These instructions assume that you are installing Visual Studio 2008 on your personal computer system. The settings below are suggestions only and indicate the typical setup in a computer lab on campus.

1. Start up installation of Visual Studio.
2. Install Visual Studio. If you want to reduce disk space, select a Custom installation. Select only the language(s) you want. The following options are commonly used in the labs:
   
   1. Visual C#: Smart Device Programmability
   2. Visual C++: Smart Device Programmability
   3. Visual C++: X64 Compilers and Tools
   4. Visual Basic: Smart Device Programmability
   5. Dotfuscator Community Edition
   6. Tools for Redistributing Applications
   7. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
3. Install MSDN if you want the help files on your local hard disk. If your computer is always connected to the internet, you might want to use the default settings to get the help files automatically from Microsoft's website.

Default Environment Settings

The first time you start Visual Studio, you will see the following screen:

Choose General Development Settings if you would like your system to be configured like the campus labs and classrooms. For efficiency, uncheck the box that says "Allow Visual Studio...".

Visual Studio Options

The Microsoft Visual Studio environment is intended for use by professional programmers and can sometimes be confusing to students learning to use the product. There are some configuration changes you can make to help the environment be more friendly. These are some suggestions:

1. Choose Tools | Options and click on Text Editor in the left pane. You might want to deselect Drag and drop text editing in the right pane.
2. Click on Text Editor | All Languages | Tabs in the left pane. Click on Smart in the right pane. If you want your printouts to preserve your indenting, click on Insert spaces in the right pane.
3. Click on Debugging in the left pane. Click on Enable Just My Code (Managed Only) in the right pane.
4. Click on Projects and Solutions | VB Defaults in the left pane. Both Option Explicit and Option Strict should be On in the right pane.
5. Click on Projects and Solutions | VC++ Project Settings in the left pane. Set Build Logging to No in the right pane.