Deployment Issues Specific to Windows 2000
Microsoft Windows® 2000 offers a number of benefits to organizations that are deploying Microsoft Office XP:
- Office XP requires the same level of system files as the release version of Windows 2000, so the System Files Update installation is not required.
- Windows 2000 offers management features that allow you to centrally install and manage Office applications on users' computers, while Windows 2000 automatically maintains the desired configuration.
- By using remote installation services (RIS), you can install customized configurations of both Windows 2000 and Office XP remotely on client computers.
Windows 2000 installation requirements
Requirements under Windows 2000 include the following:
- You must have elevated privileges to install Office XP under Windows 2000.
For more information about elevating the Office XP installation, see Installations That Require Elevated Privileges.
- In order to use Windows 2000 software installation, all the computers in your organization must be running Windows 2000, and you must already have implemented an Active Directory™ directory service and Group Policy structure.
- Because Windows 2000 software installation works directly with the MSI file and bypasses Office XP Setup.exe and Setup.ini, all customizations must be made through a transform.
- Windows 2000 software installation deploys each package separately and in random order, so you cannot chain other packages to your Office XP installation.
If you deploy Office XP Multilingual User Interface Packs at the same time as Office XP, set the CHECKINSTALLORDER property to False to ensure that the MUI Packs are installed even if Office XP is not.
- You cannot run the Systems File Update installation under Windows 2000.
If you want to deploy Internet Explorer 5.5 or later, you must install it separately, before you install Office XP.
Using Windows 2000 software installation
You use a set of Windows 2000–based technologies known collectively as IntelliMirror® to install and manage Office XP by policy. IntelliMirror includes the software installation and maintenance feature, which allows an administrator to install, repair, update, or remove Office XP by using Group Policy.
There are three ways to install and manage Office XP applications by policy:
- Assign Office to computers
Office is installed on the computer the next time the computer starts. Users can repair Office applications on the computer, but only an administrator can remove applications.
- Assign Office to users
Office is available to all users in the designated group the next time they log on. Each Office application is installed the first time a user clicks the associated shortcut on the Start menu or opens a file associated with that Office application.
- Publish Office to users
Office is available to all users in the designated group the next time they log on. Users install Office through Add/Remove Programs in Control
Panel or by opening an Office document. (Note that under Windows
2000, you cannot publish an application to a computer.)
When you use the Windows 2000 software installation, you can specify a transform to apply at the time the Office XP package is assigned or published. When users run Office XP Setup in maintenance mode, Windows 2000 also allows you to customize the text and options that appear in Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel.
For example, to prevent users from changing an installed Office configuration, you can set the Setup property ARPMODIFY to True in the transform. When users run Office XP Setup in maintenance mode, the Change button in Add/Remove Programs is unavailable.
For more information about using Windows 2000 Group Policy and software installation tools to deploy Office XP, see Using Windows 2000 Software Installation.
Toolbox The Office XP Resource Kit Toolbox includes a document named Setupref.doc that defines Setup properties that you can set for Office XP, including the properties that modify Add/Remove Programs. Setupref.doc is installed by default when you run the Office Resource Kit Setup program. For more information, see Supplemental Documentation in the Toolbox.
Using Remote Installation Services
Remote OS Installation, which is based on Remote Installation Services (RIS), is an optional service in Windows 2000 Server. It provides a mechanism for computers to connect to a network server during the initial startup process, while the server controls a local installation of Windows 2000 Professional.
If all the computers in your organization are running under Windows 2000, you can use remote installation services to copy a preconfigured hard-disk image — with standardized versions of both Windows 2000 Professional and Office XP — to client computers. RIS also requires that you have Active Directory and a Group Policy structure set up.
This method can significantly reduce deployment time. A remote installation of Windows and Office together takes only slightly longer than a remote installation of Windows by itself. When clients download the disk image, Office XP is fully installed on the local computer — and not merely advertised.
For more information about creating a hard-disk image for Office XP, see Distributing Office to Users' Computers.
For a detailed outline of the steps necessary to install, configure, and use RIS, see the "Step-by-Step Guide to Remote OS Installation" on the Microsoft Windows 2000 Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/library/planning/management/remotesteps.asp. For a detailed outline of the steps necessary to install, configure, and use RIS, see the Step-by-Step Guide to Remote OS Installation on the Microsoft Windows 2000 Web site.
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