Customizing How Office Options Are Set

How to Set Registry Entries

You can include custom applications in Office Setup that require custom Windows registry settings. You can also customize certain Microsoft Office options by changing registry settings. In these situations, you can use the Office Custom Installation Wizard to define registry values that are set on users’ computers during Office installation.

To set registry values during Office installation, you add individual registry entries to a Windows installer transform (MST file). You can also import a registry file containing multiple registry entries.

Add registry entries to a transform

By using the Custom Installation Wizard, you can customize many aspects of the Office installation process that affect your organization. To add registry entries to a Windows installer transform, you use the Add Registry Entries panel of the wizard. You need to know the complete path for each registry entry, as well as the value name and the data type for that entry.

To add Windows registry entries to a transform

1. Run the Custom Installation Wizard.
2. On the Add Registry Entries panel, click Add.
3. Enter the full path for the registry entry you want to add, enter the value name and data, and click OK.

   For more information about how to enter these values, click the Help button.

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Import a registry file into a transform

To add multiple registry entries to a Windows installer transform, first you create a registry (.reg) file, and then you use the Add Registry Entries panel of the Custom Installation Wizard to import the registry file.

A registry file is a text file that contains a copy of a section of the Windows registry. If your computer already has the registry entries you want to copy to users’ computers, then creating a registry file is an efficient way of copying those entries.

To create a registry file

1. On the computer that has the registry entries you want to add to the installation, click Run on the Start menu and type regedit.
2. In the registry editor, select the portion of the registry tree that you want to copy.
3. On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File, and follow the instructions to export the selected portion of the registry tree to a registry file.

To import a registry file to a transform

1. Run the Custom Installation Wizard.
2. On the Add Registry Entries panel, click Import.
3. Select the registry file you created, and click Open.

   The wizard adds the registry entries from the registry file to the list on the Add Registry Entries panel.

   If the wizard encounters an entry in the registry file that is a duplicate of an entry already in the list and the two entries contain different value data, then the wizard prompts you to select the entry you want to keep.

After Office Setup is completed, the Windows installer copies the registry entries that you added to the transform to users’ computers.