Managing a Successive Deployment of Office Premium and Related Products

Installing Office with Elevated Privileges on Windows NT 4.0

Some of the installation programs for Microsoft Office 2000 and Office-related applications must make changes to system areas of the user's computer. These programs might update system files or make changes to system areas of the Windows registry.

Under Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows 98, any user logged on to the computer has access to these system areas and can run the installation programs. On the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 operating system, however, system areas are protected from users running under normal user accounts. To install on Windows NT 4.0, the installation program must have elevated privileges. A program running with elevated privileges has access to the protected areas of the system.

There are several methods you can use to run an installation program with elevated privileges.

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Logging on as an administrator

If you log on to the computer with a user account that has administrator privileges, then all programs that you run have elevated privileges. This method is the simplest way to install Office applications on Windows NT 4.0.

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Advertising the Windows installer package

If the installation program uses the Windows installer, as Office Setup and Microsoft Publisher Setup do, then you can use the /jm msifile command-line option to advertise the installer package (MSI file) on computers running under Windows NT 4.0. For example, to advertise Office you can use the following command line:

setup.exe /jm data1.msi

If you also include a Windows installer transform (MST file) to customize the installation, use the /t command-line option to specify the transform. For example,

setup.exe /jm data1.msi /t office.mst

When you advertise a package, the package is configured to be installed the first time the user attempts to use the application. You must be logged on with administrator privileges to advertise a package.

Advertising a package is much faster than installing a package. When the user attempts to use the application for the first time, the installer completes the installation under administrator privileges, including rebooting the system if necessary. The user can also run Setup to install specific features, and Setup runs under administrator privileges regardless of how the user is logged on.

Note   You cannot install Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 by advertising it. You can, however, install Internet Explorer 5 on the user’s computer first, and then advertise Office.

Windows NT 4.0 with Internet Explorer 4.01 and Active Desktop supports Windows installer shortcuts. In this scenario, the installer adds application icons to the Start menu when you advertise the package. When the user clicks one of these icons, the Windows installer installs that application on the computer before running it. When installing the advertised package, the Windows installer runs under administrator privileges, regardless of how the user is logged on, so it can make any needed system modifications.

Windows NT 4.0 without Active Desktop does not support Windows installer shortcuts. In this case, you can advertise the package, but the user must run Setup to install the program. When the user runs Setup after Office has been advertised, the Windows installer performs the installation with administrator privileges.

Note   If you advertise a package, and the user later runs Setup to install Office, then the user must specify the option /q, /qn, or /qb on the Setup command line. Setup cannot install an advertised package unless one of these command-line options is used.

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Using Windows system policies

If the installation program uses the Windows installer, as Office Setup and Publisher Setup do, then you can set a Windows system policy on the user's computer. The policy allows all Windows installer packages to be installed with administrator privileges.

Caution   When you set these system policies, any Windows installer package run by any user can make changes to the system. This arrangement makes the system vulnerable to viruses.

To enable elevated privilege on a user’s computer by using policies

1. On the Start menu, click Run.
2. Type regedit and click OK.
3. Locate the following subkey in the Windows registry:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Installer

4. In the Installer subkey, set the value of AlwaysInstallElevated to 1.
5. Locate the following subkey in the Windows registry:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Installer

6. In the Installer subkey, set the value of AlwaysInstallElevated to 1.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each user

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Using Systems Management Server

If you are using Microsoft Systems Management Server to install Office, you can run the Package Command Manager as a service on the user's computer so that it runs with administrator privileges.

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See also

You can use a software management system such as Systems Management Server to deploy Office in your organization. For more information, see Deploying Office with Systems Management Server.