Chapter 18: Updating Users Office 2003 Configurations


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After Microsoft Office 2003 is deployed to users, you can modify users’ configurations, lock down a particular configuration, or deploy service packs and product updates by using the tools provided in the Microsoft Office 2003 Editions Resource Kit and the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Updating Feature Installation States and Application Settings

After you have deployed the Microsoft Office 2003 client to users, you can modify many aspects of the installation without reinstalling the product. For example, you can install applications or features that were excluded from the initial installation. You can also modify application settings on users’ computers to apply a standard Office configuration throughout the organization.

If you used internal tools or other management software to distribute Office, or if you deployed Office and other business-critical products together, Office tools still provide the most efficient means to update users’ Office 2003 configurations. Using tools such as the Custom Maintenance Wizard and Office Profile Wizard, you can make the following modifications to users’ configurations:

  • Change the organization name that appears in Office applications.

  • Update the list of servers that Windows Installer uses as an installation source.

  • Change feature installation states to install or remove applications or features.

  • Add or remove files.

  • Add or remove registry entries.

  • Modify user settings, including security levels and Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 profile information.

The method you choose to update user-defined settings depends on the following:

  • How extensively you want to reconfigure Office 2003 You can distribute a standard configuration for all of Office 2003 and overwrite settings that were migrated from previous versions or set by users after the installation. Or you can update just a few key options.

  • How and when you deploy Office 2003 applications If you are staging your deployment of Office 2003, you can install and customize a subset of applications and features.

  • Whether you want to enforce your custom settings Settings that you distribute through a configuration maintenance file (CMW file) or Office profile settings file (OPS file) appear to users as the default settings—but users can choose different options for themselves. By contrast, using system policies ensures that your settings are always applied.

The following table lists typical scenarios for updating users’ configurations and the recommended methods and tools to use in each case.

Scenario

Method

Tool

Stage deployment of applications or features that were omitted from the initial installation

Change the deployed installation state of selected features

Custom Maintenance Wizard (Set Feature Installation States page)

Set options for new features or adjust an existing configuration

Add user settings to a CMW file

Custom Maintenance Wizard (Change Office User Settings page)

Change default security levels or the trusted sources list

Specify security settings in a CMW file

Custom Maintenance Wizard (Specify Office Security Settings page)

Change migration and email options for Outlook

Specify Outlook settings in a CMW file

Custom Maintenance Wizard (Outlook: Customize Default Settings page)

Modify or replace users’ Outlook profile

Change Outlook profile settings in a CMW file

Custom Maintenance Wizard (Outlook: Customize Default Profile page)

Update settings that are not captured in an OPS file

Add registry values to a CMW file

Custom Maintenance Wizard (Add/Remove Registry Entries page)

Distribute a standard configuration that overwrites individual users’ settings, including migrated settings

Capture settings in an OPS file and distribute them to client computers

Office Profile Wizard

Prevent users from modifying the options you set

Set Office system policies

Group Policy snap-in with Office policy template files (ADM files)

On the Resource Kit CD

The Office 2003 Editions Resource Kit includes the Custom Maintenance Wizard and the Office Profile Wizard, both of which are installed by default when you run the Office Resource Kit Setup program. For more information, see “Custom Maintenance Wizard” or “Office Profile Wizard” in Appendix A, “Toolbox.”

Changing feature installation states

The Custom Maintenance Wizard helps you make changes to the deployed installation state of any Office 2003 applications or features that are part of the original Office package. Similar to the way the Custom Installation Wizard reads the Office 2003 package (MSI file) and records changes in a transform (MST file), the Custom Maintenance Wizard reads the MSI file and records changes in a configuration maintenance file (CMW file). When you run the Custom Maintenance Wizard on a user’s computer, the changes in the CMW file are applied.

Note

You cannot use the Office Profile Wizard to modify feature installation states.

Create a configuration maintenance file

The Set Feature Installation States page of the Custom Maintenance Wizard displays the same feature tree that appears in the Custom Installation Wizard, and you select from among the same installation states for each feature:

  • Run from My Computer Windows Installer copies files and writes registry entries and shortcuts associated with the feature to the user’s hard disk, and the application or feature runs locally.

  • Run all from My Computer Same as Run from My Computer, except that all child features belonging to the feature are also set to this state.

  • Run from Network Windows Installer leaves components for the feature on the administrative installation point, and the feature is run from there.

    Note that some child features do not support Run from Network; these child features are installed on the local computer.

  • Run all from Network Same as Run from Network, except that all child features belonging to the feature are also set to this state.

  • Installed on First Use Windows Installer leaves components for the feature and all its child features on the administrative installation point until the user first attempts to use the feature, at which time the components are automatically copied to the local hard disk. If a child feature does not support Installed on First Use, it is set to Not Available.

  • Not Available The components for the feature, and all of the child features belonging to the feature, are not installed on the computer.

  • Not Available, Hidden, Locked The components for the feature are not installed and the feature does not appear in the feature tree when users run Setup in maintenance mode—nor can users install it by changing the state of the parent feature or by calling Windows Installer directly from the command line.

Tip

To run the Custom Maintenance Wizard with the feature tree fully expanded, use the /x command-line option. Note that you cannot use /x with /c, which runs the wizard to apply a CMW file to the local computer.

Although the Custom Maintenance Wizard and Custom Installation Wizard are very similar, you cannot use the Custom Maintenance Wizard to set or reverse all the customizations that you can apply through a transform. For example:

  • Hidden features In the Custom Installation Wizard, right-click a feature and select Hide to conceal it from users in the Setup user interface. There is no corresponding Hide or Unhide setting in the Custom Maintenance Wizard—hidden features remain hidden.

    However, if you set a feature to Not Available, Hidden, Locked in the transform, you can reverse the setting in a CMW file.

  • Installation states that depend on network connections Unlike the Custom Installation Wizard, the Custom Maintenance Wizard does not allow you to disable the Run from Network and Installed on First Use installation states for a particular feature.

    Moreover, if you selected the options in the Custom Installation Wizard that disable these settings for a feature when you installed Office, you cannot set that feature to Run from Network or Installed on First Use in a CMW file.

  • Parent and child features If you update the feature installation state of a child feature to Run from My Computer, Run from Network, or Installed on First Use, the Custom Installation Wizard automatically updates the parent feature to the same state. The Custom Maintenance Wizard, by contrast, does not install a child feature unless the parent feature is also installed.

    For example, if you apply a CMW file that installs Microsoft Excel add-ins, only users who have Excel installed get the add-ins. If a user does not have Excel installed, then the wizard ignores this setting in the CMW file.

Note

When you run the Custom Maintenance Wizard to create a CMW file, you must use the same Office 2003 package (MSI file) that you used to install Office initially.

Apply the CMW file to users’ computers

After you create the CMW file, store it on the administrative installation point in the same folder as Maintwiz.exe. To apply updates to Office features, you run the Custom Maintenance Wizard on users’ computers. You can create a shortcut that includes the appropriate command line and distribute it to users through email. In the command line, you must include the /c option and specify the CMW file, as shown in the following example:

<path>\maintwiz.exe /c "MyConfig.cmw"

The wizard calls Windows Installer to apply the changes in the CMW file to the user’s computer. By default, the Custom Maintenance Wizard runs with a minimal user interface, displaying only progress indicators and error messages. To run the wizard silently, add the /q option to the command line.

If you installed Office from an administrative installation point, the Windows Installer searches for a valid source from which to apply a CMW file when users run the Custom Maintenance Wizard. If you installed Office from a compressed CD image and created a local installation source, however, then you must store the CMW file on the original compressed image. Unlike Windows Installer, the Office Source Engine does not search for any valid source; it checks only the source from which the user originally installed Office and passes that information to the Custom Maintenance Wizard. Unless users are administrators of their computers, they can only apply a CMW file from the compressed image from which they installed Office in the first place.

If Office 2003 was installed per-computer, the new feature installation states are applied per-computer and affect all users the same way. However, if Office 2003 was installed per-user, then Windows Installer makes the changes only for the user who applies the CMW file.

For example, if a user applies a CMW file that sets Microsoft Excel to Not Available, Windows Installer removes all Excel files, shortcuts, and registry information from the computer. When a second user logs on, however, the Excel shortcut is still available. If that user clicks the shortcut, Windows Installer repairs the installation and reinstalls Excel. When the first user logs on again, Excel is present on the computer, but no Excel shortcut is displayed for that user.

Note

For security reasons, only administrators can apply CMW files from any location to a user’s computer. To allow non-administrator users to apply the updates to their computers, you must store the wizard (Maintwiz.exe) and CMW file in a subfolder on the administrative installation point. Alternatively, you can set the Windows Installer policy Allow CMW files at any location to be applied. However, setting this policy leaves the computer highly vulnerable, potentially allowing an attacker to run malicious code on the computer.

For detailed information about each page of the Custom Maintenance Wizard, see the Office 2003 Editions Resource Kit Reference on the companion CD.

Staging application deployment

Many organizations stage their deployment of Office applications. For example, when the structure of an organization changes, an administrator might need to add or remove Office applications to match users’ new responsibilities. Or, a company might delay installation of Microsoft Outlook to coordinate with an upgrade of their e-mail servers.

During your initial deployment of Office, you can set any application or feature to Not Available or Not Available, Hidden, Locked in a transform (MST file). When Setup runs on users’ computers, that application or feature is not installed. Later, you can use the Custom Maintenance Wizard to create a CMW file that changes the feature state to Installed on My Computer. The next time the user logs on, Windows Installer installs the application or feature on the local computer. (For details about creating a CMW file and distributing it to users, see the previous section.)

Note, however, that some Setup functionality works only during the initial deployment of Office:

  • Applying a transform You cannot use the Custom Maintenance Wizard to apply a transform. Many of the customizations you make in a transform can also be set in a CMW file. However, if you need to include a transform, deploy the stand-alone version of the application—for example, Word.msi and not Pro11.msi.

  • Removing a previous version The Removal Wizard automatically removes previous versions of the applications you are installing during Setup. However, the Removal Wizard does not run automatically when you apply a CMW file. If you are deploying a new application and you want to remove its previous version, run the stand-alone Removal Wizard before you distribute the CMW file.

For more information about staging your Outlook deployment, see “Installing Outlook 2003 Before Office 2003” or “Installing Outlook 2003 After Office 2003” in Chapter 8, “Special Deployment Scenarios for Outlook 2003.”

Changing user-defined application settings

After Office is installed, users can customize many options in Office applications—everything from the screen resolution to the default file format for saving documents. Most of these user-defined settings are recorded as values in the Windows registry. You can specify default application settings after Office is installed by using one of the following tools:

  • Custom Maintenance Wizard Use the Custom Maintenance Wizard to modify settings applied in a transform (MST file) or to distribute new settings with other customizations that can be made only in a CMW file—such as an updated organization name, additional installation sources, or new applications and features.

  • Office Profile Wizard Use the Office Profile Wizard to apply a standard Office configuration to a group of users or to restore a saved configuration to a new computer.

Update settings with the Custom Maintenance Wizard

All of the user-defined settings that you can set in a transform (MST file) can also be set in a CMW file. The Change Office User Settings page is identical in both wizards; and in both cases, the options in the tree correspond to options that you can set by policy in the Office policy templates.

The Custom Maintenance Wizard also includes pages for setting security levels, customizing Outlook settings and profile information, adding or modifying registry entries, and adding files such as custom templates or dictionaries. These pages correspond to identical pages in the Custom Installation Wizard. For more information about setting options on these pages, see “Customizing User-defined Settings” in Chapter 4, “Customizing Office 2003.”

For detailed information about each page of the Custom Maintenance Wizard, see the Office 2003 Editions Resource Kit Reference on the companion CD.

Distribute new settings with the Profile Wizard

The Profile Wizard captures a broad range of Office application settings by recording entire sections of the Windows registry in an Office profile settings file (OPS file). When you apply settings from the OPS file to users’ computers, the wizard overwrites existing Office application settings with the settings stored in the OPS file. For these reasons, the Profile Wizard is the right tool for capturing and distributing a complete Office user configuration. (If you need to update only a few settings, use the Custom Maintenance Wizard instead.)

When you distribute updated user settings in an OPS file, you must run Proflwiz.exe separately on users’ computers. Unlike the Custom Installation Wizard, the Custom Maintenance Wizard does not allow you to add an OPS file to the CMW file, nor can you use the Custom Maintenance Wizard to run the Profile Wizard.

Running the Profile Wizard separately also allows you to customize the process more precisely. For example, you can include only the settings you want to manage, and you can exclude applications that you want to leave untouched. This approach is helpful when you deploy Office in stages and you need to customize applications separately at each stage of the process.

Note

Although the interfaces differ, the Profile Wizard and Save My Settings Wizard use the same executable file: Proflwiz.exe. The Save My Settings Wizard ships with Office and is designed to help users back up and restore settings on their own computers. The Profile Wizard, which is included in the Office Resource Kit, is intended for administrators who manage configurations throughout an organization.

Create an OPS file

Before you create the OPS file, you must install Office on a test computer, and then start each Office application and set all the options you want to capture. You can set most options by using the Options command (Tools menu). To customize toolbars and menus, use the Customize command (Tools menu). After you have customized the Office applications, run the Profile Wizard to create the OPS file.

