Before a project is set up, prior work needs to be done on the Windows Environment to ensure stability and avoid disruptions while the project is running. Render strives to keep simplicity and easiness while working since it is assumed that the project members are usually not very computer savvy. Therefore, popups and wrong configurations might increase curiosity or cause unnecessary disruptions during the project work.
The steps below are therefore are not mandatory but are best practices for setting up the Windows Environment before Render is installed on project computers.
The steps use a sample project name from Tanzania called Konongo. The initial steps to set up the Windows environment before the install as below.
- Remove any blot ware
- Stop any unnecessary pop-up messages if any
- Update the computer OS and drivers with necessary security patches (that includes the BIOS updates)
- Create favorable/meaningful computer names and rename computers. For instance, if the computers belong to the Konongo project, they can be named KON-TRN1 (Translator 1), KON-TRN2 (Translator2), KON-BT (Back Translator)etc. This eases a later process that will involve inserting the computer names in the project from the admin computer.
- Create two user accounts.
- One should be an administrator account and
- The other a standard user. This will prevent standard project users from installing Render updates or change Windows settings that might interfere with Render. Accounts MUST be protected with different passwords.
- Test all peripherals like headsets, USB flash drive, LAN router etc. to ensure compatibility with Windows.
- It is also recommended that any maintenance work on Render and WIndows be done by a technically knowledgeable person.
