Topics in this chapter   Options for Installing Outlook     Customizing an Outlook Installation     Customizing Profiles with an Outlook Profile File

Customizing an Outlook Installation

Like the rest of Microsoft Office XP, a Microsoft Outlook 2002 installation is highly customizable. By using the Office Custom Installation Wizard, you can specify which features you want installed, whether they should run from the local hard disk or the network, how to customize profiles, and so forth.

Specify installation states for Outlook 2002 features

You can specify installation states for many features in Outlook 2002 when you customize your Office XP installation.

To set installation states for Outlook 2002 features

1. Start the Custom Installation Wizard.
   
   
2. On the Set Feature Installation States page, click the plus sign (+) next to Microsoft Outlook for Windows to expand the feature tree.
   
   
3. Click the down arrow next to the feature you want to set, and then select the installation state to use for that feature.

   For example, you might not want users to install Collaboration Data Objects, if your organization does not use this feature. In this case, you click down arrow, then choose Not Available, Hidden, Locked in the menu listed. After deployment, users will not be able to see Collaboration Data Objects as an Outlook feature that they could install.

Specify user settings

If you have specified settings using the Office Profile Wizard and saved those settings in a profile settings file (OPS file), you can specify the file on the Customize Default Application Settings page of the Custom Installation Wizard. You can also specify user settings on the Change Office User Settings page. These settings will override choices that are specified in the OPS file.

If you want current user settings to migrate for all users, select the check box next to Migrate user settings on the Customize Default Application Settings page. If you choose to migrate user settings, other customizations to user settings that you specify — including those in an OPS file or selections you make on the Change Office User Settings page — will not override existing user settings.

Customize Outlook profile creation and modification

Microsoft Outlook 2002 uses profiles to store information about users' e-mail servers, where their Outlook information is stored (on the server or in a local file), and other options.

Configuring how Outlook handles creating default profiles

When users install Outlook 2002 on a clean computer, the Outlook Profile Wizard assists them in creating a profile the first time they start Outlook. If a user is upgrading from a previous version of Outlook or Microsoft Exchange Client, Outlook 2002 detects the existing profile on the user's computer and uses that profile instead of creating a new one.

Outlook profile configurations affect how e-mail messages are sent and received. Because profiles are so important, the process to create profiles can be automated — saving users from having to create profiles through the Outlook Profile Wizard. You can use the Office Custom Installation Wizard to create profiles automatically for your users during installation, or to modify existing profiles.

After your initial Outlook deployment, you can modify how Outlook manages profile creation by using the Custom Maintenance Wizard to update the original profile configuration information you specified in your transform.

Configuring how Outlook handles existing and new profiles

The Outlook pages in the Custom Installation Wizard provide options for creating Outlook profiles or modifying the settings in existing Outlook profiles. Your options for how to handle Outlook profile settings are shown on the Customize Default Profile page:

• Use existing profiles

  If an Outlook profile exists, use that profile. If an Outlook profile is not found, the Outlook Profile Wizard takes the user through creating a profile.

• Modify Profile

  This is the typical scenario. Users who have an Outlook profile are migrated to Outlook 2002. Settings you define in the Custom Installation Wizard automatically create new default user profiles for users who have no profile when Outlook first runs.

• New Profile

  This option is less common, because current Outlook users will get new profiles. This option creates a new default user profile for all users. Existing profiles remain on the user's computer but are not the default profiles used by Outlook.

• Apply PRF

  As an option, you can save Outlook profile settings in an Outlook profile file (PRF file). To import these settings the next time you run the Custom Installation Wizard, enter the file name here.

Note that with both Modify Profile and New Profile options, you can define new Exchange Server connections for new and existing users.

Defining and customizing an Outlook 2002 profile file (PRF file)

A simple way to create a PRF file that is compatible with Outlook 2002 is to step through the Custom Installation Wizard to specify Outlook profile settings. Then, when prompted, export the settings to a PRF file.

