OFF97: Contents of the Netwrk8.txt Readme File

Last reviewed: March 12, 1998
Article ID: Q159772
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Office 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

Netwrk8.txt is a text file that contains supplemental information about installing and using Microsoft Office 97 for Windows on a network. The "More Information" section of this article contains the complete text of this file, which is located in the Office folder on your Microsoft Office 97 CD-ROM.

MORE INFORMATION

MICROSOFT OFFICE 97 NETWORK INSTALLATION README FILE

(c) 1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

If you have a license to install Microsoft Office on more than one client computer, there are two ways you can install Office in your organization. You can distribute the Office disks to each end user or you can install Office on a network and have each end user install from there. The information in this file explains the second option.

For late-breaking information relevant to all Microsoft Office 97 products, see the Office 97 readme file OfRead8.txt.

For late-breaking information specific to an individual Office 97 product, see the readme file for that product:

     XlRead8.txt  (Microsoft Excel 97)
     OlReadme.txt (Microsoft Outlook 97)
     PpRead8.txt  (Microsoft PowerPoint 97)
     WdRead8.txt  (Microsoft Word 97)
     AcRead80.wri (Microsoft Access 97, included in Microsoft Office
       97, Professional Edition).

 CONTENTS:
     INSTALLING MICROSOFT OFFICE ON A NETWORK
       Disable Virus Protection before running Setup
       Creating the administrative installation point
       Administrative installation
       Client installation
     INSTALLATION ISSUES
       Installing Office in Shared Windows for the First Time
       Generic Icons Appear If Not Logged On Automatically
       Changing the Office Server Name After Installing VBA
       Using Power Management with Run From Network Server
         Installation
       Administrative Setup Doesn't Copy Getting Results Art
         Files
       Extra Local Files Installed in Run From Network Server
       Use Drive Letter on Banyan Vines Network
       Installing Office on a Banyan Vines Server
     FOR MORE INFORMATION

INSTALLING MICROSOFT OFFICE ON A NETWORK

Installing Office over the network is a two step process:

  1. The administrator creates the administrative installation point by creating the set of folders that will hold all the Office software and from which client installations will be done.

  2. Users install Office by running Setup from the administrative installation point.

The same Setup.exe is used for each of these steps, although in two different modes. To avoid confusion in the discussion below, these two modes will be referred to as follows:

 * Administrative Setup
     - To create the administrative installation point, you run
       Setup.exe from the physical media with the /a command line
       option.

 * Client Setup
     - To perform a client installation, a user runs Setup.exe from the
       administrative installation point without the /a command line
       option.

Disable Virus Protection before running Setup

Some virus protection programs, such as VSAFE.COM and Norton Anti- Virus Autoprotect, can interfere with the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program. If you use a virus protection program on your computer, please disable it before running Setup. (You can re- enable the virus protection program after Setup is complete.) Note -- If your virus-detection program starts automatically when you start Windows, you can disable it by restarting Windows while holding down the SHIFT key.

Creating the administrative installation point

You need to run administrative Setup under Windows 95, Windows NT 3.51 (or later), or Windows NT Advanced Server 3.51 (or later).

The administrative installation point must have at least 320MB of disk space, and you (the administrator) must have read, write, delete, and create permission to this location. Users need read access as well. If your users will be running in a shared Windows environment, you need to run Setup in that same environment and you need write and create permissions to the Windows folders.

Using the administrative mode of Setup, you need to install all of the Office files from the CD to the administrative installation point. This consists of two primary folders which will be created by Setup:

  1. \Msoffice - The main Office application files, such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel will be installed in this folder.

  2. \Msapps - Shared components, such as Art Gallery and Word Art, will be installed in this folder.

Administrative installation

Before doing the administrative installation of Office, make sure:

  • Destination folders are empty. If a previous version of Office exists, delete all of it.
  • Users sharing applications or running shared Windows from this server are logged off.
  • Folders are locked to network user access during administrative installation.
  • Virus detection software is disabled.

