OFF95: Contents of the Network.txt File

• Microsoft Office for Windows 95, version 7.0

SUMMARY

The following is the contents of the Network.txt file that comes with Microsoft Office for Windows 95, version 7.0.

MORE INFORMATION

NETWORK INSTALLATION

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.

CONTENTS:

  INSTALLING MICROSOFT OFFICE ON A NETWORK
     Creating the administrative installation point
     Administrative installation
     Client installation
  INSTALLATION ISSUES
     Installing Office in Shared Windows for the First Time
     Creating "My Documents" Folder on a Server for Multiple
     Users
     Support for Long Filenames on Novell 3.11
     Run From Network Server Errors on Novell 3.11
  COPYING DISKS AND EXTRACTING FILES MANUALLY
  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.

 * 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.

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 180MB 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 or floppy disks 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 or floppy disk 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) or Explorer (Windows 95) will not work. You need to use the Run command on the File menu of Program Manager or File Manager (Windows NT), or the Run command in the Start menu (Windows 95) 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.
   
   

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.

Note that when using the Run From Network Server option, Setup will place approximately five megabytes of files in the user's main Office folder. For workarounds that can reduce this disk space usage, see chapter 8, "Installing Microsoft Office" in the "Microsoft Office for Windows 95 Resource Kit," or contact Product Support Services. See "For More Information" at the end of this file for instructions on obtaining the resource kit or connecting to support resources.

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 client installation of Office does require write access to copy these files.

After the first installation is 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.

Creating "My Documents" Folder on a Server for Multiple Users

If you have users who install Office in a user folder on a network share (for example, users running on diskless workstations), the Office client installation process must be planned carefully to inure that multiple users do not share the same "My Documents" folder for their personal documents. "My Documents" is the default folder used by Office applications for saving the user's personal document files.

Office Setup will create the folder "My Documents" in the root of the drive to which Office is being installed. For example, if a user installs Office to c:\Msoffice, then Setup will create the folder "c:\My Documents" for that user's personal documents.

If a user installs Office to a user folder on a network share, "My Documents" will be created at the root of that share. If multiple users, then, install Office to separate user folders on a single network share, a single "My Documents" folder will be created at the root of that share for all users. This can cause document sharing issues because they will all be using the same "My Documents" folder for their personal documents.

For example, suppose two users have drive letter G mapped to the same network server share:

  user1 - g:  mapped to  \\Server\Share
  user2 - g:  mapped to  \\Server\Share

  user1 - g:\User1\Msoffice  =  \\Server\Share\User1\Msoffice
  user2 - g:\User2\Msoffice  =  \\Server\Share\User2\Msoffice

  user1 - g:\My Documents  =  \\Server\Share\My Documents
  user2 - g:\My Documents  =  \\Server\Share\My Documents

To avoid this situation, users must be mapped directly to their own specific subfolder on the network share. Following the previous example, suppose each user has drive letter G mapped directly to their own subfolder on the server share:

  user1 - g:  mapped to  \\Server\Share\User1
  user2 - g:  mapped to  \\Server\Share\User2

  user1 - g:\My Documents  =  \\Server\Share\User1\My Documents
  user2 - g:\My Documents  =  \\Server\Share\User2\My Documents

For additional information and workarounds, see chapter 8,"Installing Microsoft Office" in the "Microsoft Office for Windows 95 Resource Kit." See "For More Information" at the end of this file for instructions on obtaining the resource kit.

Information on this issue can also be obtained by contacting Product Support Services, or connecting to the support resources outlined in the individual product helpfiles under "Getting Help", "Connect to Microsoft technical resources."

NOTE: The section below contains incorrect information. A separate article that discusses the documentation error is being written. For additional information, see:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q147943
   TITLE     : Network.txt Documentation Error--Long Filenames on Novell

Support for Long Filenames on Novell 3.11

If the shared Office files reside on a Novell 3.11 server, then a client installation using the Run From Network Server installation option will not work correctly. This is due to a problem in the way Novell handles long file names.

There is a patch available from Novell to correct this. It is in a file called os2ptch.nam which replaces the standard Novell 3.11 file os2.nam.

Once this patch is installed on the Novell 3.11 server, make sure the long file name feature of Windows 95 is turned on by setting the following entry in the Windows 95 system.ini file:

 [nwredir]
 SupportLFN=2

Run From Network Server Errors on Novell 3.11

On some network configuration, the Run From Network Server client installation option may fail when the Windows 95 driver for the DEC EtherWorks Turbo / TP (DE201) network adapter is being used on a Netware 3.11 server. Some of the error messages that can occur are:

1. BOOTSTRP caused a general protection fault in module SETUP.EXE.

2. The ordinal 65535 could not be located in the dynamic link library Kernel32.dll.

3. The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000005).

COPYING DISKS AND EXTRACTING FILES MANUALLY

Your Microsoft Office disks use a format called DMF (Distribution Media Format), which increases the capacity of a 3.5-inch floppy disk.

WARNING

Because DMF is a newer format, many existing utilities such as Norton Disk Doctor, Microsoft ScanDisk, MS-DOS DiskCopy, and Microsoft Windows Copy Disk do not recognize DMF. Do not use disk utilities to examine a DMF formatted disk, as these utilities can corrupt the DMF disk. You cannot copy DMF formatted disks using MS- DOS DiskCopy or Microsoft Windows Copy Disk. For a complete discussion of DMF format, see the "Microsoft Office for Windows 95 Resource Kit," or see, "Using Disks with Distribution Media Format," in the Office Readme file, OFREADME.TXT located in your Office folder.

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 purchase a copy of the "Microsoft Office for Windows 95 Resource Kit."

The Resource Kit is designed to help you successfully roll out and support Office 95 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.

To order the Microsoft Office for Windows 95 Resource Kit:

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

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

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