Preface

This guide provides instructions about installing and configuring Oracle Database for Microsoft Windows (32-bit) and Microsoft Windows x64. Only the features of Oracle Database for Microsoft Windows (32-bit) and Microsoft Windows x64 software installed on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows 7 are discussed in this guide.

This preface contains these topics:

• Audience

• Documentation Accessibility

• Accessing Documentation

• Related Documentation

• Conventions

Audience

Oracle Database Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows is intended for anyone installing Oracle Database on a single computer. Additional installation guides for Oracle Real Application Clusters, Oracle Clusterware, Oracle Database Examples, and Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control are available on the relevant installation media.

To use this document, you need the following:

• A supported Microsoft Windows operating system installed and tested on your computer system

• Administrative privileges on the computer where you are installing the Oracle Database software

• Familiarity with object-relational database management concepts

Documentation Accessibility

For information about Oracle's commitment to accessibility, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program website at http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=docacc.

Access to Oracle Support

Oracle customers have access to electronic support through My Oracle Support. For information, visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=info or visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=trs if you are hearing impaired.

Accessing Documentation

The documentation for this release includes platform-specific documentation and generic product documentation.

Platform-Specific Documentation

Platform-specific documentation includes information about installing and using Oracle products on particular platforms. The platform-specific documentation for this product is available in both Adobe portable document format (PDF) and HTML format on the product media. To access the platform-specific documentation on the media, use a web browser to open the welcome.html file in the top-level directory of the media.

Product Documentation

Product documentation includes information about configuring, using, or administering Oracle products on any platform. The product documentation for Oracle Database 11g products is available in both HTML and PDF formats in the following locations:

• On the Oracle Database Documentation Library media

  Use a web browser to view or open the index.htm file in the top-level directory on the media.

• Online on the Oracle Technology Network Web site:

  http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/documentation/index.html

Related Documentation

For more information, see these Oracle resources:

• Oracle Database Concepts

• Oracle Database New Features Guide

• Oracle Database Licensing Information

• Oracle Database Readme

• Oracle Database Release Notes for Microsoft Windows

• Oracle Universal Installer and OPatch User's Guide for Windows and UNIX

• Oracle Database Client Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows

• Oracle Database Examples Installation Guide

• Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide

• Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide

• Oracle Database Storage Administrator's Guide

• Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control Installation and Basic Configuration

• Oracle Database Platform Guide for Microsoft Windows

• Oracle Database Upgrade Guide

• Oracle Database 2 Day DBA

For information about Oracle error messages, see Oracle Database Error Messages. Oracle error message documentation is available only in HTML. If you only have access to the Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2) Online Documentation Library, you can browse the error messages by range. Once you find the specific range, use your browser's "find in page" feature to locate the specific message. When connected to the Internet, you can search for a specific error message using the error message search feature of the Oracle online documentation.

Many books in the documentation set use the sample schemas of the seed database, which is installed by default when you install Oracle. For information about how these schemas were created and how you can use them yourself, see Oracle Database Sample Schemas.

To download free release notes, installation documentation, white papers, or other collateral, visit the Oracle Technology Network. You must register online before using Oracle Technology Network; registration is free and can be done at

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/community/join/overview/index.html

If you already have a user name and password for Oracle Technology Network, then you can go directly to the documentation section of the Oracle Technology Network Web site at

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/documentation/index.html

Conventions

The following text conventions are used in this document: