What's New in the Office XP Resource Kit
The installation process for Microsoft Office XP has been significantly improved over previous versions of Microsoft Office. Along with an improved Setup process, new tools and enhancements to existing tools provide the best means for managing the deployment of Office XP within a corporate environment.
Many improvements and corrections in this version of the Office Resource Kit are in response to top issues reported by Microsoft Product Support Services. The first thing you may notice is the number of changes made to core tools such as the Custom Installation Wizard, Custom Maintenance Wizard, and the Office Profile Wizard. The inclusion of a new tool, Corporate Error Reporting, is probably the most significant addition to the Office Resource Kit.
The following sections discuss the improvements to existing tools and addition of new tools to the Office Resource Kit.
Custom Installation Wizard
Several enhancements are visible in the latest release of the Custom Installation Wizard (Custwiz.exe), including the improvements mentioned the following sections.
New wizard pages
There are several new pages available in the Custom Installation Wizard, but the following two pages offer advantages not previously available:
- Change Office User Settings
Similar to the Office Profile Wizard, you can customize specific menu settings to either display or not display, and also to set defaults to these settings.
- Specify Security Settings
Due to the increased demand for tighter security with templates, documents, workbooks, etc., the ability to set and configure macro security, ActiveX® controls, and password security is now available through the wizard.
Enhanced user interface
Several changes were made to the Custom Installation Wizard to make it easier to use — not the least of which was improvements to the names and descriptive text for controls and labels in the user interface.
New installation state — Not Available, Hidden, Locked
To help administrators enforce an installation state that a user cannot change, the Not Available, Hidden, Locked installation state is provided to curb the ability of users to change the configuration administrators have set for applications and their features.
New options on the Set Feature Installation States page
Due to new installation capabilities and requests from administrators, the following capabilities have been added to control how Office is installed:
- Do not Migrate Previous Installation State
A feature of Setup.exe and Windows Installer allows previously installed applications to be removed and new applications to install using the same settings from the previous installation. Enabling the option Do not Migrate Previous Installation State, you can disable that feature of Setup.exe or Windows Installer.
- Disable Installed on First Use
The option Disable Installed on First Use turns off the ability of Windows Installer to advertise an application on the user's computer with a shortcut.
- Disable Run from Network
The option Disable Run from Network turns off the ability of Windows Installer to install applications using the Run From Network installation state for the selected feature in the feature tree.
Ability to install Visual Basic as a feature of Office
You'll need to see the online help for the Custom Installation Wizard (Custom10.hlp) for specifics about this enhancement. Visual Basic® for Applications is a sensitive component of Office, and as such requires extra understanding by administrators. See the Help available from the Set Feature Installation States page or the Specify Office Security Settings page of the wizard for detailed information.
Ability to remove files with a transform
You can now remove files from a user's computer by using a transform. Previously, you could only add files with a transform.
Ability to remove registry entries with a transform
You can now remove registry branches, keys, or values from a user's computer by using a transform. Previously, you could only add them in the transform.
New properties in the Modify Setup Properties page
There are several new properties you can configure. It is advised you read the document Setupref.doc available with the Office Resource Kit for information on all the properties you can use. Setupref.doc is installed by default when you run the Office XP Resource Kit Setup program.
Easier-to-navigate Outlook customization pages
There are several new customization options available in the wizard for Outlook. One important one is the ability to create an Outlook profile file (PRF file).
Ability to create an Outlook PRF file
You can now create a PRF file for use with the installation of Outlook. You can create the initial instance of a PRF file from the Custom Installation Wizard and then perform further customization to this PRF file manually using a text editor like Notepad or Wordpad.
Enhanced Help
Available from the Custom Installation Wizard, Custom Maintenance Wizard, and Profile Wizard is an integrated Help file. This file contains the core information you will need to use these tools to help you configure Office, including property information, Setup.ini information, and a "special issues" section.
