SOFTWARE  INFO

Students must read entire information below before going to the Software Center website.  Several technical issues you might encounter later are discussed below.  Please read carefully and thoroughly.

 

ABOUT THE COMP SCI Software Center.  As an added benefit, GWC Comp Sci students can now download select software from our Software Center website.  To qualify, you must be currently enrolled in any GWC Comp Sci class.

Please note: Comp Sci students are NOT REQUIRED to obtain the software, except when in online-only classes.  All our Comp Sci lab rooms have the software installed for your use during your lab time.  In addition, the GWC Student Computer Center on campus (visit their website) also has the software installed in their computers for your use.  The Comp Sci department reserves its rights to the Software Center's terms and implementation.

ALTERNATE SOURCE.  You can also download other free software from Microsoft by going to www.DreamSpark.com.


IT'S BEEN 3 BUSINESS DAYS AND I STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM THE
COMP SCI SOFTWARE CENTER or E-ACADEMY.COM.  WHAT DO I DO?   Try the following:

  • Check your inbox again (or your Bulk Mail or Spam Mail.)  Watch out for emails from:

    • elms_support (with email address:  elms_support@e-academy.com) or

    • User Import (with email address:  system_mail@e-academy.com) or

    • billing (with email address:  billing@e-academy.com)

  • Make sure you add all emails ending in @gwc.cccd.edu and @e-academy.com to your email contact list to ensure delivery to your inbox and not to your Bulk Mail or Spam Mail.

  • Try going to our Software Center website and click on Forgot Password.  Under username, type the email address you submitted.  If your account is already active, our system will then email you your password.

  • If all of the above fails, send an email to JRoxas@gwc.cccd.edu with your full name, class name, section, and a short message.

    •

Students can get the software below through our online Software Center:

Visual Studio 2008  (for students in CS 147, 175, 177, 178, 189, 196):

  1. Minimum System Requirements. Make sure your computer passes the Minimum System Requirements before you install the program.  
     

  2. For technical problems, see if there's a quick fix on the Support page of the Software Center website by clicking here.
     

  3. If you received your email with your username and password and you're having trouble logging into the system or completing your download, click here.
     

  4. More technical help and info for Visual Studio at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/default.aspx
     

  5. The MSDN Library Help Files are also available online at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

  1. Where can I find step by step instructions on how to download the software?  View PDF file.
     

  2. I noticed that the downloaded files end with ".ISO"  What is an ISO?

    The software available for download are usually ISO image files. An ISO image file is an exact representation of a CD or DVD, including the content and the logical format. ISO files from our MSDN Software Center end with either an .ISO or .IMG extension. The extension might need to be changed to work with your CD writing software.
    Common utilities for writing an ISO file to recordable media such as CD-R include ISORecorder, Nero, and Roxio. The contents of images files can be extracted to hard drive using utilities such as ISObuster or DaemonTools.
     

  3. I burned the ISO image file I got from the website to a DVD and now all I have is a DVD with a Visual Studio 2008 ISO file on it. This file is just as worthless as it was before. What am I doing wrong?

The problem is that instead of burning the contents of the ".ISO" file to a DVD you burned the file itself. ISO files are not normal files that you can open with any old program and read. ISO files contain the entire contents of a CD or DVD inside them. These contents can include the name of the CD/DVD, a complete file system with hundreds of files in many folders, and even bootable parts to allow you to start you computer from the CD/DVD. It is this contained information that you want.

To access the data contained in an ISO file you have two options:

1) Open the ISO with an extraction program.
There are a few programs that will extract or mount ISO files without a CD/DVD Burner. This is the harder way to install because you have to get the directory structure correct.  You are welcome to try these extractor programs:
WinRAR – Archive opening program that requires registration and expires without payment.
DAEMON Tools – CD Mounting/archiving program that costs but has a free trial.
IsoBuster.exe - trial version. Right-click, save to your computer.  (How to use Isobuster PDF file)

         OR
2) Burn a DVD using the ISO as a disk image.
The better solution for using a ISO File is to just burn it to a DVD.  DVDs do not take up hard drive space and are easier to use than extraction tools. To burn an ISO Image you will need a DVD burner that will "Create a DVD from an Image" or "Burn an Image" or "Copy Image to DVD".  After you burned the file to DVD, just insert disk to install and follow the prompts.

(Want to learn more about ISO files?  Click here to view Google results!)

4.  I got an error message while downloading the program.  What does it mean?

See list of error codes here.

5.  Can I download the program and burn it to my blank DVD in the Comp Sci lab?

Yes.  You can see here for instructions (PDF.)  Make sure you replace all references to CD with DVD.

6.  My problem isn't stated above.  Where can I get more info?

Go to the Software Center and click on Support on the top menu.

 

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