HOW TO: Customize Error Messages in an Office XP Program by Configuring a System Policy (313053)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office XP Professional
  • Microsoft Office XP Small Business
  • Microsoft Office XP Standard
  • Microsoft Office XP Students and Teachers
  • Microsoft Office XP Developer
  • Microsoft Access 2002
  • Microsoft Excel 2002
  • Microsoft FrontPage 2002
  • Microsoft Outlook 2002
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
  • Microsoft Word 2002

This article was previously published under Q313053

SUMMARY

You can create your own text for common error messages that appear in Office XP by configuring a system policy.

Some of the error messages that appear in Office XP can be customized to provide help that is specific to your network. For example, a user who receives an error message stating that a document cannot be saved to a network drive might also see a link to a company intranet Web page that explains the procedures for gaining access to the share.

You can customize an error message in three ways:
  • Change the base URL that is included on all error messages. By default, the link is to the Microsoft Office Update Web site, but you can change this link to point to a custom help site.
  • Change the default button text. This adds a string of text to all error messages, which might be useful for providing support phone numbers or other general contact information.
  • Customize individual error messages. This requires that you know the error ID of the particular error that you want to customize. You can add custom text to most error messages.

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Customize Error Messages for Office XP Programs

  1. In the System Policy Editor, double-click the Default User icon.
  2. Select Office XP, and then expand the Microsoft Office XP node.

    NOTE: If this node is not available, you may need to add the Office10.adm file.
  3. Under the Microsoft Office XP node, expand the Customizable error messages node.
  4. Under the Customizable error messages node, select the options to customize the error messages.

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Troubleshooting

The Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit includes a Microsoft Excel worksheet (Errormsg.xls) that lists the error messages that are available for customization and their corresponding error IDs. The list is categorized by shared error messages and messages that are particular to each Office XP program.

To obtain Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit, browse to the following Microsoft Web site:
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Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:2/16/2006
Keywords:kbhowto kbHOWTOmaster KB313053 kbAudITPro