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AspenPlus Installation on Individual Computers Department of Chemical Engineering

Texas Tech University.

AspenTech products run on Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

Note: If you wish to run AspenTech products on a 32-bit Vista or Windows 7 machine,

download and install Microsoft SQL Server Express (Service Pack 3) prior to installing

Aspen.

Note: If you wish to run AspenTech products on a 64-bit Vista or Windows 7 machine,

click here. Then return to this point in these instructions.

1. Obtain the AspenONE 7.2 DVD installation files from the Department IT specialists

(che.it@ttu.edu). You can obtain them in one of three ways.

a. Bring a flash drive, hard drive, or computer to hold the files. Approximately 9

GB of space is required (~ 40 min transfer).

b. Bring a blank dual layer DVD to the specialist and let him provide you a pre-

burned copy of the software in return (1½ hr burn).

c. Give the IT specialist $2 and let him provide you a pre-burned copy of the

software in return.

2. Insert the disk into your computer’s DVD drive. It should start the installation

process automatically.

3. After the AspenTech Installation browser loads up, select the “Products” tab.

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4. A pop-up will appear, indicating the need for a valid license. Select “OK”.

5. The Installer Configuration Wizard will pop up. Select “Next”.

6. Select “License Server” for the license configuration type. Click on “Next”.

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7. The “License Servers” window will pop up. Enter 129.118.23.240 in to the

license server field. Click “Add Server”. Click “Next”.

a. Note: your computer must be able to “see” the Chemical Engineering

license server in order for AspenPLUS to run. The license supports 150

simultaneous users, regardless of location.

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b. If you connect to TTUnet on campus, either wirelessly or with a wired

connection, your computer will automatically find the server.

c. If you connect from off-campus through a third-party Internet Service

Provider, you must set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN), so that you can

tunnel through the TTU firewall.

d. Setting up a VPN only requires your Eraider username and password.

The details on setting up a VPN to TTUnet are given on the Information

Technology website at

http://www.depts.ttu.edu/helpcentral/directions/VPN/index.php.

8. The “Determining Product Licenses” window will pop up. When the installer

completes its survey of the licenses on the server, click “Next”.

9. You will return to the Installation Browser, which will display the ASPEN

Engineering Suite. Select Aspen Engineering and click on “Install”

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.

10. The ASPEN Engineering V7.2 Setup program will open. Click “Next”.

11. Accept the terms of the License Agreement and click “Next”.

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12. On the Computer Configuration Type window, select “Standard Install”.

13. In the window “Choose Destination Location”, confirm that you wish to use the

default location, or browse to a different location. Click “Next”.

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14. In “Feature Selection for Aspen Engineering V7.2”, select the products you wish

to install. The most common Aspen software used in the department is “Process

Modeling (Aspen Plus). Click “Next”.

15. The window “Choose Working Files Folder Location” will open. This is where

your ASPEN simulations will be stored. Accept the default location or browse to

an alternate location. Click “Next”.

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16. A window should pop up asking to choose compilers for Aspen Properties, click

“Next.”

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17. The next window will ask for username, password and domain, leave the fields

blank and check the box that says “Skip username/password validation”, then

select “Next.”

18. The “Ready to Install the Program” window will appear. Click “Install”.

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19. The installation dialog box will appear. It takes approximately 20 minutes to

install the single product Aspen Plus onto a hard drive.

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20. If at any time during the course of installing or using Aspen Plus you receive

either of the following error dialogs, simply click OK and continue the

installation. After the installation process is complete, change to legacy

databanks.

21. Upon completion of the installation, restart your computer as prompted by the

installer.

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22. You are now ready to run AspenPLUS on your personal computer. From

Windows, go to “Start”, “ All Programs”, “AspenTech”, “Process Modeling

V7.2”, “AspenPlus”, then click on “AspenPlus User Interface”

.

23. The first time you run the software, you must select the server type. Choose local

PC and save as the default connection.

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24. The first time you run the software, you must register as an academic user.

25. You will be see the Aspen Start up window, which gives you the options of

opening a blank simulation, a template, an existing simulation, etc. Select one

option and click “OK”.

26. You can now run your simulation.

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Preparing to Install AspenTech

Products under-64 bit Vista or Windows 7 Operating Systems

Note: all directions which follow apply equally to both Vista and Windows 7.

In order to run AspenTech products on 64-bit versions of Vista or Windows 7, you must

run them in Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC. These programs install a virtual

32-bit version of Windows XP, which runs inside of Windows 7. You can then install

AspenTech products under Windows XP, and run them in Windows XP mode.

AspenTech products support this virtualization. All software installations described

herein are free downloads from Microsoft.

27. Confirm your hardware supports virtualization. Follow the instructions at

Windows Virtual PC to do this. When you have successfully configured your

computer for hardware virtualization (if necessary), you will see a window like the

following.

28. Install Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC on your computer. These are

available this site. Follow Microsoft’s directions for installing these packages.

29. After you have successfully installed Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC,

go to “All Programs” in the Start Menu and click on Windows XP Mode, as

illustrated in the following figure. The first time you do enter Windows XP Mode,

you will be guided through the installation of Windows XP. All subsequent times

you will simply enter XP mode.

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After you enter XP mode, you will see a window in which Windows XP 32-bit runs.

XP Mode

Window.

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30. The Aspen Installation DVD is a dual layer DVD, which Windows XP does not

automatically recognize. To resolve, at the top of the XP Window, click on “Tools”,

then “Settings”.

31. In the dialog box that opens, click on DVD drive on the left panel, and check

“Access a physical drive” in the right panel. Choose the Windows 7 physical drive

letter of your dual layer DVD drive.

“Tools“ Menu

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The drive will then be recognized in Windows Explorer in XP mode.

32. Prior to installing Aspen, download and install Microsoft SQL Server Express

(Service Pack 3) in XP mode. Make sure you install the 32-bit version.

33. If connecting via a 3rd party ISP, install a Virtual Private Network in XP mode.

Setting up a VPN only requires your Eraider username and password. The details

on setting up a VPN to TTUnet are given on the Information Technology website at

http://www.depts.ttu.edu/helpcentral/directions/VPN/index.php.

Your 64-bit computer is now ready to run AspenTech products. Install them under the

XP mode to run them properly.

Return to procedure for installing the software.

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Removing the “Databanks Connection” error.

After installing Aspen, but prior to running Aspen Plus, change to legacy databanks.

From Windows, go to “Start”, “ All Programs”, “AspenTech”, “Process Modeling

V7.2”, “AspenPlus”, then click on “Aspen Properties Database Selector”

34. Select the ”Legacy Properties Databanks”, then click OK.

35. You can then run Aspen Plus without receiving a databank connection error.

36. Return to start of installation instructions or error dialog.