System and method for installing program

The present application claims priority to patent application Ser. No. 201110432395.9 filed on 2011 Dec. 21 in China, which is incorporated herein by reference.

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to program installing and, particularly, to a system capable of installing program downloaded from a network server into a computer, and a method employed by the system.

2. Description of the Related Art

When a program is installed into a computing device such as a personal computer (PC), an identification code, such as a version number, of the program is banded to a host identification code, such as a main board serial number, of the computing device and the banded relationship of the identification code of the program and the host identification code of the computing device is recorded and stored in the program. When the program is installed to another computing device such as another PC, if the host identification code of the other computing device is different from the host identification code stored in the program, the program cannot be installed to the another computing device successfully, thus preventing the installation of the program to another computing device.

The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system capable of installing programs including a network server communicating with a number of computing devices via network in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the computing device of FIG. 1 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the network server of FIG. 1 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a user interface provided by the computing device to display programs downloaded from the network server of FIG. 1 , in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of installing a program applied in the computing device of FIG. 2 , in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating an installation package applied in the computing device of FIG. 2 , in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a program installing system. The system 1 includes a network server 10 and a number of personal computers (PCs). In the embodiment, three PCs labeled 20 A, 20 B and 20 C are shown as examples for illustration. The network server 10 communicates with the PCs 20 A- 20 C via a network 30 . In the embodiment, the network server 10 is a cloud computing server.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the PCs 20 A- 20 C each includes a network adapter 21 and a program storage module 22 . The network adapter 21 is configured to communicate with the network 30 . The program storage module 22 is configured to store various programs, each of which has an identification code to identify the program. The program storage module 22 can be storage unit built-in to each of the PCs 20 A- 20 C, such as read only memory (ROM), or storage unit connected to each of the PCs 20 A- 20 C, such as optical disk.

The PCs 20 A- 20 C each further includes a linking setting module 23 , a storage module 24 , a relationship setting module 25 , a setup transmitting module 26 , and an installing module 27 . When a program titled for example AA which is stored in the program storage module 22 is selected to be installed into one of the PCs 20 A- 20 C such as the PC 20 A, the linking setting module 23 of PC 20 A obtains the identification code of the program AA and an identification code of the PC 20 A, and establishes a first linking relationship between the identification code of the program AA and the identification code of the PC 20 A. The storage module 24 of PC 20 A stores the first linking relationship. The identification code of the program AA includes a version number and a serial number. The identification code of the PC 20 A includes a main board serial number. The relationship setting module 25 is configured to preset a second relationship between user information and user authorization. The storage module 24 stores the second relationship. The user information includes user names registered in the PC 20 A. The user authorization includes a preset authorization status of each registered user to install the program into the PC 20 A. The user can be set to an authorized user who is permitted to install the program and unauthorized user who is not permitted to install the program. For example, the user with the user name of “user No. 1 ” may be preset to be an authorized user and the user with the user name of “user No. 2 ” may be preset to be unauthorized.

The setup transmitting module 26 of the PC 20 A packages the first linking relationship and the second relationship into an installation package, and uploads the installation package to the network server 10 via the network 30 .

Referring to FIG. 3 , the network server 10 includes an accessing module 11 and a database module 12 . The accessing module 11 is configured for communicating with the setup transmitting module 26 via the network 30 . The database module 12 is configured to store the installation package uploaded by the setup transmitting module 26 .

When installation package of the program AA stored in the server 10 is selected to be installed into another one of the PC 20 A- 20 C, such as the PC 20 B, the setup transmitting module 26 of the PC 20 B downloads the installation package of the program AA to the PC 20 B via the network 30 . FIG. 4 illustrates the download and installation of the installation package of the program AA to the PC 20 B.

