Software Installation Method, Apparatus and Program Product

A software preload arrangement uses a central server to store the software repository(ries) for various computer instruction files offered for preload into a system being manufactured. To execute the preload, a client workstation is used to execute the actual preload steps for a system under test (SUT). When the SUT needs a given piece of the software release, data is moved down to the client from the server and cached there for delivery to the system under test. In accordance with an important characteristic of this invention, the caching is predictive. That is, data is held in or moved to the client workstation based upon recent activity, so that the time needed to prepare a preload for a system under test is shortened.