OFF2000: Unable to Modify Office Shortcuts

ID: Q229396

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Office 2000

SYMPTOMS

If you view the Shortcut tab in the Properties dialog box for any of the Office shortcuts on the Programs menu, the entire tab may be unavailable.

CAUSE

The Shortcut tab will be unavailable if you install Office and you are using one of the following versions of Windows:

Windows 98

Windows 95 with Internet Explorer 4.01, Service Pack 1, and Windows Desktop Update installed.

Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0 with Internet Explorer 4.01, Service Pack 1, and Windows Desktop Update installed.

Office 2000 shortcuts installed on these versions of Windows are Windows Installer shortcuts. Windows Installer shortcuts do not directly reference the path of the shortcut target; instead, they contain a token that the Windows Installer resolves to the path of the shortcut target.

WORKAROUND

If you want to customize the Office shortcuts on the Programs menu, you can use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Create Your Own Shortcuts

You can create your own shortcuts to the Office programs and replace the ones installed by Office with the ones you create.

NOTE: Any shortcuts you create using this method will not be Windows Installer shortcuts and will not take advantage of the features offered by the Windows Installer. See the "More Information" section for details.

For example, to replace the shortcut for Microsoft Word, follow these steps:

Click Start, point to Programs, and click Windows Explorer.

In Windows Explorer, open the \Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder, and delete the shortcut for Word.

In Windows Explorer, open the \Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office folder, and right-click Winword.exe.

Click Create Shortcut, on the shortcut menu.

Right-click the shortcut that was just created and modify the necessary fields on the Shortcut tab. Click OK.

Move this shortcut to the \Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder.

NOTE: Your custom shortcut may be replaced by a Windows Installer shortcut if your name the shortcut Microsoft Word, and either of the following are true:

You use the Detect and Repair feature in Office, and you have the Repair my shortcuts while repairing check box selected.

You select the Repair Office option in Maintenance Mode setup, click the Repair errors in my Office installation option, and then you select the Restore My Shortcuts check box.

In this situation, you would have to recreate your custom, non-Windows Installer, shortcuts.

Method 2: Customizing Shortcuts with the Custom Installation Wizard

The Custom Installation Wizard (CIW) is a tool available in the Microsoft Office Resource Kit (ORK). The advantage of this approach is that the custom shortcuts created by the CIW will be Windows Installer shortcuts, so you will have custom shortcuts, but you will also take advantage of the features offered by the Windows Installer.

To create custom shortcuts using the CIW, follow these steps:

Start the Custom Installation Wizard.

In Step 2 of the CIW, locate and select Data1.msi from your installation source.

Provide a path and name for the transform file (.mst) in Step 4 of the CIW.

In Step 11 of the CIW, select the shortcut you want to customize and click Modify.

In the Add/Modify Shortcut Entry dialog box you can specify any or all of the following items:

Target

Location

Name

Start in (location)

Shortcut key

Run (window state)

Icon

Make the changes to the shortcut properties and then click OK.

Repeat Steps 4-6 for each of the shortcuts you want to customize.

Click Finish.

NOTE

/qb+

Run Office Setup using the command-line provided by the CIW. For example, your command-line might look like the following
```
<path>\Setup.exe Transforms=<drive>:\<MyShortcuts>.mst 
```
where <path >is the path to Setup.exe and <drive:\MyShortcuts> is the path and name of the transform file (.mst).

MORE INFORMATION

Windows Installer shortcuts offer the following added benefits over standard shortcuts:

They allow programs on the Programs menu to be set to Installed on First Use.

They allow the Windows Installer to auto-repair programs when started.

REFERENCES

For more information, please see the Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit at

http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/

Additional query words: OFF2000 grayed out grey


Keywords          : DTIR 
Version           : WINDOWS:2000
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: July 28, 1999