OFF97: How to Use Custom STF Files with MS Office 97 Setup

• Microsoft Office 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you run the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program, you may receive the following error messages:

   Setup Error 544
   Setup is unable to open the data file
   'H:\~MSSETUP.T\~MSSTFOF.T\custom.stf'; run
   Setup again from where you originally ran it.

   -and-

   Setup Error 723
   Setup was unable to read configuration information
   from the first section of the setup file:
   H:\~MSSETUP.T\~MSSTFOF.T\custom.stf.

CAUSE

This problem will occur if the following conditions are true:

• You used the Microsoft Office 97 Network Installation Wizard (NIW) to create a custom setup table file (.stf) for use with Microsoft Office 97.

  -and-

• You ran the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program with the "/t" switch. For example:

        setup /t custom.stf
  

WORKAROUND

To prevent this problem from occurring, you must make a copy of your Setup.lst file, and rename it so that it matches your custom setup table file. Then, modify it so that all references to "Off97pro.stf" within the renamed .lst file are replaced with references to your custom setup table file.

NOTE: If you use version 2.1 of the Network Installation Wizard (NIW 2.1) to customize your setup table file, it is not necessary to create a custom .lst file; NIW 2.1 does this automatically. Proceed to the step after step 14 to use the customized .lst and .stf files.

For example, if you created a Custom.stf file, you need to create a Custom.lst file and then modify it. To do this:

1. In Windows Explorer, go to the folder on your network server that contains the administrative installation of Microsoft Office 97.

2. Locate the Setup.lst file. Right-click the file, and then click Copy on the shortcut menu.

3. On the Edit menu, click Paste.

4. Select the "Copy of Setup.lst" file. On the File menu, click Rename. Type "Custom.lst", without quotation marks, and click OK.

5. Right-click the Custom.lst file. Click "Open With" on the shortcut menu.

6. In the list of programs, click Notepad. Clear the "Always use this program" check box. Click OK.

7. In Notepad, click Find on the Search menu.

8. In the Find What box, type "Off97pro.stf", without quotation marks. Click Find Next.

9. When a reference to "Off97pro.stf" is selected, click Cancel.

10. Delete "Off97pro.stf" and type "Custom.stf", without quotation marks, in its place.

11. Press F3.

12. Delete the selected reference to "Off97pro.stf", and type "Custom.stf" in its place.

13. Repeat steps 11 and 12 until you receive the message

    Cannot find "Off97pro.stf"

    Click OK.

14. On the File menu, click Save. Then, click Exit on the File menu.

   <path>\setup /l custom.lst

STATUS

This behavior is by design of the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program.

MORE INFORMATION

The Microsoft Office 97 Network Installation Wizard (NIW) allows you to create custom setup solutions for Microsoft Office 97. To use the NIW, you must first perform an administrative installation ("setup /a") of Microsoft Office 97 on a network server. After this is done, you can run the NIW, choose various setup options, and create a customized setup table file.

In Microsoft Office for Windows 95 version 7.0, you instruct the Setup program to use a custom setup table file by adding the "/t" switch and the name of the setup table file to your command line. For example:

   setup /t custom.stf

   setup /l custom.lst

NOTE: It is very important that the names of the .lst and the .stf file are the same. For example, if your .lst file is named Custom.lst, your .stf file should be named Custom.stf. If the file names do not match, you may receive the following error message:

   Setup Error 530
   This is an invalid command line option.

   setup /l custom.lst /q1