Customizing the End User Experience

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Customizing the End User Experience

The Custom Installation Wizard can be used to change the user interface and options, at least with the initial rollout of Outlook. However, Group Policy can also be used after the installation is complete to change the user experience. This section goes into detail only about using the Custom Installation Wizard.

Using the Custom Installation Wizard

The Custom Installation Wizard (CIW) is part of the Office 2003 Resource Kit and can be found in the core tool set that is installed by default when the kit is installed. The Resource Kit can be downloaded from www.microsoft.com/downloads. The CIW is an extremely handy tool to customize the installation choices in Microsoft Office products.

In Outlook, it allows for specifying what previous Office versions will be upgraded or removed, as well as configuring features such as Search Folder options, integration with Instant Messenger, how the messages appear in the Outlook notification area, and the order in which items appear in the navigation pane. Almost anything that is an option or behavior in Outlook can be controlled by the CIW.

Creating a PRF File Using the Custom Installation Wizard

This section does not present detailed directions on how to use the CIW; it only touches on the choices available for Outlook customization.

To use the Custom Installation Wizard, follow these steps:

  1. Download and install the Office 2003 Resource Kit.

  2. Launch the Custom Installation Wizard. You'll see an initial screen like Figure 25.5.

    Figure 25.5. Custom Installation Wizard initial screen.

    graphics/25fig05.jpg

  3. Go through the first few screens until you reach the Set Feature Installation screen that determines what Office product to customize.

  4. Make sure that Outlook is selected for installation. Use the drop-down boxes to choose what installation features to install for Outlook. Click Next when done.

  5. Continue clicking Next until you reach the Change Office User Settings screen. At this screen, configure the Outlook features to behave as the enterprise requires by enabling or disabling the choices available for Outlook. (The interface is very similar to that of Group Policy.)

  6. Continue through the pages by clicking Next until the Outlook: Customize Default Profile page is reached. Here, choose one of the following.

    • Use Existing Profile Outlook will use the existing user Outlook profile. If none exists, it will use the new one.

    • Modify Profile Change the existing profile. If none exists, it will use the new one.

    • New Profile Use this new profile for all users, whether or not one already exists.

    • Apply PRF Apply the profile changes that are configured in the PRF file. Specify the PRF to apply to the users.

  7. Click Next when completed.

  8. The next screen, Outlook: Specify Exchange Settings, allows for customization of the Exchange settings. Determine the Exchange server, the username, and whether to use the Cached Mode (Configure an Exchange Local Mailbox). Click Next when completed.

  9. The next screen, Outlook: Add Accounts, allows for the addition of POP3, IMAP, Internet accounts, PST files, OAB, PABs, and other mailbox options to be included in the Outlook profile automatically.

  10. The next screen, Outlook: Remove Accounts and Export Settings, allows the administrator to determine whether other email accounts (MS Mail or Lotus cc:Mail) should be removed, as well as whether to export the PRF for manual text editing. Click Next when done.

  11. The next screen, Outlook: Customize Default Settings, allows for the customization of converting the Personal Address Book (PAB) to an Outlook Address Book (OAB) and handles the configuration of the default email editor (such as Wordmail) and default email format (such as HTML). Click Next when done.

  12. Continue clicking Next until you reach the final screen, which states "You have completed the Custom Installation Wizard" and tells the name and location of the Custom Installer Transform file.

  13. Click Exit.

The PRF file is now created and available for deployment in the enterprise.

Configuring Registry Keys During Installation

The CIW also allows for the configuration of other Registry entries to be included in the installation of Outlook. Registry entries can be created and added, as well as removed, via the CIW. Being able to add these Registry entries greatly increases the customizability of Outlook 2003. Changes to the Registry are done in the Add/Remove Registry Entries page (about page 12) in the Custom Installation Wizard.

To do this, the administrator must know the following information and enter it on the Add/Remove Registry Entries page:

  1. The root Registry key (such as HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER )

  2. The data type value (such as DWORD )

  3. The actual Registry key (without the root Registry key at the beginning of it) (such as Software/Microsoft/Office/10.0/etc)

  4. The Value name (the name of the key value in the Registry to which the Registry value gets assigned)

  5. The value data (such as 1 or whatever is correct for the value name and the configuration desired)

This data must be inputted correctly into the CIW and saved while in the CIW. Then it will become part of the custom installation of Outlook for the enterprise.

Using PRF Files

Customized Outlook Profile Files (PRF files) are not new to Outlook 2003. In fact, the Outlook 2003 PRF format is the same as it was in Outlook 2000. However, the methods formerly used to create the PRF files (Newprof.exe and Modprof.exe) are no longer used in Outlook 2003. Using the Custom Installation Wizard, an administrator can make the required Outlook interface changes that are desired and then save those changes to a PRF file. The PRF file can then be pushed to the users in many different ways, updating or creating an Outlook profile that is different from the default Outlook profiles.

Older Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 PRF files can be used and updated. To update older PRF files that include corporate or workgroup settings only, import the file into the Custom Installation Wizard, update it as necessary, and save it through the Custom Installation Wizard. For older PRF files that don't have the corporate and workgroup setting configuredfor example, a file that has only Internet mail settingsa new PRF file should be created using the Custom Installation Wizard.

It is possible to add further customization beyond what is available in the CIW by manually editing the PRF file using Notepad.

Applying PRF files

Additionally, when a new PRF file is invoked, Outlook checks to make sure that no services are duplicated and that all accounts have unique names . Many different methods can be used to push the PRF files to the users:

  • PRF files are executables, so they can be easily updated by the users by double-clicking on them.

  • You can import the PRF file into the Custom Installation Wizard or Custom Maintenance Wizard as a transform. Then use the transform when Outlook is updated or deployed.

  • You can configure a Registry key to run the PRF file when Outlook starts up. This key can be included in a transform.

  • To specify the PRF as a command-line option for Outlook.exe to import automatically, use the following command:

     
     Outlook.exe /importprf \servername\sharename\outlook.prf 
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Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Unleashed
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Unleashed (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 0672328070
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 393
Authors: Rand Morimoto

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