Referring to FIG. 4 , in the embodiment, the PC 20 B communicates with the server 10 and provides a user interface to display the installation packages such as installation packages AA and AB previously stored in the database module 12 for users to select. When the program AA is selected to be installed into the PC 20 B, the setup transmitting module 26 of the PC 20 B downloads the installation package of the program AA. The relationship setting module 25 determines the user authorization for installing the program AA according to the user information of the user of the PC 20 B and the second relationship in the installation package. Each of the PCs 20 A- 20 C further includes a host identification code replacing module 28 . When the user is determined to be an authorized user, the host identification code replacing module 28 of the PC 20 B obtains the host identification code of the PC 20 B and the host identification code of the first linking relationship stored in the installation package, and replaces the host identification code in the first linking relationship place with the host identification code of the PC 20 B, so as to enable the PC 20 B is authorized to install the program AA thereinto. The program installing module 27 installs the program AA into the PC 20 B.

In an alternative embodiment, the setup transmitting module 26 generates the installation package of the program AA to make a packet of the first linking relationship, the second relationship, and the setup of the program AA. The setup transmitting module 26 of the PC 20 B downloads the installation package from the database module 12 via the network 30 to the PC 20 B. The installing module 27 of the PC 20 B directly installs the program AA in the installation package into the PC 20 B.

FIG. 5 a flowchart illustrating a method of installing program applied in the PC.

In step S 50 , the program AA is selected to be installed into the PC 20 A, after the installation, an installation package of the program AA is also generated, the installation package of the program AA records a first linking relationship between the identification code of the program AA and the identification code of the PC 20 A, and a second relationship between the user information and the user authorization. The setup transmitting module 26 of PC 20 A uploads the installation package to the network server 10 via the network 30 , and the network server 10 stores the uploaded installation package in the database module 12 .

In step S 51 , the setup transmitting module 26 of the PC 20 B communicates with the network server 10 to request to download the installation package of the program AA to the PC 20 B via the network 30 .

In the embodiment, the PC 20 B communicates with the network server 10 and provides a user interface for displaying installation packages of the programs stored in the database module 12 for users to select and transmit the request to download the installation package of the program AA selected.

In step S 52 , the relationship setting module 25 determines whether the user of the PC 20 B is an authorized user, according to the user information of the user of the PC 20 B and the second relationship in the installation package. If yes, the procedure goes to step S 53 , otherwise, the procedure ends.

In step S 53 , the host identification code replacing module 28 obtains the host identification code of the PC 20 B and the host identification code of the first linking relationship stored in the installation package, and replaces the host identification code with the host identification code of the PC 20 B.

In step S 54 , the program installing module 27 installs the program AA into the PC 20 B.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating the installation package applied in the PC 20 A.

In step S 60 , when a program AA stored in the program storage module 22 is selected to be installed into the PC 20 A, the linking setting module 23 obtains the identification code of the program AA and the host identification code of the PC 20 A, and forms the first linking relationship between the identification code of the program AA and the identification code of the PC 20 A. The storage module 24 stores the first linking relationship.

The identification code of the program AA includes a version number and a serial number thereof. The identification code of the PC 20 A includes the main board serial number.

In step S 61 , the relationship setting module 25 presets the second relationship between user information and user authorization. The storage module 24 stores the second relationship.

The user information includes user names registered in the PC 20 A. The user authorization is preset for each registered user to set authorization for installing the program to the PC 20 A. The user can be set to an authorized user who is permitted to install the program and a person who is unauthorized. For example, the user with the user name of “user No. 1 ” may be preset to an authorized user and the user with the user name of “user No. 2 ” may be preset as unauthorized.

In step S 62 , the setup transmitting module 26 packages the first linking relationship and the second relationship to generate an installation package.

In an alternative embodiment, the setup transmitting module 26 generates the installation package of the program AA into a packet with the first linking relationship, the second relationship, and the setup of the program AA. The setup transmitting module 26 of the PC 20 B downloads the installation package from the database module 12 via the network 30 to the PC 20 B. The installing module 27 of the PC 20 B directly installs the program AA in the installation package into the PC 20 B.

It is understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit thereof. Thus, the present examples and embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the disclosure is not to be limited to the details given herein.