New format for MST and MSI files
Due to the differences in the previous release of Office 2000 and the enhancements to Office XP, there is a new MSI file format. This change also forced a change to the MST file format. Because of these changes, you cannot use the previous release of the Custom Installation Wizard with the new file formats; you must use the new release of the wizard.
Customize Internet Explorer 5 Installation Options page appears only when customizing the OSP.msi
Due to the new method of installing Office and upgrading system files, there is a corresponding update to how Office-related components are installed — specifically, how Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 is installed and how you customize it for your use. See the related sections in the Office Resource Kit and online Help available with the wizards for further information.
Custom Maintenance Wizard
Unlike the previous release, the extensively updated version of the Custom Maintenance Wizard (Maintwiz.exe) can help ease the task of maintaining Office XP. Several elements of the Custom Maintenance Wizard have been added or enhanced, including the following:
- New pages
Several new pages in the Custom Maintenance Wizard mirror pages in the Custom Installation Wizard, including the following:
- Specify New Organization Name
- Change Office User Settings
- Add/Remove Files
- Add/Remove Registry Entries
- Identify Additional Servers
- Specify Security Settings
- Outlook customization pages
- Enhanced user interface
The upgrades to the Custom Maintenance Wizard user interface make it easier to use. Since it mirrors the behavior and capabilities of the Custom Installation Wizard, if you understand how one works, you understand the other. More meaningful option labels, descriptive text, and the customization workflow through the wizard provide easier use and understanding of the customization process.
- Enhanced online Help
Much-improved online Help makes it easier to find answers to your questions about using the Custom Maintenance Wizard. Since it is integrated with the Help for the Custom Installation Wizard, you can view the Help available in the Custom Installation Wizard by using the Help index, or contents page, in the Custom Maintenance Wizard.
- Ability to create an Outlook profile file (PRF file)
As with the Custom Installation Wizard, you can use the Custom Maintenance Wizard to create an Outlook profile file (PRF file).
- Ability to change the Not Available, Hidden, Locked installation state set with the Custom Installation Wizard
The Not Available, Hidden, Locked installation state can be changed by the administrator, if required — but only by using the Custom Maintenance Wizard.
Corporate Error Reporting
An important, new feature of Office is the ability for Microsoft to learn from crashes encountered during the use of Office applications by users. A new error-reporting tool, DW.exe, allows relevant system crash data to be sent to Microsoft. The information is added to a database that developers review and use to produce work-arounds and fixes that can be posted immediately to the Internet. The Corporate Error Reporting tool (Cer.exe) allows administrators to redirect crash data to a local crash-reporting server and select information they wish to block from, or report to, Microsoft.
For more information, see the online Help available with CER.exe, or see "Reporting Office Application Crashes" in Chapter 8, "Maintaining an Installation."
Save My Settings Wizard
A new tool for users, the Save My Settings Wizard (Proflwiz.exe) is the end-user version of the Profile Wizard. The Save My Settings Wizard allows users to do the following:
- Save their current Office configuration plus supporting files on a Web server for three months for free.
- Restore only settings related to a selected application or applications, instead of being forced to restore an entire configuration.
Office Profile Wizard
The Office Profile Wizard is capable of doing all the things it could do for Microsoft Office 2000 — and more. Improvements include the following:
- New Profile Wizard INI files
The INI files used to create OPS files using the Profile Wizard are different this time around because of all the new features, registry branches, registry keys, registry values, and files used by Office XP. These new files include OPW10usr.ini (available with Office, not the Resource Kit), ResetO10.ini, and OPW10adm.ini.
- Ability to selectively save or restore settings for specific Office applications
Just like the Save My Settings Wizard, the Profile Wizard can now restore the configuration settings for any selected application or applications.
- Ability to manage most user-interface settings of the wizard through command-line parameters
You can now set the Profile Wizard to use and set almost all user-interface options through the command line.
