office enterprice deployment

[Marcel]

Hello,

I've been trying to install office enterprice on my win2003 server for users to use. On Microsoft webpages there is a step for step routine to follow to accompl. this. I altered the MSP file so that most of the program files would remain on the server in order to preserve diskspace on the workstations.
Then I went to AD to set a GPO for the "Home OU". I could not find a MSI file for the Software Installation Wizzard. I've looked in the folder where Office was installed but there was no MSI file. Wat is it that I been doing wrong as after a full day of googling I have no idea. I hope somebody can help out.

Thank you

[Ed]

Hi Marcel,

I believe that the MSI file should be located with the original source files, not in the folder where Office has been installed.

Let me know if that helps.

Ed.

[Marcel]

Hello Ed,

Thank you for your reply. The one of Office I'm trying to deploy is Office 2007enterprice. According to Microsoft they have changed the MSI for Setup.exe as the setup file. Following the Microsoft steps you copy the files from the intall cd to a install point (folder) on the c-drive of the server. Then you type on in : setup /admin whitch starts up a configuration wizzard whitch gives you a oppertunity to alter the default set up . I've done al that and a made a GPO with the settings for the users in a way that by the next logon the program would get installed on the work station. In fact I tested this and I saw the little screen pop-up telling me it was installing it. When it was finnished I looked in the start menu but it was not there. There are files installed on the workstation in the Microsoft Office folder but I can't find any executable in there. So I've no idea why the rest of the files are not installed. This is really getting to me as I have spend already a lot of time to solve this problem. I hope that I'l find the answer on this forum.

Anyway I was very pleased with your fast responce.

Thank you

[Ed]

Hi Marcel,

Without knowing every last detail it is very difficult for me to tell you exactly what you may have done wrong. What I can tell you is that there are a lot of steps involved with setting up this deployment and if you don't follow each one meticulously then you can definitely find yourself heading down the wrong path.

Based upon your reply it seems as though you have definitely done your homework. The only immediate suggestion that I have would be to check to see if you set up the GPO to assign the software to the users or publish the software to the users. You have to assign it inorder for a Start Menu item to appear. If you publish the software then the user would have to complete the installation by going to Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel or by attempting to open a Microsoft Office associated file (.doc, .xls, .ppt etc.).

If that does not solve your problem then what I recommend is for you to start over from the beginning and make sure to check every step thoroughly along the way. If you do not want to start over then I would post this question out on the Microsoft public forums to see if you can find someone there who has encountered the same problem.

In the meantime, I will keep my eyes and ears open and let you know if I come across a better solution.

Ed.

[Marcel]

Hi Ed,

Thank once again for your reply.

I finaly solved the problem. I followed your suggestion to start all over again.
In addition I done all of the work on the server itself . Before, I done it all from a workstation in terminal mode. Another alturation to my previous setup is that I used another MSI file. Before I used the MSI file from the Office directory, this time I took the one from the enterprice.WW directory. In my GPO settings I've set this for Computers instead for Users as Microsoft stated that you can only use this setup when deploying with Group Policy.

It was a big relief to discover that after booting a workstation Office did install. Without your advise I would still have been gowing in circles.

Thanks again