To install Office on the administrative installation point:

  1. Run Setup.exe from the CD with the command line option /a: "setup.exe /a". Setup.exe must be run from a workstation with write access to the server, not directly on the server itself.

    NOTE: Double-clicking on Setup.exe in the File Manager (Windows NT Workstation 3.51) or Explorer (Windows 95 or Windows NT Workstation 4.0) will not work. You need to use the Run command on the File menu of Program Manager or File Manager (Windows NT Workstation 3.51), or the Run command in the Start menu (Windows 95 or Windows NT Workstation 4.0) to use the command line option /a. If you double-click on Setup.exe it will perform a client installation.

  2. Follow the instructions on the screen.

NOTES:
  • The organization name you enter will be used for all client installations of Office from this network location.
  • When asked for the server and path for the shared applications folder, enter the name in the same way that users will specify it when installing Office. You can specify whether the server will be accessed by users with a drive letter (for example, G:\) or a UNC path (for example, \\server\share). If you select drive letter, users installing Office will need to have that drive letter mapped to this folder before running client Setup.
  • When Setup asks where you want the shared application files installed, the option you select controls the choices your users will have during client Setup:

         + Server.............The shared application files will remain on
    
                              the server and run remotely; the user won't
                              get a choice during client Setup.
         + Local Hard Drive...The shared application files will be copied
                              to the user's local hard drive; the user
                              won't get a choice during client Setup.
         + User's Choice......The user will be asked to choose Server or
                              Local Hard Drive during client Setup.
    
    
    Setup then copies all files from the CD or floppy disks to the administrative installation point.

    After the installation is complete, share the two folders (\Msoffice and \Msapps) on the network, either creating a single share that contains both folders, or creating two separate shares, one for each folder.

    Client installation

    To install Office on the client computers, users will:

    1. Connect to the main Office folder on the administrative installation point.

    2. Run Setup.exe.

    When users run client Setup from this administrative installation point, they will see the Run From Network Server option in addition to the other installation options. If a user selects this option, the main Office application files are left on the server and run remotely.

    It is recommended that users have a read-only connection to the server Office folder when they are running Setup, and also when they are running the applications after a Run From Network Server installation.

    INSTALLATION ISSUES

    Installing Office in Shared Windows for the First Time

    The first time Office is installed to a user's computer in a shared Windows environment, Setup will attempt to copy a few Office files into the shared Windows folder. Although users normally have read-only access to the shared Windows folder, the first and second client installations of Office do require write access to copy these files.

    The first installation should be an administrative installation The second installation should be a post-administrative installation to the Shared Windows workstation. Both of these installations require write access to the Shared Windows directory on the server.

    After the first and second installations are completed, the first user's access rights to the shared Windows folder can be set back to read-only. Subsequent users installing Office need only read-only access to the Windows folder since the needed files will already be present and Setup won't attempt to copy them again.

    To correctly install Office 97 in a shared Windows environment, follow these steps:

    1. Setup a shared Windows client that has full access privileges to the shared Windows server.

    2. From this client perform an administrative install (Setup /a) to any server. Setup may display the following error: "Setup could not open the file: c:\Windows\System\OLE32.DLL. It is in use by another application." To complete the administrative install, click "Ignore" in the error message dialog box.

    3. Regardless of whether or not you received the ole32.dll error you will need to manually copy these files from the CD to the shared Windows\system folder:

          D:\Office\WMS\Common\ole32.dll   C:\Windows\System\ole32.dll
          D:\Office\WMS\Win95\mapi32.dll   C:\Windows\System\mapi32.dll
          D:\Office\WMS\Win95\mapisrvr.exe C:\Windows\System\mapisrvr.exe
          D:\Office\WMS\Win95\mdisp32.exe  C:\Windows\System\mdisp32.exe
          D:\Office\WMS\Win95\mdisp32.tlb  C:\Windows\System\mdisp32.tlb
          D:\Office\WMS\Win95\mspst32.dll  C:\Windows\System\mspst32.dll
          D:\Office\WMS\Win95\cmc.dll      C:\Windows\System\cmc.dll
          D:\Office\WMS\Win95\mapi.dll     C:\Windows\System\mapi.dll
          D:\Office\WMS\Common\wmsui32.dll C:\Windows\System\wmsui32.dll
      
         Where D: is the CD-ROM drive and C: is the drive containing the
         shared Windows\system folder.
      
