OFF95: Contents of Readme.txt for the NIW Available OnlineLast reviewed: October 21, 1997Article ID: Q149655 |
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1.00 1.00a 1.00b 1.10 7.00
WINDOWS
kbsetup kbnetwork kbtool kbreadme
The information in this article applies to:
SUMMARYThe following is the contents of the Readme.txt file that comes with the Microsoft Network Installation Wizard (NIW), version 1.0b or 1.1, that is available online. These versions of the NIW contain several corrections and additions to version 1.0 of the NIW. The Readme.txt file is contained in the self-extracting file, Netinst.exe, which is available on the Microsoft Network, the Microsoft home page, and the Microsoft ftp site. For information about obtaining the updated NIW, see the end of the Readme.txt file in this article. NOTE: The NIW version 1.0b has a file date of 11/5/95, while version 1.1 has a file date of 3/28/96.
NETWORK INSTALLATION WIZARD README FILEThe Network Installation Wizard is described in Chapter 9, "Customizing Client Installations," in the Office Resource Kit. This readme file contains additional detail not covered in the Office Resource Kit.
CONTENTS
1. Network Installation Wizard Limitations
2. Creating a Shortcut for Users to Run Setup
3. Troubleshooting Tips
4. For More Information
5. Last Minute Updates
1. NETWORK INSTALLATION WIZARD LIMITATIONS
The Network Installation Wizard is designed as a tool to
modify generic STF files but has been tailored for use with
the Office 95 STF. It should only be used with the Office 95
STF file.
1.1 Custom Entries
The Include Additional Entries feature in the Network
Installation Wizard allows you to add custom files and
custom registration entries to the installation.
1.1.1 Custom Files
- Using the Network Installation Wizard, you can add a
maximum of 84 files to the setup process.
- If new files are added, you must replace the original Inf
file with the new Inf file for Setup to find the
additional files.
- All custom files must be in the Custom subfolder of the
administrative installation. If any custom file is not in
that folder, Setup will generate an error.
- The destination you specify when adding a custom file is
hard coded in the STF file.
1.1.2 Custom Registration Entries
- The only verification made on a custom registration entry
is ensuring that a key is provided. When using the
wizard, it is imperative that you verify spelling and
content. USE CAUTION - IMPROPER REGISTRY ENTRIES CAN
CAUSE WINDOWS 95 TO FAIL.
- Setup can only modify registration entries that are
String or DWORD types; Binary type values cannot be
modified during an installation.
1.2 Application Launching Options
This dialog box only lists the links that are created when
installing on a Windows NT workstation. If you choose to not
install a specific link, or if you select the Install No
Links option, this will affect only the links created on
Windows NT. The shortcuts created on the Start menu by Office
95 applications can be modified by the Configure Shortcut
Installation Options item in the Office Options dialog box of
the Wizard.
1.3 Office Options
These options can be grouped into three types: setting
locations, setting other default values, and minimizing
footprints for a Workstation Installation.
1.3.1 Setting locations
By default, the locations defined in the STF file for these
items are specified as relative paths. The actual locations
where the files are installed on disk are determined during
installation using such factors as the folder specified by
the user for Office and the user's current drive letter
mappings.
If you define a location for one of these settings, then
that location will be specified in the STF file exactly as
you enter it, including any drive letter given. Therefore,
we recommend that you not change these default locations
unless you are certain that all your users have consistent
drive letter mappings and can use the same absolute paths
for these files.
If you select an item and then click the Edit Selection
button, the wizard will propose a location for that item.
You can keep the proposed path or modify it. If you click
OK, the given absolute path will be written to the STF
file. These locations can be modified by the end user after
installation in the same way the end user would normally
change default locations.
1.3.2 Setting default values
These items allow you to preset the default settings for
certain features.
1.3.3 Minimizing footprints
Warning: These options have undergone some testing,
but it is possible that situations may exist in
which these options will fail. If any of these
changes cause a problem such as a file not being
found, open and modify the original STF file with
the Network Installation Wizard, except without
setting this specific option, and then reinstall
Office.
You should also be aware of possible contention
issues that may arise if you allow write access to
templates shared by multiple users over a network.
If an Office application allows two users to open a
template file simultaneously, then if both users
both attempt to modify the file at the same time,
only the changes written by the last user to write
to the file will be saved. If the application opens
the template exclusively, then the first user to
open the file will succeed and others will not be
allowed to open the file.
Additional Notes:
- In an environment where the applications are shared over
the network, an additional five MB of files that are not
System files may be installed locally for each user by
default. Depending on the specific item, the Network
Installation Wizard may give you the option of using the
files over the network or not installing them.
- Minimized PowerPoint - The Network Installation Wizard
allows the administrator to move the PowerPoint PPA
(wizard) files from the local machine to a shared
location on the network.
- Minimized Office Shortcut Bar - All files can be shared,
but for individual flexibility the Toolbar root location
is kept local so the links can be created, removed, or
modified by the end user. This requires typically less
than 10KB of disk space by default. See the Last Minute
Update 5.1c below for additional information
- Minimized Find Fast - The initial footprint of Find Fast
is small (less than 100KB) but the indexes it generates
can grow to 3-5% of the size of the documents being
indexed. The benefit of having Find Fast on the local
machine is increased performance in searching for
documents; however, some administrators may choose to
trade performance for space by not installing Find Fast.
