Office 95 Used on Windows NT or Windows 95 with Profiles

ID: Q159212

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Office for Windows 95, version 7.0
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows 95

SUMMARY

The use of the registry for application information (instead of INI files) is new to Microsoft Office in version 7.0. Between user profiles and Registry Security under Windows NT, several issues have been encountered. The scope of this article is to identify and propose a resolution or workaround for each issue.

MORE INFORMATION

Two Categories of Issues

The problems occur when Office 95 is not installed under the user's login ID. With Windows NT 3.51, there are two primary categories of issues that will affect all such users; with Windows 95 with profiles, there is one. The category shared by both is that of missing registry entries.

Missing Registry Entries

The applications rely on information stored in Current User and Local Machine registry entries. Currently, Setup configures approximately 158 keys in the Current User section. Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel migrate some of these keys, but for users who have not run Setup, about 100 keys or so will be missing. Most of the missing keys for Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel are for more advanced functionality, but, for Microsoft PowerPoint, the loss of functionality is more noticeable.

Solution: Setup /y /r

Because more than just a few registry keys are involved, modifying the registry directly is not recommended. Therefore, the only solution is to have each user run some form of setup. When Setup is combined with specific command-line switches, the user is inconvenienced only once for about 3 to 5 minutes. The command-line switches used are /y, which specifies a setup without file copying, and /r, which bypasses the maintenance mode dialog box and goes directly into a [Reinstall]. This presents the user with no dialog boxes, but writes all the necessary entries into the Current User section of the registry.

Because a maintenance mode [Reinstall] will be performed and will install without copying files, it is essential that a normal installation (including the copying of all necessary files) have been done on the workstation.

Adding Office Setup to a Login Script

The least obtrusive way to have all users run Setup is to place it in their login script. In order to prevent multiple executions of Setup, you can use a procedure that uses two BAT files in addition to the login script modification. Add the following to the login script (see your network documentation for information on creating login scripts). This modification does not need to be, but can be, removed later.

(The items %homeshare% and %username% are environment variables available to a Windows NT login script.)


   REM ******** Office 95 Setup routine ********
   IF NOT EXIST %homeshare%\%username%\OFFICE95.BAT COPY

   \\<ServerA>\<ShareA>\OFFICE95.BAT %homeshare%\%username%\OFFICE95.BAT
   %homeshare%\%username%\OFFICE95.BAT
   REM ********

This procedure copies the batch file, if it does not exist, and then runs it. The first time Office95.bat runs, it will start Setup with the preferred switches and then replace itself with a harmless, non-action batch file.


   OFFICE95.BAT
   REM ******** Office 95 Setup Batch file ********
   \\<Server>\<Share>\<Path to Office 95>\SETUP.EXE /y /r
   COPY \\<ServerA>\<ShareA>\POSTOFF.BAT
   %homeshare%\%username%\OFFICE95.BAT
   REM ********

Note that the path <Server>\<Share>\<Path to Office 95> is replaced with the location where you installed the administration copy of Office 95 and that <ServerA>\<ShareA> can be any common share point that contains these two original BAT files.


   POSTOFF.BAT
   REM ******** Post Office 95 Setup Batch file ********
   REM    Office95 has been installed for this user
   REM ********

Caveats of Using Re-Install

Users will have their own personal group under Windows NT, even if a common group already exists.

Under obscure circumstances, Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint are removed instead of installed. (Microsoft is still trying to isolate the cause, as the problem is very difficult to reproduce.)

In a RunFromServer (RFS) installation that includes Microsoft Access, paths to System.mdw and bitmaps for the Wizards are redirected to an invalid location.

Inappropriate Permission Requests of Registry Entries

There are four known scenarios where Office 95 applications try to access information in the Registry, requesting Full Control when Read/Write is all that is needed. This causes the request to fail and the function may seem to not be installed.

The original release of Microsoft PowerPoint requests Full Control to the Shared Tools keys \\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools and all subkeys. This was corrected with Microsoft PowerPoint 7.0b, as noted in Knowledge Base article Q139150, in the Microsoft PowerPoint section. A copy of the maintenance release can be obtained from Microsoft Technical Support or Microsoft Customer Service.

The original release of ClipArt Gallery has the problem with \\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ClipArt Gallery and all subkeys.

This problem is corrected with the updated ClipArt Gallery downloadable from the following Microsoft FTP Site.
ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/cag20a.exe
Cag20a contains an updated Artgalry.exe with an accompanying ReadMe document explaining the installation procedure. If a RunFromServer installation is being used, a modification to the INF will also be necessary. The name of the appropriate INF file will depend on the application involved but will be found in the directory with Setup.exe. For example, Office 95 Professional for Windows 95 will use Off95pro.inf. The following changes are necessary:
1. Make a backup copy of your INF file.
2. Open the INF using WordPad or Write.
3. Find artgalry_exe. This should bring you to the line to be modified.
4. Exit the Find dialog.
5. The version number 2.0.0.556 should be near the end of the line. Carefully edit it to read 2.0.1.625, taking care not to remove any commas.

Save the file and exit the editor.

All versions of Microsoft Access 7.0 have the problem with HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Access\7.0\Wizards and all subkeys. The following steps explain how to work around this issue:
1. Log on to the computer running Windows NT 3.51, as an administrator.
2. Run the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
3. From the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following key:
  SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Access\7.0\Wizards
4. On the Security menu, click Permissions.
5. Change Everyone in the permissions list from the permissions of Special Access to Full Control.
6. Select the Replace Permission on Existing Subkeys check box.
7. Click OK to save the changes made to the permissions.
8. Click Yes when prompted, "Do you want to replace the permission on all existing subkeys within Wizards?"
9. Exit Registry Editor.

This last known scenario is minor in comparison to the other three. Although System Info can be used from all other Office 95 applications via Help About, it fails in Microsoft Excel because it tries to access the registry, requesting greater permissions than needed. The affected key is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSInfo. The steps to work around this issue are:
1. Log on to the computer running Windows NT 3.51, as an administrator.
2. Run the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
3. From the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following key:
  SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSInfo
4. On the Security menu, click Permissions.
5. Change Everyone in the permissions list from the permissions of Special Access to Full Control.
6. Click OK to save the changes made to the permissions.
7. Exit Registry Editor.

Additional query words:

Keywords : nt32ap ntregistry NTSrvWkst
Version : WINDOWS:7.0,95; winnt:3.51,4.0
Platform : WINDOWS winnt
Issue type :