You can modify this PRF file in a text editor to include other customizations. For example, you may have profile customizations in a PRF file from an earlier version of Outlook that you want to incorporate in your Outlook 2002 deployment. Manually editing the Outlook 2002 PRF file gives you maximum flexibility for customizing your Outlook profile settings.

Now you can use the PRF file to define Outlook user profiles options. For example, in the Custom Installation Wizard on the Customize Default Profile page, select Apply PRF and enter the name of the file.

For more information about creating and using PRF files, see Customizing Profiles with an Outlook Profile File.

To choose how to customize Outlook profiles in the Custom Installation Wizard

1. In the Custom Installation Wizard, on the Outlook: Customize Default Profile page, click the option for how you choose to customize your users' profile information — Modify Profile, New Profile, or Apply PRF.

   Note that if you select Modify Profile or New Profile, you are prompted to specify user profile settings in subsequent pages of the wizard. If you choose Apply PRF, the settings in your PRF file establish the profile customizations for the transform.

   If you select Modify Profile, Outlook uses the default name for Outlook profiles, Microsoft Outlook, to save the profile information for users without an existing profile.

2. If you select New Profile, enter a profile name for saving the new user profile information.
   
   
3. If you select Apply PRF, enter (or browse to) the name of the PRF file to use.

Configure Exchange settings for user profiles

You have several options for configuring Microsoft Exchange Server connections for users (including not configuring connection information). You can make configuration changes for new Exchange users and for existing users.

• For users who do not have an Exchange Server connection configured, you can specify a user name and server name, as well as offline settings.
  
  
• For users with an existing Exchange Server connection, you can keep that connection or replace the current Exchange Server configuration with a new one.

To specify Exchange settings for Outlook user profiles in the Custom Installation Wizard

1. In the Custom Installation Wizard, on the Outlook: Specify Exchange Settings page, click Configure an Exchange Server connection.

   Note that if you chose New Profile on the previous page, this configuration will apply to all Outlook users.

2. Use the default %UserName% variable setting for the user's logon name.

   You can choose to use another system variable name if, for example, you have a separate user name for Outlook access. Then specify the Exchange server name.

   Note that on Microsoft Windows® 98 and Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me), UserName is not defined by default. If this variable is not set on user computers, the Windows NT® domain logon name will be used here (if %UserName% is specified for the logon name on this page).

3. Enter the name of an Exchange server on your network.

   This will be replaced with the specific Exchange server for each individual user when Outlook first starts.

4. Click on More Settings… to configure offline settings, then click OK.
   
   
5. Select Overwrite existing Exchange settings if an Exchange connection exists to use the Exchange Server connection you have defined for all users.

   This only applies when modifying a profile. If you are defining new default profiles, the one you define will be used for all users.

6. Click Next.

Add and customize accounts for Outlook user profiles

You can add account definitions to Outlook user profiles. For example, you might create a POP3 e-mail account or configure an Internet Directory Service (LDAP) to add to user profiles.

To add and customize Outlook accounts

1. In the Custom Installation Wizard, on the Outlook: Add Accounts page, select Customize additional Outlook profile and account information.
   
   
2. To create a new account for user profiles, click Add.
   
   
3. Select an account from the list, and click Next.
   
   
4. Follow the directions shown to configure the account.

   The additional information required varies depending on the account type that you choose.

5. When you click Finish, the account appears in the table on the Outlook: Add Accounts page.

   When an account is added, the column If Account Exists is populated with one of two values: Do Not Replace or Replace. This applies only when you have chosen to modify user profiles (Modify Profiles).

6. To modify an account you have created, click on the account name in the list and then click Modify.
   
   
7. To delete an account you have created, click on the account name in the list and then click Delete.
   
   
8. In the Deliver new mail to the following location field, <default> is displayed.

   With this option, new mail is delivered to a user's existing default mail delivery location. For new users, <default> means that mail is delivered to the server. To change the location for new mail delivery, click the drop-down arrow and click a new location.