To save settings to an OPS file

  1. Start the Profile Wizard.

  2. On the Save or Restore Settings page, select Save the settings from this machine, and enter the name and path for the OPS file.

  3. Select the check boxes next to the Office 2003 applications you want to include in your OPS file.

  4. Click Finish.

    The Profile Wizard saves the Office application settings on your computer to the OPS file.

Note

By design, Profile Wizard does not capture all user-specific Outlook 2003 settings. For more information, see “Office Profile Wizard” in Appendix B, “Office 2003 Resource Kit Reference.”

Reset settings to default values

When you run the Profile Wizard to apply an OPS file, you can select the Reset to defaults before restoring settings check box. This option returns Office application settings on the local computer to their default settings before applying customized settings from the OPS file. If a user has customized settings that are not included in the OPS file, reapplying default values ensures that you are distributing a consistent Office configuration throughout the organization.

If you want to reset only certain settings to their default values, you must edit one of the Profile Wizard text files (ResetO11.ops) to determine more precisely which settings are restored and which are ignored.

Note

The Reset to defaults before restoring settings option returns all existing Office application settings to their default values, including settings in applications that you have excluded from the OPS file.

Customize the Profile Wizard to include or exclude settings

When you create an OPS file, you can customize the Profile Wizard to include or exclude particular settings or files by modifying one of the following files:

  • Opw11adm.ini Use this file as a template for creating custom INI files to use with the Profile Wizard; available in the Office Resource Kit. To preserve the original INI file as a backup, save the customized INI file with a new name.

  • Opw11usr.ini Use this file as a template to create custom INI files to use with the Save My Settings Wizard; comes with Office 2003.

  • ResetO11.ops Use this file to reset specified user-defined settings to their default values; available in the Office Resource Kit.

For more information about customizing the Profile Wizard INI files, see “Office Profile Wizard” in Appendix B, “Office 2003 Editions Resource Kit Reference.”

Distribute the OPS file to users

You may use any of the following methods to distribute custom settings to users:

  • Send the OPS file to users and have them apply it by running the Save My Settings Wizard.

  • Use a software distribution management tool, such as Microsoft Systems Management Server, to push the Profile Wizard and OPS file to client computers.

  • Save the Profile Wizard, OPS file, and any custom INI file on the Office 2003 administrative installation point, and create a shortcut that includes appropriate command-line options.

    For example, the following shortcut runs the wizard quietly and restores settings from MyConfig.ops:

<path>\Proflwiz.exe /r MyConfig.ops /q

For a complete list of command-line options that you can use with the Profile Wizard, see “Office Profile Wizard” in Appendix B, “Office 2003 Resource Kit Reference.”

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Preserving customized settings during a staged deployment

When Office is deployed in stages, it is easy to overwrite settings in previous user profiles. It is even easier to overwrite settings when you are not the only administrator installing Office applications. One way to help control which settings are affected in a given deployment is to customize the Profile Wizard.

For example, you might invest time customizing Office 2003 in the lab. You run the Profile Wizard to capture your user profile settings. You do not configure Outlook because someone else is installing Outlook next month, but you do deploy Microsoft Office Excel 2003, Microsoft Office Word 2003, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 with a default user profile.

One month later, your colleague deploys Outlook. Like you, he customizes Office 2003 in the lab and uses the Profile Wizard to capture his user profile settings. But he does not exclude settings for any of the other applications—the customized settings that you deployed and the customized settings that users have been working with for a month.

When your colleague installs Outlook, he inadvertently changes your settings for Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. And, if he happens to select the Reset to defaults before restoring settings option, all of your OPS file settings are gone—along with any later user configurations—even if he did not explicitly change them in his profile.

You can avoid this scenario by selecting only the applications for which you want to save or restore settings when you run the Profile Wizard. On the Save or Restore Settings page of the wizard, select only the Office applications that you are deploying at any given time.

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Using Office policies to change settings

After Office has been deployed throughout your organization, you can set policies that define and maintain a standard Office 2003 configuration on users’ computers. Unlike other customizations, including settings distributed in a CMW or OPS file, policies are reapplied each time a user logs on to the network, and users cannot change them.

For more information about setting Office policies, see “Managing Users’ Configurations by Policy” later in this chapter.




Microsoft Office 2003 Resource Kit 2003
Microsoft Office 2003 Editions Resource Kit (Pro-Resource Kit)
ISBN: 0735618801
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 196

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