Chapter 7: Deploying Outlook 2003


Download CD Content

Tools provided with Microsoft Office 2003 allow you to control how Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 is installed for your users. By using the Custom Installation Wizard, you can customize your Outlook deployment to include new or modified default Outlook profiles as well as other settings. In addition, you can create or modify profiles by using the Outlook profile file (PRF file).

Options for Installing Outlook 2003

Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, like other Microsoft Office 2003 applications, takes advantage of the Office Custom Installation Wizard to help configure how Outlook 2003 is installed on users’ computers. The Custom Installation Wizard allows you to include custom settings and profile configurations for Outlook 2003 in a transform (MST file) that is applied when Outlook is installed from an administrative installation point.

Note

If you install Outlook 2003 on a per-user basis, the Start menu will still display the Outlook shortcut icon for all users. Users without privileges to use Outlook will receive an error message indicating that “this product is not installed.”

Outlook features that can be customized with the Custom Installation Wizard

Outlook 2003 uses the same installation tools as your other Microsoft Office 2003 applications, including the Custom Installation Wizard. When you customize an Outlook 2003 installation with the wizard, you can do the following:

  • Specify installation states for the Outlook features.

  • Specify Outlook user settings.

  • Specify how to set user profile information—create a profile, modify a profile, or use an existing Outlook profile file (PRF file)—or choose to use existing profile settings.

  • Configure profile and account information, including Microsoft Exchange server connections.

  • Remove existing information services.

  • Optionally export your profile settings to a PRF file (for advanced scenarios).

  • Configure Send/Receive settings for Microsoft Exchange accounts.

  • Customize other settings to apply during the installation process.

Note

To function correctly, Outlook 2003 requires that Internet Explorer 5.01 or later is installed on the client computers.

After your initial installation, you can use the Office Custom Maintenance Wizard to modify and deploy customizations for your installation.

On the Resource Kit CD

The Office 2003 Resource Kit core tool set includes the Custom Installation Wizard, Office Profile Wizard, and Custom Maintenance Wizard. You use these tools to customize Office application deployments. These tools are installed by default when you run the Office Resource Kit Setup program. For more information, see Appendix A, “Toolbox.”

Specifying installation states for Outlook features

As with the other Office 2003 applications, you can specify how and when specific features of Outlook 2003—or all of Outlook—is installed. You can use the Set Feature Installation States page in the Custom Installation Wizard to set feature installation states for Outlook.

For example, for the feature Microsoft Outlook for Windows, you might set the feature installation state to Run all from My Computer. In this case, all Outlook features are installed on the user’s local hard disk. Or you might choose to set some features to be installed locally (with Run from My Computer), and others to install when the user first gains access to the feature (Installed on First Use). Another common option (Not Available, Hidden, Locked) is to set some features to not be installed, and to not even appear in the feature tree if users change the installation state of the parent feature.

Specifying Outlook user settings

There are two ways to customize Outlook user settings for your installation:

  • You can specify default Office settings for users by using the Office Profile Wizard.

    In this case, you install Office on a test computer and customize Office with the defaults you select, including Outlook options, and capture those settings in an Office profile settings file (OPS file). Then you include the OPS file in a transform on the Customized Default Application Settings page in the Custom Installation Wizard.

Note

While using the Office Profile Wizard is an efficient way to save most Outlook settings, not all options are captured by the wizard. For more information about settings that are not captured by the Office Profile Wizard, see “Locating and Configuring Outlook Settings” in Chapter 10, “Maintaining Outlook 2003.”

  • You can also customize Outlook user settings individually on the Change Office User Settings page in the Custom Installation Wizard.

    This requires stepping through the options tree and setting each option individually. This option might be more time-consuming than capturing settings with the Office Profile Wizard, especially if you have a large number of user settings to specify.

Note

Several Outlook settings that would otherwise have been included on the Change Office User Settings page are customized instead on the Change Outlook: Change Default Settings page. These options are:

  • Migration option: Choosing to convert Personal Address Books to Outlook Address Books.

  • Default settings for e-mail defaults: Specifying defaults for the Outlook e-mail editor and for the default format of e-mail messages.

One approach for specifying user settings is to customize an Outlook installation on a test computer and capture the settings with the Office Profile Wizard. Then specify the OPS file in the Custom Installation Wizard to establish a basic installation configuration. Finally, adjust additional settings by using the Change Office User Settings page in the Custom Installation Wizard.

If you have just a few Outlook user settings to specify and you are not already using the Office Profile Wizard to capture other Office settings, it may be more efficient to find and set the user options in the Custom Installation Wizard without using an OPS file.

Customizing Outlook profiles

The Outlook pages in the Custom Installation Wizard provide options for creating Outlook profiles or modifying the settings in existing Outlook profiles. For example, you can keep all existing Outlook user profiles and specify a default configuration for new Outlook user profiles.

Your options for configuring profiles include:

  • Specifying Exchange server connections.

  • Defining account information, such as adding POP3 or LDAP accounts.

Once you have configured user profiles to meet your organization’s needs, you can also save the profile configuration information in an Outlook profile file (PRF file). For more information about using Outlook profile files, see “Customizing Outlook Profiles by Using PRF Files” later in this chapter.

Resources and related information

Detailed information about using the Office Profile Wizard to save user options is available. For more information about the Office Profile Wizard and OPS files, see “Methods of Customizing Office” in Chapter 4, “Customizing Office 2003.”

Outlook settings and profile information can be viewed and modified in different ways, depending on the specific type of setting or option. For more information about Outlook settings, see “Locating and Configuring Outlook Settings” in Chapter 10, “Maintaining Outlook 2003.”




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

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net