      

    4. From the same client, perform a post-administrative run from network server installation of Office.

    5. Once setup is complete launch Word or Excel and press Alt-F11 to properly install VBA.

    6. After the above steps are completed other users with read-only privileges to the shared Windows folder may perform their own Office 97 installations.

    Generic Icons Appear If Not Logged On Automatically

    If you install Office using the Run From Network Server installation option, but your computer is not configured to log on to the server automatically at bootup, the program icons in the Start menu will appear as generic icons, not as the normal Office icons. The standard Office icons are only displayed if the computer logs on to the server at bootup. If you log on to the server after bootup, the generic icons are not replaced with the standard Office icons.

    Only the icon images are incorrect, the icons function correctly: if you click an icon, after logging on to the server, it will run the correct program.

    Changing the Office Server Name After Installing VBA

    If you run the shared components of Office from a network server, and you connect to the server using a drive letter, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) will not run if you rename the server share. Even though you specify a drive letter to the server, VBA resolves this to a server name - if you change the name of the server after installation, VBA will be unable to find the shared components.

    To address this situation, the Office 97 Resource Kit Tools and Utilities includes the Windows System Policy template file TypeLib.adm. By using this template to set the appropriate system policies after you have renamed the server, you can reset multiple user computers at the same time to use the correct new server name. You must leave the policy in place because VBA resets the server name each time VBA is run.

    For information on how to obtain the Office 97 Resource Kit, see "For More Information" at the end of this file.

    To use the TypeLib.adm template file:

    1. Run the Windows System Policy Editor.

    2. In the Options menu, click Policy Template.

    3. Click Add and enter the template file path and name. For the location of this file in the Office 97 Resource Kit Tools and Utilities, see Appendix A, "Microsoft Office 97 Resource Kit Tools and Utilities," of the Resource Kit.

    4. In the File menu, click New Policy to create a new policy file, or click Open Policy to modify an existing policy file.

    5. Double-click the Default Computer icon.

    6. Select Re-register TypeLibs.

    7. If you installed Office using the Run From Network Server installation type, set both the MSAPPS Path and ADMINROOT Path policies. If you installed Office locally but are using shared components on a network server, then set only the MSAPPS Path policy.

    8. Each policy consists of a set of paths for TypeLib DLL files and their associated help files. Modify the paths to include the correct drive letter and path for your server.

    9. Save the policy file and place it on the appropriate network server location. For more information on how to use system policies, see Chapter 7, "Customizing and Optimizing Microsoft Office," in the Office 97 Resource Kit.

    Using Power Management with Run From Network Server Installation

    If you are using advanced power management software on a computer with Office installed using a Run From Network Server installation, Office applications may fail if the computer goes into suspend mode and then starts again. Make sure all Office applications are closed before suspending the computer.

    Administrative Setup Doesn't Copy Getting Results Art Files

    The following files are not copied to the administrative installation point during an administrative installation. These files are used by Results97.html, the Web page that allows users to go to "Getting Results with Microsoft Office 97" on the World- Wide Web. The Web page is functional, but the pictures will not be visible without these files.

    To give users access to these files, you need to copy them manually as shown to the Office server.

     Copy from Office CD           To Office Server
     -------------------           ----------------
    
     D:\Cdonline\Art\Home_efc.gif  E:\Msoffice\Cdonline\Art\Home_efc.gif
     D:\Cdonline\Art\Homemsft.gif  E:\Msoffice\Cdonline\Art\Homemsft.gif
     D:\Cdonline\Art\Name.gif      E:\Msoffice\Cdonline\Art\Name.gif
     D:\Cdonline\Art\Navigate.gif  E:\Msoffice\Cdonline\Art\Navigate.gif
    
    
    Where D: is the CD-ROM drive and E: is the server on which you created the administrative installation point. You will need to create the Art folder on the Office server.

