Office 2000 doesn't work - requires installation for each user

Question

Why does Office 2000 require installation for each user when running Ranger?

Symptoms

The Office Installer starts for each user due to missing registry entries in the user's registry.

Cause

These registry keys are only added to the user who actually installed Office originally.

Resolution

There are 4 options to resolve the problem:

1) Let the Office installer run for each user the first time they run Office.

2) Turn off user profiles at machines - Not recommended as this is a fundamental configuration option for Windows Networks and could lead to other more serious configuration problems.

3) Install Office on each machine as recommended by Microsoft - disable user profiles, install Office, then re-enable user profiles.

4) Add the required registry keys into each user automatically during login.

Instructions

Note: this article is provided for guidance only. Since it discusses issues which are solely Windows and Microsoft specific no responsibility can be taken for the validity of the information provided. Our advice here is provided from our collective experience and understanding of these issues in school and other network environments and is provided for guidance only. Any solutions or workarounds provided by using Ranger are not guaranteed as solutions for all sites.

 

Ranger is not the direct cause of this problem. Instead the problem is due to user profiles being activate on client machines and network.

 

User profiles ensure users' registries follow users between machines. Also known as "roaming profiles", this is a recommended method for configuring networks to ensure that any application and configuration changes made by users only effect them. Roaming profiles ensure that the HKEYCurrentUser registry hive is copied between the user's home area on the server and local machine when users log on and off.

 

In Windows 95, 98 and Me, the user.dat and profiles are copied locally (typically to c:windowsprofiles) each time a user logs onto a machine.

 

Ranger 4, by default, enables roaming profiles to ensure users' registries are copied between the server and client machines correctly at logon.

 

If a user does not have a user.dat (i.e. is a new user), one is created by taking a copy of the "default user's" registry the first time the user logs on to a machine.

 

The Office 2000 problem occurs since Office 2000 looks for specific entries in the user's registry to see which applications have been installed. These entries are only added to the registry of the user that installed Office.

 

See:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url/library/en-us/off2krk/html/35t25.asp

 

Note During Setup, the Windows installer lets you set Office2000 applications to Installed on First Use. This installation option works on a per-computer basis rather than on a per-user basis, so the Windows installer cannot track which applications your users have installed as they travel between computers.

 

Your users? application settings travel, but not the specific applications that have been installed on a particular computer. When users log on to the new computer and attempt to open an application, they might have to wait while the application is installed.

 

See also the following Microsoft Knowledge base articles for information:


http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url/library/en-us/off2krk/html/45t38.asp

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q233/5/29.asp

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scidkb3ben-us3b233529

 

Turning off user profiles:

To turn off user (roaming) profiles for all machines running Ranger 4 a modification can be made to the PRESHELL9x.RRG file in the server's Ranger directory. It is not recommended that this setting is changed.

1) Edit the file with notepad or similar.

2) Locate the following section:

;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;System registry settings (to ensure logon works ok)
;

3) Change the User profiles entry to

;turn on user profiles (so each user gets own registry and settings)
HKEYLOCALMACHINENETWORKLogon
"UserProfiles"

4) Save the file

5) Log on at client machines.


Note: this setting will only affect computers correctly configured with Ranger 4. On non-Ranger machines, use Control Panel Passwords User Profiles All users of this computer user the same...

 

Installing Office on each machine as recommended by Microsoft.

To install Office 2000 in an environment where you don't want each user to have the option of installing separate components the initial installation must be performed with user profiles turned off .

To achieve this, open Control Panel and select the Passwords applet:

Then select the User Profiles tab and select the first option quot;All users of this computer use the same preferences and desktop settingsquot;

Click "OK". Your computer may need to restart.

Install Office 2000 from the original disks.

After installation, reboot, and then turn User Profiles back on by selecting the "Users can customise their preferences" setting.

 

Adding Office installer registry keys for each user automatically using Ranger.

To stop the Windows installer starting for each user it is possible to use Ranger to "merge" in the required registry keys for each user each time they log on. Whilst this is not a difficult operation, it is recommended this procedure is only performed by authorised Ranger technicians as editing the registry can cause unforeseen results.

1) Locate and make a backup of the PRESHELL9X.RRG file found in the server's
Ranger directory.

2) Download and open the following text file. (registry file)

3) Copy all the lines and paste them at the end of the entries in the PRESHELL9x.RRG
file (and/or PRESHELLNT.RRG if using NT/2000 workstations).

4) Save and close the PRESHELL files.

5) Log on at a client machine as a user and run an Office application to test.

Note: Due to possible differences in system configuration, it is not guaranteed that the above file will work on all networks.

Testing

Logon as an affected user.