I have trained in NVIVO and N6 in all sorts of lab settings. While I
recommend that the software is installed on the hard-drive of each computer
as NVIVO and N6 were designed as stand-alone software this is not always
possible given the way some labs are set up.  I  liaise with the computer
lab people and I have had no problems.  While I am no expert when it comes
to how networks work, the solution is that the software is intalled on some
special network drive where applications are stored.  Then when a student
logs-on, they click on the NVIVO or N6 application icon and the software is
downloaded on their particular computer.  However, the computer lab person
has added to each student's personal network drive space a folder called QSR
Projects.  In that folder are the Tutorials folder (for NVIVO - which
normally you find under C:\Program files\NVIVO) and any example project that
we will be using in the workshop.  This is important - to emphasise that
they copy the tutorial folder for all participants in each participants own
personal drive.  That way they will not be overwriting each other's work.
This requires some pre-workshop organisation.  The computer lab people have
to be told which students will be attending the workshop so that they can
copy this material onto their personal drive. I just worked this way last
week at the University of Warwick - they have just changed over to XP but in
previous years they either had 98 or NT.  I am sure I have done this with NT
and have had no problems.

It is the same principle for N6/5/4.  You copy the Projects and Samples
folder to a folder called QSR Projects on the students' own personal network
drive.  If you are using the tutorial when you click on Run tutorial, you
will have to navigate to where the samples folder is now located.

I have copied below the detailed instructions for doing this from QSR's FAQ
section.

I have never been in a situation where I couldn't make either software work
in the lab (knock on wood!! - of course there is always a first time)

Silvana

Dr. Silvana di Gregorio
SdG Associates
Research & Training Consultants
Tel/Fax: +44-(0)20-8806-1001
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Web-site: www.sdgassociates.com



Q. Can the software be installed on a network server?
A. The N4 software was designed for use as a single-user package. Reports
indicate that it is capable of being run by multiple simultaneous users,
however QSR has not conducted full tests to confirm this. NT server
configurations appear to be preferable, users reporting difficulties with
Novell networks. You just need to take a little care with where the data
files are located such that each simultaneous user accesses their own copy
of the files. How to achieve this is explained below.

1. Install the software. Follow the standard installation instructions and
install the software on the server machine. Do not forget to register the
software.

2. Make copies of the data files for each user. Each user must have access
to their own copy of the Samples and Projects directories. The Samples and
Project directories are by default installed into the directory C:\NUDIST:.

You need to make a separate copy of these directories (and their
sub-directories) with read/write access available - one copy for each
simultaneous user. These copies are best stored in the user's account on the
server or on the local hard disk of a user workstation. Once you have
created the copies delete the Samples and Projects directories from the
C:\NUDIST directory.

3. Why have individual project and samples directories? When a user clicks
the "Run Tutorial" item in the project menu, the default action of the
program is to start the tutorial located in the C:\NUDIST\SAMPLES\TUTORIAL
directory.

So having made available other copies of the SAMPLES directory you need to
delete the original from the C:\NUDIST directory otherwise all users will be
attempting to use the same tutorial files. If you have deleted the original
SAMPLES directory, when a user selects "Run Tutorial" from the Project menu
the user will be prompted to locate the SAMPLES directory. The user should
now locate their copy of the SAMPLES directory and select the file
'Helpfile' which is located in the \SAMPLES\TUTORIAL directory.

Similarly, the software looks for the PROJECTS directory as the default
location for accessing or saving a user's projects. There should be a
seperate PROJECTS directory for each user. If you still have a PROJECTS
directory in the central server location, this could be shared and then
project files may be confused or corrupted.

4. Setting the access to the C:\NUDIST directory. The NUDIST program files
reside in the C:\NUDIST directory. These files should be given read-only
access privileges. This protects them from users accidentally moving or
deleting the program.

If possible the NUDIST.EXE file should be given execute-only access
privileges. This stops users from copying the program and hence prevents
piracy of the software.