LANovation Announces PC Updater version 2.1; Making Small Updates or Installing Large Application Suites on Any PC is Now an Easy Task to Accomplish

Business Wire, July 7, 1999

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 7, 1999--

LANovation today announced the release of PC Updater 2.1. Formerly called PictureTaker Express, PC Updater is a software distribution program that automatically packages any changes you want to make on a variety of other Windows PCs into a single file that can correctly install itself without requiring the target PCs to have special client software.

PC Updater version 2.1 has many new features and enhancements including full support for Microsoft's Office 2000 with its new type of shortcut and "Install on Demand" option.

In response to feedback from the market, LANovation has changed the name of its newest product to PC Updater. The new name reflects where the strength of the product lies. PC Updater's flexibility, accuracy and ease of use give corporations the confidence to make daily changes to PCs, corporate-wide. These daily updates are necessary for corporations to reduce their total costs of ownership. Other solutions exist for performing application distribution, but they often stumble when finding and packaging small changes such as printer drivers or registry "tweaks". PC Updater can package any change into a distribution file.

Since a PC Updater distribution file can be sent to any PC and over any network, companies can now expand their software distribution outside the corporate walls. Potential recipients of new or updated software can now also include remote offices, traveling sales people, business partners, and customers.

Unlike other products that use snapshot technology to create software distribution packages, PC Updater makes no assumptions that a PC that will receive a distribution file looks anything like the PC on which the file was created. And because PC Updater's distribution files (known as self-installing files) are standard Windows executables, they can be signed with an electronic signature issued by an authorization service such as VeriSign(TM). This reassures a recipient that a self-installing file comes from a trusted source.

With the help of PC Updater's Expert, there are only two steps to creating a self-installing file: name the self-installing file and make the change you want to distribute using the self-installing file. PC Updater automatically captures every change made to your PC and creates a file that correctly recreates the installation or update on other PCs. To further its ease of use, PC Updater lets you edit the contents of a self-installing file, add smart variables, change its installation properties, set disk space and operating system requirements, assign reboot options, etc., through the graphical interface without having to re-compile or re-create the file.

New in PC Updater version 2.1 is an enhanced editor that provides the ability to drag and drop registry keys and folders in and out of a self-installing file instead of retyping an often long and confusing string of characters. This eliminates a common source of errors. PC Updater's new editor supports "search and replace". PC Updater also adds the ability to update secured areas of NTFS partitions on Windows NT, without intervention from an administrator.

Inclusion of a common request from customers extends PC Updater's flexibility: registry information in PC Updater self-installing files can now be imported to and from a .reg file. PC Updater's self-installing files can be optionally added to a target PC's Control Panel Add/Remove Programs. People can feel safe distributing or receiving a PC Updater self-installing file because the changes can always undone.

PC Updater self-installing files can now be imported into LANovation's Conflict Checker Professional and evaluated for potential program and system file conflicts, like conflicting DLL versions. This allows corporations to prevent a disaster commonly known as "DLL Hell." Conflict Checker also detects conflicting registry values.

PC Updater uses the six-time award-winning technology found in other LANovation software distribution offerings including: PictureTaker Enterprise Edition, PictureTaker Configuration Center Edition and PictureTaker Personal Edition. Please contact LANovation at 1-800-747-4487, or visit our Web site at http://www.lanovation.com to learn more.

PC Updater pricing begins at $895 per technician. It has no client license requirements. It can be purchased from LANovation online at LANovation's Web site, or from any of its national or international partners. Evaluation copies of PC Updater can be downloaded from LANovation's Web site today.

LANovation is a leading supplier of Windows software distribution and management products for corporations, software developers, Webmasters, PC manufacturers, VARs, and home users. Established in 1985, LANovation develops products that make complex technology simple.

The PC Updater, PictureTaker and Conflict Checker Professional technologies are patent pending.

PC Updater and PictureTaker are Trademarks of LANovation. All other companies and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.