Migrating Operating Systems

One of the most common situations encountered in existing LARS installations is the migration of LARS from older computers and operation systems to newer technology.   Since there are several different ways that you can install LARS at a library there are a few different things to be aware of when making the switch.  The one common factor to all migrations either physical, or OS related is maintaining the integrity of the printing environment.  For this I suggest that you see our Printer Support page. Before beginning any type of migration make sure that you write down the old program path, printer information, and icon parameters  as this will give you and I a roadmap to your installation should problems arise.  Also this usually does not fall under the do-it-yourself category for most users so consult your IT/IS staff before starting.

Standalone Installation

In the standalone type of installation the migration is very direct.  You basically have to make sure that LARS stays in the same directory and path as in the original installation.  Then redo the icons* and reset the printer environment to match the original.

Network Installations

The network installation is just slightly more complex than the standalone.  In the network installation there can be two types of installation a server based installation, where the software exists on a dedicated server, or the peer-to-peer installation where one of the workstations acts as both the host and the client for LARS.  In the dedicated server installation the LARS software is likely to stay in place while the workstation changes.  In this case the new workstation needs to log back into the same server and map the LARS drive as the same letter as it previously did.  Next redo the icons, and then re-establish the printing environment. It is also important to search your local hard drive for the LARS.INI file and copy it to the corresponding directory on the new computer. In the case of a peer-to-peer network installation then the software must be transferred to the same directory it was in originally.  Next all users who had access to LARS on the workstation must be given rights back to that directory on the new computer, and original mappings restored.  Move the LARS.INI file to the new computer keeping its original directory.  Redo the icons, and then re-establish the printing environment.

If for some reason the network drive mappings, printing environment or base directories, for whatever reason can not be maintained then contact me and we can discuss what we need to change.