To install the training data:

The mgisdata7e.exe archive contains the documents and data needed to do the tutorials and exercises. The student must extract the contents of this file to his/her own hard drive by first creating the gisdata folder, then unzipping the data for this book. If more than one person on the computer is using this book, then each person should make her own copy of the data in separate folders. The installed data requires approximately 240 MB of disk space. It is set up as a self-extracting zip file named mgisdata7e.exe.

Step 1: Create a folder named gisclass on your computer’s C:\ drive and install the data in it (works on PC’s only, no Macs). That way it will match the examples in the book. However, you may install it in any location you wish, as long as it is on the C:\drive. Do not install it in your user Documents folder or on the Desktop, because GIS data often function poorly in those locations.

Step 2: Install the data for the exercises, by double clicking the mgisdata7e.exe file. Click the Browse button to set the folder to extract the data to (see (a) in the figure). The data will be placed in a folder called mgisdata in whatever location you choose. In other words, if you select C:\gisclass as the target folder, then the data will be placed in C:\gisclass\mgisdata. Click Unzip (b) to start installing the data. It may take several minutes. Wait until you see the Finished window announcing that all the files have been extracted, then click OK and close the WinZip Self-Extractor window.