2. CREATING A SHORTCUT FOR USERS TO RUN SETUP
An easy way for users to access the modified setup is to use
a shortcut that you've created and distributed to them. You
can create a shortcut to the setup file with the command
line parameter to run installation in quiet mode, as well as
with any additional command line parameters needed. This
will ensure that users get the default options you have
specified. Quiet mode runs setup using the default options
set by the Network Installation Wizard. For more information
on quiet mode, see Chapter 9, "Customizing Client
Installations" in the Office Resource Kit.
To create a shortcut to the correct setup:
1. Rename the original setup.stf to something else, such as
oldsetup.stf.
2. Open oldsetup.stf with the Network Installation Wizard and set
the options you want.
3. Save these changes to a file named setup.stf.
4. Create a shortcut to setup.exe in the same folder. For
information about creating Windows 95 shortcuts, see the
Windows 95 Help.
5. After the shortcut to setup.exe is created, point to it and
click the right mouse button. On the Shortcut menu, click
Properties.
6. Click the Shortcut tab.
7. The Target box should contain a path to setup.exe. Add the
command line parameter '/Q' to the end of this line along with
any other parameters you need (/Q runs setup in quiet mode).
Click OK.
The shortcut created will now run setup in quiet mode. This shortcut
can be renamed to anything you want, such as "Office 95 Setup for the
Support Group" or "Setup for Executive Assistants".
3. TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS
- If you have problems using the Network Installation
Wizard, delete all left over files in the Temp directory,
restart Windows to clear memory, and then try again.
- Be sure you have at least 2-3 MB available in your Temp
area for the work files that the wizard will create.
4. FOR MORE INFORMATION
For a description of the Network Installation Wizard, see
Chapter 9, "Customizing Client Installations," in the Office
Resource Kit.
LAST MINUTE UPDATES
Known issues with this release of the Network Installation
Wizard are listed below. You can identify the release by the size of
the executable "Network Installation Wizard.exe" or NIW.EXE.
Versions Dates Executable Sizes
1.0 09/13/95 313979
1.0a December TechNet CD
1.0b 11/05/95 319099
1.1 03/28/96 332155
5.1 Office Options
5.1a "Minimize Footprint of Access Briefcase Replication"
"Briefcase replication" is not an accurate description of
the Office Option referencing replication. The 228K
file is not used by Windows 95 Briefcase replication, but it is
used for conflict resolution for any type of Access database
replication conflict. Without this file installed, problems would
arise on any OS that does not have the "Briefcase" utility. This
file needs to be present for any users who will be using
replicated databases. See 5.2a of this README.
5.1b Minimized Office Shortcut Bar.
If this option is used the administrator must do either of the
following.
Either:
Copy the file MSOW.EXE from the
<Admin Install>\OS\SYSTEM directory to the
<Admin Install>\OFFICE directory
or
Run the first client install with full Read/Write access
to the <Admin Install>\OFFICE directory so that Setup
can copy the file there.
If this is not done, buttons using this file will not function
properly and the icons may show generic icons
(e.g. Open a Document, Answer Wizard)
5.2 Corrections\Additions\Changes
5.2a Some Office Options would ignore the 'Yes/No' value.
The following options would always perform the 'Yes' option
whenever they were viewed and 'OK' was selected instead
of 'Cancel'.
"Minimize Footprint of Access Briefcase Replication"
"Prevent Bookshelf '95 integration"
"Prevent the addition of the Office Compatible button"
This was corrected as of Version 1.0b
5.2b Changes to the Word Document File Location were being written to
an invalid registry key. This was corrected as of Version 1.1.
5.2c The NIW would automatically delete any pre-existing NEWSETUP.STF
if 'cancel' was selected during an editing session. This was
corrected as of Version 1.1. Reference KnowledgeBase article
Q145569.
5.2d When you run the NIW and select a Microsoft Office for Windows 95,
version 7.0a,(Standard or Professional edition) Setup.stf in the
File Open dialog box, the file appears to load completely followed
by the following error message:
''Isn't an index in this table''
Reference KnowledgeBase article Q148303. This was corrected as
of Version 1.1.
5.2e The NIW would previously perform only the last directory change
made in the component selection section. This was corrected as
of Version 1.1.
5.2f The NIW now supports the removal of Schedule Plus 7.0 from the
Office 95 setup. This affects all installation types. This is
available as of Version 1.1.
5.2g The NIW now provides an option for correcting the failure of a
Run-From-Server installation to an IBM LanServer box.
Reference KnowledgeBase article Q147127. This is available as
of Version 1.1.
5.2h The support for command line switches '/enhanced' and '/edlin'
have been removed as of Version 1.1.
5.2I The NIW now supports the use of a universal naming convention
(UNC) path to select the location of the .stf file. Reference
KnowledgeBase article Q142980. This is available as of Version
1.1.
You may download the most current version of this utility by going
to the Technet locations on MSN or the WorldWide Web.
MSN Access:
From MSN choose Edit - GoTo - Other Location and enter TechNet
Double-click on the TechNet Download Area.
Open the message "ORK95 - Network Installation Wizard" and use
File - SaveAs to download the NETINST.EXE by saving the
attachment.
FTP Access:
ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/services/technet/office95/netinst.exe
MORE INFORMATIONWhen you use the World Wide Web location that is referenced in the Readme, click the Administration link to jump to the section containing information about the Network Installation Wizard. For related articles on NIW please see:
ARTICLE ID: Q145569 TITLE : Network Install Wizard May Delete Existing Newsetup.stf ARTICLE ID: Q148303 TITLE : NIW Error: "Isn't an Index in This Table" ARTICLE ID: Q142980 TITLE : ORK: UNC Naming Conventions Cannot Be Used In NIW Open Dialog |
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