    Extra Local Files Installed in Run From Network Server

    When you install Office with a Run From Network Server installation, some files are installed on the hard disk that are not needed by Office 97 or that are duplicates of files available on the Office server. As described below, you may be able to delete these files to conserve local hard disk space on the user's compute.

    • If you intend for the user to use Outlook for e-mail and not use Microsoft Exchange Client, then you can safely delete the following files from the Windows\Form\Config folder after installing Office:

           MAPIF0.CFG
           MAPIF0L.ICO
           MAPIF0S.ICO
           MAPIF1.CFG
           MAPIF1L.ICO
           MAPIF1S.ICO
           MAPIF2.CFG
           MAPIF2L.ICO
           MAPIF2S.ICO
           MAPIF3.CFG
           MAPIF3L.ICO
           MAPIF3S.ICO
           MAPIF4.CFG
           MAPIF4L.ICO
           MAPIF4S.ICO
           MAPIF5.CFG
           MAPIF5L.ICO
           MAPIF5S.ICO
      
    • The following files are accessed from the server and are not needed on the local hard disk. They may be deleted from the local Windows folder after installing Office:

           twain.dll
           twunk_16.exe
           twunk_32.exe
           twain_32.dll
      

    Use Drive Letter on Banyan Vines Network

    If you are installing office on a Banyan Vines network using the Run From Network Server installation type, or if Office components are shared on a network server, then you should use a drive letter to specify the location of the server during administrative installation rather than a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path. The network UNC path used in a Banyan Vines network may pose difficulties to Office applications accessing the server. For this reason, Microsoft recommends that you use a drive letter to specify the location of the Office server during administrative installation.

    Installing Office on a Banyan Vines Server

    If you are running Office 97 Setup from Windows NT Workstation, version 3.51 or later, using the Banyan Vines network client, you will not be able to install Office on a Banyan Vines server. This includes both an administrative installation on the server (Setup /a), and a client installation to run Office from the server. In each case, Setup displays an error saying that a filename is invalid and Setup terminates.

    The Banyan Vines network client for Windows 95 is able to write to the Banyan Vines server successfully, so you can install Office on a Banyan Vines server by running Setup (with the /a option) on a Windows 95 computer using the Banyan Vines network client. Alternatively, you can run Setup (with the /a option) to another, non-Vines server, and then copy the folders manually to the Vines server.

    FOR MORE INFORMATION

    Only the basic installation information has been described here. For more details, including how to customize a network installation for your specific needs, you should obtain a copy of the "Microsoft Office 97 Resource Kit."

    The Resource Kit is designed to help you successfully roll out and support Office 97 and its component applications in your organization. It includes information such as the architecture of Office applications, detailed information about the installation process and tools you use to customize this process, maintenance and support information including frequently asked questions and troubleshooting tips, information on how to use Office in a workgroup, and how to switch from other applications. There is also a CD-ROM with valuable tools and utilities, including an electronic copy of the book itself. Look for Microsoft Office 97 Resource Kit at your local bookseller's.

    You can also order the Microsoft Office 97 Resource Kit directly from Microsoft Press:

    1. In the U.S., call 1-800-MSPRESS, Dept. FSUP.

    2. In Canada, call 1-800-667-1115.

    3. CompuServe members may order through GO MSP.

    4. Outside the U.S. and Canada, fax to International Coordinator, +(425) 936-7329, or contact your local Microsoft subsidiary.

    The Resource Kit is also available on the World-Wide Web at the following URL:

      http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/
    
    
    More information on issues presented in this file can also be obtained by contacting Product Support Services. For information on what support services are available from Microsoft, you can use the Help menu in any Office application. From the Help menu, click "About [Office application]", then click "Tech Support".

    13.Nov.1996


Additional query words: OFF97 XL97 WORD97 ACC97 PPT97
Keywords : offwin
Version : WINDOWS:97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbreadme


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Last reviewed: March 12, 1998
© 1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.