a working set to a workstation as described above, the files of the working set are copied into the same folder as the installation folder of Folder Guard on the "main" computer. For example, if you have installed Folder Guard on the "main" computer into the folder C:\Program Files\Folder Guard, then this folder will be created during the importing procedure on the local drive of each workstation, and the files of the working set will be copied into such a folder.
After you have imported a working set, the protection of each workstation will mimic the protection of the "main" one. For example, if you have configured Folder Guard on the "main" workstation to hide the folder C:\Data, and each workstation contains the folder Data on each local drive C:, then this folder will be hidden on each workstation, after you have imported the working set that was exported from the "main" computer.
If you change the protection of the "main" computer in any way, you need to export the updated working set, and then import it to each other computer, as described above, to make the changes effective on other workstations.
You don't have to install Folder Guard on each workstation in order to protect it; just importing the working set is enough. Keep in mind, however, that the working set contains only the files necessary to protect the computer; it does not contain the documentation and other auxiliary files that are not used while performing the protection. The main application of Folder Guard, (FGuard.exe), is not included in the working set either: it is used to configure the protection on the "main" workstation, but not to actually perform the protection. This means that if you want to configure the protection on each workstation directly, importing the working set is not enough: you must perform the full installation of Folder Guard on each such workstation.
If Folder Guard has been previously installed on a workstation, and the protection is in effect when you begin importing a new working set, you may need to restart the computer before the importing can be continued.
If you have protected a workstation by just importing a working set (without performing the full installation of Folder Guard), then no shortcuts are be added to the Start - Programs menu, so if, for example, you want to temporarily disable the protection on such a workstation, you will have to use the hot key or run the file FGKey.exe. Note also that the Add/Remove Programs command of Control Panel will not have an entry to uninstall the Folder Guard files (such entries are created only if you perform the full installation). You can, however, uninstall Folder Guard files from such a workstation by running its Setup.exe file with the command line switch /U (or /USILENT).

Code	Explanation
0	Folder Guard has been successfully installed on this computer. No further action is required.
1	Folder Guard has been successfully prepared for an update. The update will finish after the computer has been restarted.
2	Error: could not locate the Setup.ini file in the folder where you have created the working set. Repeat the step 3 above.
3	Error: could not load information from the Setup.ini file. This can be a result of direct editing of the file with a text editor and not preserving its format. Repeat the step 3 described above to restore the original version of this file.
4	Error: could not continue the installation because your user account does not have enough privileges. Login as an administrator or a "power user" to the client computer and try again.
5	Error: could not continue the installation because the local Group Policy restricts running the installation utility.
6	Error: could not continue the installation because the LicenseAccepted entry in the Setup.ini file is missing or incorrect. You may need to reinstall Folder Guard on the "main" computer and then repeat the steps 1-5 described above.
7	Error: could not continue the installation because the existing older version of Folder Guard must be uninstalled first. Uninstall the existing installation of Folder Guard from the client computer, then repeat the steps 4a-4c again.
8	Error: could not continue the installation because some of the required files are missing. Repeat the steps 3-4 described above.
9	Error: could not create the destination directory on the hard drive. Login as an administrator or a "power user" and try again.
10	Error: could not copy some files from the shared folder to the destination folder. This could be a result of a network problem. Correct the problem and then try again.
11	Error: could not delete some files that are no longer needed in the destination folder. Login as an administrator or a "power user" and try again.
12	Error: could not complete the installation, some items were not created or updated. Login as an administrator or a "power user" and try again.
13	Error: could not install because the version of Windows running on the computer is not supported by the current version of Folder Guard.
14	Error: could not continue because the previous installation has not finished yet. Restart the computer to complete the pending update, then try again.
15	Error: could not continue because the previous uninstall has not finished yet. Restart the computer to complete the pending uninstall, then try again.