Basic Installation Methods

How to Include Office on a Hard Disk Image

Some organizations deploy a complete user system at one time, including Microsoft Windows software, device drivers, application software, and custom configurations. In this scenario, you install the entire system onto a test computer, and then you create an image of the hard disk to copy to users’ computers.

You can deploy a customized version of Microsoft Office with the system. Before you make the hard disk image, you install and configure Office on the test computer. You can select the Office features you want users to have, and you can preset any Office application options your users need. Users who receive the disk image begin with Office preconfigured based on your test installation.

Install Office

After you have installed and configured all the system software on the test computer, run Office Setup to install Office. Set the NOUSERNAME property on the Setup command line so that a user name is not defined during installation. This step allows users to enter their own user names the first time they run an Office application.

To install Office on the test computer

1. On the Start menu, click Run.
2. Enter the file name and path of Office Setup, and set the NOUSERNAME property on the command line.

   For example, to run Setup from Microsoft Office 2000 Disc 1 in drive E, enter the following command:

   e:\setup.exe NOUSERNAME=True

If you plan to install all Office features to run from the local hard disk, except for those features you choose to make unavailable, you can install Office directly from Office Disc 1. However, if you want to install some features to run from the network, or if you want to set some features to be installed on first use, then you must install Office from an administrative installation point. All users who receive the disk image use this administrative installation point as their primary server.

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Configure Office

After you install Office on the test computer, you can customize the Office configuration for your users. For example, you can set the default file save format for Word or Excel, or you can customize the toolbars and menus. After you configure Office and distribute the disk image, your users have the customized version of Office ready to run on their computers.

There are two methods you can use to configure Office on the test computer. If you want to set only simple options for Office applications, use the System Policy Editor with the Office policy templates. If you want to customize options that are not available in the policy templates, such as custom toolbar items or custom menu items, run the Office applications on a second test computer, configure Office directly, and save the configuration with the Profile Wizard.

Configure Office with the System Policy Editor

To customize user settings in Office applications, you can use the Office policy templates included with the Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit. In addition to creating a system policy file to control user options across a network, the System Policy Editor also allows you to use the policy templates to modify the Windows registry on the local computer.

To set Office application options with the System Policy Editor

1. Start the System Policy Editor on the test computer.
2. On the Options menu, click Policy Template, and then select the templates that you want to use.
3. On the File menu, click Open Registry to open the local Windows registry.
4. Modify policy values to set Office application options on the test computer.
5. On the File menu, click Save.

   The values that you modify are written to the Windows registry on the test computer.

6. On the File menu, click Exit.

Configure Office with the Profile Wizard

To configure Office options that are not available through policy templates, you can configure Office on a second test computer and then use the Profile Wizard to copy your Office configuration to the original test computer on which you are building the hard disk image. Your choices are replicated for every user who installs Office from the hard disk image.

Note   Do not run Office on the test computer on which you are building the hard disk image. The first time you run an Office application after installing Office, you are prompted for a user name, which is then used by all Office applications. If you run an Office application on the original test computer, the user name you enter is saved in the disk image you create from that computer. By default., all users who run Office from the disk image are given the name you enter.

To configure Office with the Profile Wizard

1. On a second test computer, install Office 2000 in the same way you installed Office on the original test computer.
2. Run Office applications on the second test computer to set options, customize toolbars and menus, customize default templates, and so forth.
3. Run the Profile Wizard on the second test computer and select Save the settings from this machine on the Save or Restore Settings panel.
4. Enter a file name and path for the OPS file you want to create, and click Finish.
5. Run the Profile Wizard on the original test computer and select Restore previously saved settings on the Save or Restore Settings panel.
6. Enter the file name and path for the OPS file, and click Finish.

After the Profile Wizard copies the Office configuration to the original test computer, you can create the hard disk image from that computer. Your Office configuration is replicated to every user who runs Office from the hard disk image.

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Create multiple hard disk images

If you need to create a set of different disk images, but you want to use the same Office configuration for each image, you can install and configure Office separately on each test computer. Or you can use the following method to duplicate your original Office installation.

To create identical Office installations for multiple hard disk images

1. Create an administrative installation point on the network.
2. By using the Office Custom Installation Wizard, customize the administrative installation point and record your settings in a Windows installer transform (MST file).
3. Install Office on one test computer from the administrative installation point.
4. On the test computer, run the Office applications and modify application settings.
5. By using the Profile Wizard, save your application settings in an Office profile settings (OPS) file.
6. By using the Custom Installation Wizard, include the OPS file in the transform on the administrative installation point.
7. Run Setup on each test computer with the modified transform.

   For example, to run Setup quietly with the transform Newsetup.mst, enter the following command line:

   setup.exe /qb TRANSFORMS=Newsetup.mst

Each computer on which you run Setup in this way has an identical installation of Office.

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See also

For a complete description of how to use Office Setup to create an administrative installation point from which users can install Office, see How to Create an Administrative Installation Point.

Office Setup allows you to customize how Office is installed by modifying the Setup settings file. For more information, including a complete description of settings file options, see Customizing How Setup Runs.

For more advanced customizations, use the Office Custom Installation Wizard to alter the installation process. For more information, see Customizing How Office Features Are Installed.