Topics in this chapter   Deployment Issues Specific to Windows NT 4.0     Using Windows Installer Shortcuts with Office

Using Windows Installer Shortcuts with Office

In many organizations, advertising is a quick and efficient means of making Microsoft Office XP available to users. When you advertise Office XP, Windows Installer shortcuts for each application appear on the Start menu, and a minimal set of core Office files and components is installed on the computer. When a user clicks a shortcut or opens a file associated with an advertised application, Windows Installer fully installs the application from the source.

When you install Office XP under the Microsoft Windows® 2000 or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 operating systems, you can advertise the entire Office package by logging on as an administrator and then running Setup with the /jm command-line option. On any supported operating system, you can advertise a single application by setting its installation state to Installed on First Use in a transform.

Advertising accomplishes the following:

• Ensures that users always have access to Office applications from the Windows Start menu, even if the applications are not yet installed locally.
  
  
• Provides application-level resiliency.

If a user inadvertently deletes a required file (such as Winword.exe), Windows Installer automatically replaces the file when the user clicks the shortcut or tries to open a file associated with the application.

• Elevates the Office XP installation on Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0.

  After an administrator advertises Office XP, any user can run Setup from Add/Remove Programs to install Office.

Requirements for using Windows Installer shortcuts

By default, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me), and Windows 2000 support Windows Installer shortcuts. On Windows NT 4.0, however, you must install the Windows Desktop Update (an updated version of the Windows shell) before you can use Windows Installer shortcuts to trigger an installation of Office applications on demand.

Windows Desktop Update is included with the following versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer:

• Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 1 or later with Active Desktop®

  You can turn off Active Desktop after the installation is complete, but you must install the files associated with Active Desktop to get the updated Windows shell components.

• Internet Explorer 5.01

  The updated shell components are included in Internet Explorer 5.01, but they are not installed by default. You must use the Custom Installation Wizard to create a transform that includes the Windows Desktop Update in the System Files Update installation.

If you do not have the updated Windows shell, you can still advertise Office XP under Windows NT 4.0. In this case, however, Windows Installer installs a minimal set of files and components for the application and creates regular Windows shortcuts, which point to a file on the local hard disk. Users can subsequently use Add/Remove Programs to run Office XP Setup from the administrative installation point to modify the installation. However, there is no support for install-on-demand functionality.

Toolbox   The Office XP Resource Kit includes the Custom Installation Wizard. For more information, see "Custom Installation Wizard" in Appendix A.

How to install the Windows Desktop Update with Office XP

You install the Windows Desktop Update during the System Files Update installation portion of the Office XP installation. (Note that you can install the System Files Update to get the updated Windows shell and choose not install Internet Explorer 5.01 as your default Web browser.) To include the Windows Desktop Update, you must customize the System Files Update package.

To install the Windows Desktop Update with Office XP

1. Start the Custom Installation Wizard.
   
   
2. On the Open the MSI file page, specify the System Files Update package; for example:

   \\server\share\admin_install_point\files\osp\1033\osp.msi

3. On the Modify Setup Properties page, select the InstallDesktopUpdate property and click Modify.

This property is exposed only when you are creating a transform for the System Files Update package (Osp.msi). It is a private property; that is, you cannot set it on the command line — only in the transform. Note that setting this property automatically sets Internet Explorer options on other pages of the wizard.

1. In the Value box, select Install Windows Desktop Update.
   
   
2. Add the transform for the System Files Update package to the Office XP Setup.ini file; for example:

   [SystemPackOptions]
   TRANSFORMS=SystemPack.mst

Note   The Internet Explorer Customization Wizard also includes the option Would you like to install the shell update. This option works only if you run the stand-alone version of the Internet Explorer Administration Kit to customize Internet Explorer. If you start the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard from the Custom Installation Wizard, you must set the InstallDesktopUpdate property to get the Windows Desktop Update.

Like Office XP, the language packs in the Office XP Multilingual User Interface Pack are Windows Installer packages, and you can advertise them on users' computers. However, the System Files Update cannot be advertised. Advertising Office XP on Windows NT 4.0 fully installs the System Files Update on the computer and restarts the computer before Office XP or any chained packages are advertised. Windows Installer shortcuts appear when the next user logs on.