Installation

Initial Installation

FileStar/2 is distributed online as a zip file, typically named FSvMmmrr.zip, where M is the major version, mm is the minor version and rr is the release version. The initial relese of Version 3 is named FSv30000.zip. A distribution file will contain the following installation files.

Base installation files

Extract the files from the distribution zip file in a temporary directory. When completed, the installation files listed above should be in the temporary directory.

  1. Open an OS/2 window in the temporary directory. Start the install program, FS_INST.EXE. If the Source Directory dialog does not appear, proceed to step 3.
  2. If the compressed file, FSv3mmrr.001 is not in same directory as the install program, the Source Directory dialog will appear. Press the browse button and navigate to and double click the FS_v3mmrr.001 file. This will complete the source path in the dialog. The SOURCE PATH MUST INCLUDE THE FS_v3mmrr.001 file to install the program.
  3. Press the License button (required to enable the Install button) and read the License. When finished with reading the licence, the README.1ST file may be read by pressing the 'Readme' button.
  4. Press the Install button to start the installation. A Target Directory dialog will appear. The Target Directory dialog entry field should be displaying a directory FS_v3mm on the boot drive. Change the drive/directory manually or use the Browse button to select the desired drive and target directory. The target directory will be created during install if it does not exist. Press Ok to accept the target directory as entered and the extraction of files will begin.
  5. Normal installation creates a Desktop folder named FileStar/2.
  6. To insure that the installation program files (FS_INST.EXE, FS_INST.HLP and FS_INST.INF) are saved for future use, these files are copied to the \fs_v3mm\install directory during installation. If desired, these files maybe be deleted from the install directory (either the temporary or \fs_v3mm\install directory) after installation is complete. However they may may needed at a later date to re-install or refresh the installed files.
  7. After installation is complete, it is recommended that the fs_v3mm.001 file be copied to the \fs_v3mm\install directory for safekeeping and possible future use if re-installation becomes necessary. The install program does not make a copy this file.
  8. Installation online help is available by pressing the F1 key or the Help pushbutton in the install program window.

FileStar/2 is a completely self-contained application run solely from the installation directory. One installation serves the whole system in a multi-boot environment. It does not need any config.sys entries in normal use. It may be installed on any system drive, including a CDROM, but preferable should be installed on the fastest drive available. It is recommended that it not be installed on the boot drive - or any other bootable drive - in a multi-boot system so that it's available when performing boot drive maintenance.

A user with a previous install of FileStar/2 v2 or v3 beta that desires to reuse the previous filestar.ini setup may use the ini file import function to restore most of the previous configuration. See the FileStar/2 online help for additional information about importing an ini file.

The Required Files

The install program copies the following required files, as swell as other, to the directory of choice:

  • FS_v3mm.EXE
  • FLEXSTAR.DLL
  • FLEXEDIT.DLL
  • FTPIFS.DLL
  • BPMCC.DLL

    Failure to find the following files, normally located in the FileStar base directory, will produce a warning on startup but the program will start:

  • FILESTAR.HLP
  • FLEXEDIT.HLP
  • *.KBD

    The InfoZip files are required for the zip, unzip and zip viewing functions to work. They are provided with the program but if they are installed elsewhere on the system, the program may be set up to use these previously installed files. Users should use the latest available versions of the InfoZIP files.

    Alternate Installations

    After installation, the DLL files may be moved to a directory listed in the config.sys LIBPATH statement (such as X:\OS2\DLL) and the FILESTAR.HLP file moved to a directory likewise listed in the SET HELP statement (such as X:\OS2\HELP). However, the normal and recommended location of these files is in the FS/2 directory.

    The directory in which the FILESTAR.INI file is created and maintained may be designated by entering an environment variable in the CONFIG.SYS file. The environment variable must be entered as;

    SET FILESTAR=X:\PATH

    where X:\PATH is the path to the chosen directory. If a directory is specified by the environment statement, the directory \WORKDIR is also created as a subdirectory to the specified directory. Lacking this information, the FILESTAR.INI file will be located in the directory with FILESTAR.EXE. This optional directory specification allows a network installation and users to have individual configuration files and working directories.

    Multiple Boot Partitions

    A single installation is all that is normally required to run FS/2 from multiple boot desktop systems. All that is necessary to start FS/2 from any booted partition is a desktop program object. This object may be a shadow or real object.

    Install To CDROM

    Normal installation should always be to a local hard drive. However, the ability to run it from a CDROM may be beneficial at times. This program may be installed on, and executed from, a CDROM. When run from a CD, the files that are written by FS/2 are written to the system \TMP directory. These include the *.INI and *.log files. When installing to a CD, do not allow the installation program to modify config.sys or to create desktop objects when queried.

    The system must be booted to where Presentation Manager is available. The WPS is not required. 

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