Installation

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What Does Installation Mean?

Installation is the process of making hardware and/or software ready for use. Obviously, different systems require different types of installations. While certain installations are simple and straightforward and can be performed by non-professionals, others are more complex and time-consuming and may require the involvement of specialists.

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Techopedia Explains Installation

Installation can be categorized into two broad categories: physical and virtual. Physical installation pertains to installing physical equipment such as computer hard drives, cables, modems and so on, while virtual installation refers to installation of software. Much physical machine installation requires specific expertise. Similarly, there are software installations that can be done only by experts, whereas other installations are as simple and straightforward as the wizard-based installations commonly found with consumer software and frequently available on websites to be downloaded. Different types of software installations include Windows Installer installation, web-based software installation and single exe software installation.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.