How to customize Office for Terminal Services (311241)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Students and Teachers Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office XP Professional
  • Microsoft Office XP Standard
  • Microsoft Office XP Small Business
  • Microsoft Office XP Students and Teachers
  • Microsoft Office XP Developer
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Datacenter Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Enterprise Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition for Itanium-based Systems
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter x64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition
This article was previously published under Q311241

IN THIS TASK

SUMMARY

In the versions of Microsoft Office that are listed in the "Applies to" section, you no longer need a special transform to install Office on a Microsoft Windows 2000 server or a Microsoft Windows 2003 server with Terminal Services enabled, or on a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server computer. Office Setup recognizes that it is running under Terminal Services, and therefore Setup preconfigures all the correct options.

Note You cannot install Microsoft Office 2003 on computers that are running Windows NT 4.0. All references to Windows NT 4.0 in this article are specific to Microsoft Office XP.

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Terminal Services installation states

Because of the multiuser nature of the Terminal Services computer and of users' restricted access to the server, Office Setup installs all features to one of the following installation states by default:
  • Run from My Computer -- Most features are set to this state because they work well in the Terminal Services environment. Features that typically default to Installed on First Use are set to Run from My Computer.
  • Not Available -- A few features are set to this state. These are features that do not perform well in the Terminal Services environment, typically because they use additional animation that generates too much data traffic between the Terminal Services computer and the Terminal Services client computer. Leave these features set to Not Available so that they are not installed.
If you want to accept the default Office configuration, you do not have to modify the Setup feature tree. However, if there are Office features that your users do not need, you can improve overall performance and conserve disk space by customizing the installation so that Office Setup does not install these features on the Terminal Services computer.

If you do not want an Office XP feature installed on the Terminal Services computer, use the Custom Installation Wizard to configure the feature state as Not Available or Not Available, Hidden, Locked. Also click to select the Do Not Migrate Previous Installation State check box. Microsoft recommends that you set the feature in question to Hidden when it is not installed (especially on Windows NT).

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Customizing an Office installation

To customize an Office installation, use the Custom Installation Wizard in the Microsoft Office Resource Kit to create a custom transform (.mst file). When you install Office with this transform, the Office features set to Not Available are not installed.
  1. Start the Custom Installation Wizard.
  2. On the Set Feature Installation States page, select the feature that you do not want to install.
  3. Set the installation state of the selected feature to Not Available, Hidden, Locked.
  4. Click to select the Do Not Migrate Previous Installation State check box.Note The Do Not Migrate Previous Installation States check box must be selected for each feature that is set to Not Available, Hidden, Locked.

  5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each feature that you do not want to install.
  6. Click Next, and then set the options that you want in the remaining pages of the wizard.
  7. Click Finish. Note the sample command line that is provided, and then click Exit.
  8. Install Office XP with the transform.
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REFERENCES

For more information about how to use the Custom Installation Wizard to create a transform for Office XP, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011362781033.aspx

For more information about how to use the Custom Installation Wizard to create a transform for Office 2003, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011525761033.aspx

For more information about how to deploy Office XP on Terminal Services, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011363351033.aspx

For more information about how to deploy Office 2003 on Terminal Services, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011402071033.aspx

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Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/25/2006
Keywords:kbPubTypeKC kbHOWTOmaster KB311241
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