   Note that if you have not added any accounts to the profile, no additional locations are displayed in the drop-down.

9. When you are finished adding and modifying accounts, click Next.

Remove extra mail accounts and export user profile settings

If you are modifying user profiles, you can choose to remove extra mail accounts for Lotus cc: Mail or Microsoft Mail from your users' profiles.

To remove extra mail accounts

• In the Custom Installation Wizard, on the Outlook: Remove Accounts and Export Settings page, click the check boxes to select the accounts you want to remove from user profiles.

Also, you can choose to save to a PRF file the current Outlook user profile settings that you have configured in the previous four pages in the Custom Installation Wizard. This is optional and does not affect your user profile customizations.

Note   Any changes you make after exporting the current settings will not be updated in the exported PRF file.

To save Outlook user profile settings to a PRF file

1. In the Custom Installation Wizard, on the Outlook: Remove Accounts and Export Settings page, click Export Profile Settings button.
   
   
2. Enter (or browse to) the file name and location for the PRF file and click Save.

   Later, you can manually edit this file (for example, using Notepad) to make changes not available through the Custom Installation Wizard.

3. Click Next.

Note   This process is a fast way of creating a PRF file for use in your deployment. Create your preliminary configuration by specifying Outlook options in the Custom Installation Wizard, then export the settings. After saving the file, open it with a text editor and make any additional changes you choose. For more information about working with PRF files, see Customizing Profiles with an Outlook Profile File.

Customize default migration and e-mail settings

In addition to configuring Outlook user profile information, you can specify whether to migrate users' Personal Address Book. You can also specify default e-mail settings - the default settings for the editor Outlook will use in composing messages, and for the message format in which Outlook will send messages.

To set Outlook migration option and default settings

1. In the Custom Installation Wizard, on the Outlook: Customize Default Settings page, you can select the check box to have users' Personal Address Books converted to an Outlook Address Book when Outlook first runs.
   
   
2. Next, choose default settings options. Set the Outlook default e-mail editor by clicking the drop-down arrow and choosing an option.
   
   
3. Set the Outlook default e-mail format by clicking the drop-down arrow and choosing an option.
   
   
4. Click Next to continue setting options for your Office transform.

Note   If you selected Migrate user settings on the Customize Default Application Settings page, then users' current settings will override what you specify on this page. If you did not select Migrate user settings, your selections here will override users' current settings.

Specify registry key settings

If there are registry key settings that you want to include in your Outlook deployment, you can specify them on the Add/Remove Registry Entries page of the Custom Installation Wizard.

For example, you might want to reset folder names for all users when you deploy Outlook to synchronize users' folder names to the User Interface Language of their version of Outlook. This could be useful, for example, if a corporate-wide process has initialized new mailboxes before new users have started Outlook for the first time. In this case, the mailboxes will end up with default folders in the language of the server. (Note that users can, instead, specify the /resetfoldernames option on the Outlook.exe command line to synchronize the folder names on their computers.)

To reset folder names when deploying Outlook

1. In the Custom Installation Wizard, go to the Add/Remove Registry Entries page.
   
   
2. Click Add to add a registry entry for ResetFolderNames.
   
   
3. On the Add/Modify Registry Entry page, select or type the following:
   • Under Root:, select HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
     
     
   • Under Data type:, select Dword.
     
     
   • In the Key: field, type Software/Microsoft/Office/10.0/Outlook/Setup.
     
     
   • In the Value name: field, type ResetFolderNames.
     
     
   • In the Value data: field, type 1.

     Any non-zero value will cause Outlook to synchronize the user's folder names to the User Interface Language of Outlook.

4. Click OK to save the entry.

See also

For more information about creating and using PRF files, see Customizing Profiles with an Outlook Profile File.