Using the Windows Installer
If you're installing Office XP on an individual computer at home or in a small office, you don't need any documentation, because the Setup process is almost fully automated. How ever, if you want to control what actually happens during Setup, or if you're responsible for installing Office on multiple computers, you'll need the information in this appendix. The Office Installer program was introduced with Office 2000, and even expert Office users can be baffled by its intricacies—at least until they have some experience with it.
The easiest way to install Office XP on an individual PC is to insert the first disc in the Office package into the system's CD-ROM drive. If AutoPlay is enabled on the PC in question, Office launches its Setup program automatically and displays the dialog box shown in Figure A.1. If you're upgrading over an existing version of Office, the top button will read Upgrade Now; if Setup does not find an existing version of Office, the button will read Install Now.
Figure A.1. Choose the Custom option to specify a different location for program files. Note that Setup requires space on your system drive even if you specify a different drive.
Note
If Setup doesn't run automatically, the most likely reason is that CD-ROM AutoPlay is disabled. In that case, display the contents of the CD and run Setup, or click the Start button, choose Run, and enter <d:>Setup, substituting the letter of the drive that contains the CD-ROM for <d:>.
The Windows Installer used in Office 2000/XP uses a program called Setup.exe to run the actual installation routine. Besides the name, however, this version of Setup has nothing in common with the Acme Setup program used in Office 97 and other pre-2000 Microsoft programs. Instead, Setup.exe is a small bootstrap program whose only purpose is to perform some basic system checks and then pass command-line parameters based on its findings to the Windows Installer, which actually does the work of setting up Office.
Note
For an abbreviated list of command-line parameters for Setup.exe, open a Command Prompt window and type Setup /?. For a detailed explanation of how each switch works, search the Office section of Microsoft's Knowledge Base using the string "setup switches."
When you run Setup for the first time, it checks to see whether the Windows Installer, Msiexec.exe, is present; if this program is not available, Setup installs it in the System folder. The Windows Installer is a standard part of Windows 2000/Me/XP; if necessary, Setup will install or upgrade this program and some support files on a system running Windows 95/98/NT 4.0.
Caution
If you are running Setup on a Windows NT 4.0 system, you must log in with administrative privileges before Setup will add the installer components. If the Installer program is installed on the computer already, it isn't necessary to log in as administrator to run the Office XP Setup program.
After you run Setup, it hands off control to the Windows Installer, which uses a variety of files to control how Office XP is installed:
Installer package files are the most important pieces. These files, which use the *.msi extension, contain all the information necessary to install Office XP. Information in this package includes a list of the component files and Registry settings in each feature, the proper installation sequence, destination folder paths, system dependencies, and installation options. The default installer package for Office XP Professional with FrontPage is called Proplus.msi. Depending on your version of Office, it's possible that some installer packages will be found on other CDs or will use a different name.
Note
It's important to note that the package file does not actually contain any Office program files. Instead, it points to the location where the Windows Installer can find those files—on a CD or a network share, for example. After installation, the Windows Installer uses the package file to add, remove, repair, or replace features and components.
Transform files, which use the *.mst extension, contain custom settings that tell Setup to modify the default parameters defined in the package file. If you use the Custom Instal lation Wizard, for example, you create a transform file that contains all your custom settings. (The Custom Installation Wizard is covered in detail later in this appendix.)
Configuration files, which use the *.ini extension, contain instructions that Setup can use to define which package and transform files to use, and can also contain a long list of custom options. By default, Setup looks for a file called Setup.ini and uses its settings; if you want to use a custom configuration file, run Setup with the /Settings switch followed by the name and full path of the .ini file you want to use.
If you encounter an error message when you first run Setup, see
"Some Features Not Available"
in the
"Troubleshooting"
section at the end of this appendix.