Office applications Toolkit

Streamline Outlook 2000 installs

Tags:
Office Resource Kits,
Self Healing Programmes,
Multiple Install,
ORC

Dr. Thomas Shinder MCSE Tech Republic

Published: 10 Apr 2003 12:17 BST

Note that the shortcut doesn't have a target. The Change Icon and Find Target buttons are disabled, and the Target path is grayed out and includes only the name of the application. This shortcut is managed by the Windows Installer service and shouldn't be altered. For Windows Installer shortcuts to work, you must have the Windows Desktop Update installed. This feature is automatically installed with Windows 2000 and Windows 98/Me. If you're using Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, you'll need to install the Active Desktop included with Internet Explorer 4.01 SP1 or the Windows Desktop Update included with Internet Explorer 5.0 and above.

You must use these shortcuts to take advantage of the self-healing features of Windows Installer programs. When you launch an application from these shortcuts, the Windows Installer service will check for the presence of critical files. If one of the application's critical files is missing or corrupt, the Windows Installer service will reinstall these files. Noncritical files can be repaired or replaced using the Detect And Repair feature within the application.

Windows Installer's Install On Demand features also use these shortcuts. Install On Demand allows the installer to put shortcuts on the desktop for user applications, but the applications themselves aren't installed until the user actually clicks on the shortcut. After a user clicks the shortcut, the Installation Wizard will automatically install the application.

Management of installation states
The Windows Installer can do more than just install an application onto a target computer. It can install an application in different states. The primary installation states are:

Run From My Computer -- This installs an application onto a target computer in a manner similar to that of traditional non-Windows Installation applications. The entire application is installed on the computer. If you need to install other features, you must run the setup routine again.
Run From Network (Source) -- This allows the application or feature to run from the source location. That location can be a distribution server hard disk or CD-ROM. Note that when you select this option, some files will be installed onto the target computer. The main application files will remain on the network server.
Installed On First Use -- This places shortcuts to applications in the Start menu and in the Office toolbar. However, such an application won't be installed until the user clicks on a Windows Installer shortcut.

Management of self-healing applications
The Windows Installer service is responsible for the self-healing capabilities of the appropriate applications. However, you must use the shortcuts created by the installer to begin the program. For example, if you manually create a shortcut to the file Winword.exe, the application won't be able to fix itself in the event of missing or corrupt files. This type of shortcut, known as a hard-coded shortcut, is not Windows Installer service-aware.

Creating a custom installation
To deploy Outlook 2000 as part of a custom installation of Office 2000, you must create what is known as a Transform file. A Transform file, which uses the file extension .mst, is a record of the differences between an application's Windows Installer file (the .msi file) and the customisations made to the application's .msi file. The .msi file contains all the instructions required to install a Windows Installer-aware application. The .mst file contains the installation customisations you applied to the .msi file. You'll use the Custom Installation Wizard to create a Transform file that will be applied to Office 2000's .msi file.

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