Setup.exe
Setup.exe is much smarter this time around. It knows when to install and use Office System Files Update files, chained files, and properties. Improvements include the following:
- New Setup.ini format
The enhanced Setup.ini file format allows much more flexibility for administrators to add more programs to the Setup process. For more information, see the document Setupref.doc, which is installed by default when you run the Office XP Resource Kit Setup program, or the next section below titled "Setup INI Customization Wizard."
- New method of chaining installations
Chaining can now only be accomplished through the Setup.ini file. The much-improved capability of the Setup.exe to read the Setup.ini file is valuable to administrators who need better control of installing supporting applications after Office is installed.
- Altered MSI naming convention
The MSI file names have all changed for Office XP.
- New tool to help manage the Setup.ini file
For more information, see the section below titled "Setup INI Customization Wizard."
- New method of upgrading system files on users' computers by using the Office System Files Update package (OSP.msi)
Setup.exe can now determine whether to install the Office System Files Update to allow the operating system to support Office XP. If the operating system already has the sufficient files, the Office System Files Update is not installed.
Setup INI Customization Wizard
The Setup INI Customization Wizard (Iniwiz.exe) provides an easy way to add information to the Setup.ini file. You can then make final customizations to the Setup.ini file using a text editor such as Notepad. The wizard performs the following functions:
- Provides an easy method of customizing the Setup.ini file
If you have had to customize the Setup.ini file in the past, you will recognize the value this wizard adds to the Office Resource Kit tool set.
- Provides an easy method of specifying MSI and MST files for an administrative installation point
You can add MSI and MST file references into the Setup.ini file by using the wizard.
- Takes the guess work out of setting up a series of chained installations
Chained installations were difficult and confusing to accomplish with prior versions of the Custom Installation Wizard. Through the use of the Setup INI Customization Wizard, you can put the necessary information into the Setup.ini file easily, and then perform the final touches by using a text editor.
Windows Installer
Windows Installer has been improved to handle more tasks than in previous versions. You can choose from several new properties to perform special customization tasks. For more information, see the Custom10.hlp file or the document Setupref.doc, which is installed by default when you run the Office XP Resource Kit Setup program.
With Windows Installer, you can install a new application and still use the settings of the old application. If you do not want this capability, use the Custom Installation Wizard or a command-line option with Setup.exe to disable the Migrate Previous Installation State option of Windows Installer.
Removal Wizard
The Removal Wizard (Offcln.exe) is a valuable tool that helps administrators remove prior versions of many Microsoft applications. The Removal Wizard includes the following improvements:
- New OPC file system layout for managing file removal
If you have made changes to OPC files in the past, you will definitely want to check out the new formatting and layout of the OPC files. For more information, see the document Opc.doc, which is installed by default when you run the Office XP Resource Kit Setup program.
- New capabilities of deleting international files
You can now customize a special OPC file located in a folder labeled the same as the LCID used by any Office application currently on the computer with that LCID. Add localization-specific file names, keys, or folders to this file.
System Policy Editor
The System Policy Editor (Poledit.exe) has not changed since the prior release. However, because of new products and changes to existing products, all the policy templates have been updated, and several new policies have been added to the policy templates. You can examine these templates by using the System Policy Editor.
Answer Wizard Builder
The Answer Wizard Builder (Awbuild.exe) has been upgraded. Most of the changes are internal to the functions used to generate probabilities for Answer Wizard search results.
Troubleshooting tools
New troubleshooting tools have been provided so that administrators can read in plain text the contents of the transform (MST file), maintenance configuration file (CMW file), and profile settings file (OPS file). The viewers include the following:
- MST File Viewer
The MST File Viewer (MSTview.exe) displays in text format the contents of any transform created with the Office XP Custom Installation Wizard.
- CMW File Viewer
The CMW File Viewer (CMWview.exe) displays in text format the contents of any configuration maintenance file created with the Office XP Custom Maintenance Wizard.
- OPS File Viewer
The OPS File Viewer (OPSview.exe) displays in text format the contents of any profile settings file (OPS file) created with the Office XP Profile Wizard or Save My Settings Wizard.
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