Computer Services
Stanton/Wilmington Campus 
XP documentation and procedures
Office XP

Observations

• Tools required for this install are available in office resource kit
• setup.ini is edited by iniwiz.exe
• Multilanguage packs can be chained to install by adding their lpk.msi files to the setup settings file (setup.ini?)
• Transform (.mst)files allow multiple install types from one distribution source.
• Do not run msiexec directly, use setup to install
• Complete install takes 475 megs, no 580 megs after you run CIW and select everything, no even more if we add the Media Content from CD 2...
• I'd like to install language packs for benefit of our large foreign student population. This has to be chained inside the setup.ini file apparently. There are also updates available for this that should be applied to administrative share. See pages 61. (Later found out that there are no language packs on the CDs we received... Sigh...)
• Just modifying the setuppro.ini file using the setup ini wizard in resource kit is all you need to make a default unattended install of this product (as long as you indicate any install choice but full, like reduced, when running it). Save the ini file as a different name like foobar.ini and copy the setuppro.exe file in the dist share's root as the same name (foobar.exe) and it runs and does it unattended.

Preperation

Steps to prepare an administrative install point on server where all installs will take place from

• Run setuppro /a from CD and install to admin install point. Note, under our campus agreement, we are licensed for office pro, nothing higher than that... XP doesn't include Publisher so any installs of that require individual licenses to be purchased by end-user.
• Download oxpsp1a.exe from (office xp sp1) Microsoft ORK site and follow instructions in that page to deploy to administrative install point (summarized below):
• Run the sp1 executable, extract to any dir on administrative server (i chose updates inside the oxp dir)
• Run: msiexec /p {path to update msp file) /a {path to admin install point} SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE /qb /L* {path to log file}
• Microsoft claims this should be run from same box the administrative shared dir is on. They aren't kidding. I tried to run it from my workstation to a dir on the server as administrator, it just hung.
• It doesn't seem to like relative paths. Example, I tried /a ..\pro.msi and it didn't work. That means full paths. :(
• Example: msiexec /p g:\administrative\install\apps\oxp\updates\mainsp1_admin.msp /a g:\administrative\install\apps\oxp\pro.msi SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE /qb /L* c:\temp\msi.log
• Do a simple attended install by running setuppro.exe and install to a clean test box, verify SP-1 shows in about dialog box. Go to office update page to ensure there are no updates to install.
• Do same steps above for any post sp1 fixes
• Note: I found one that refused to run since I didn't have office installed. I had to run it with /C to prompt where to extract files. Just copy the *.msp file to update. Don't need the others it extracts...
• On the clean-install test machine, run each Office app and customize it to taste (usually tools->options menu). However, I don't see anything to really customize from defaults. If you do this, you then have to run the Office Profile Wizard to save the settings into an OSP file which is then referenced by the Custom Installation Wizard step below.
• Run Custom Installation Wizard to build at transform file using your install options. For example, you can remove icons like Activate Product.
• Run the setup wizard in resource kit. Set display to reduced. Note that this puppy requires params and pointers to .mst transform files, so this step should come last. Note that you save it as a different name like foobar.ini and you can auto invoke it by copying the main setuppro.exe file as foobar.exe and it will automatically use the settings ini file by same name.

Notes for NT deployment

OK, this puppy has been a royal pita. It has to install system update files which trigger an update. OK, I can live with that, but after the reboot, it runs the full installer to install everything and it does it asynchronously which means havoc for other packages that will need to be installed or worse, the install script ends up rebooting the system before office xp is installed.

So there are various things in the resource kit for how to stop this including the /noreboot command (kills the prompt) and allegedly the CompletionNotice=No line in the ini file (which is ignored on stuff installed after the reboot). So the idea is to run it with /SPONLY which does not chain office packages, but when I tested it, office xp itself didn't install after reboot, but the other chained packages did. So next tried to do a new setup.ini file that just had the sys update but the ini wizard would not let me uncheck the pro.msi option, but did let me uncheck the others. So make two ini files, first with update and main package, and run THAT with /sponly and hope it works. Then a second to invoke after a reboot (manually) that does /nosp that should install everything else (and has everything else checked). Sigh...

But even that didn't work. No matter what I tried I got either a case of a forced reboot with no interaction, a dialog box that says it needs to reboot, and/or a completion message saying it was done.

I finally got the damn thing by downlading version 2.0 of the windows system installer of Microsoft web site (search for Windows Installer Redistributable at their download center) and installing it manualy and silently with this command:
start /wait instmsiw /q /r:n

Then after that is done, install the system files update manually and unattended sans reboot with: start /wait msiexec /i\\server\install\apps\oxp\files\osp\1033\osp.msi /qb- REBOOT=ReallySuppress

Note, msiexec params are CASE SENSITIVE.

Now, after ALL THAT, I could process the reboot in my script on my own terms, then invoke the normal office XP setup during the next logon using my own transform and settings.ini setting... Just be sure to invoke with start /wait...

Main XP Unattended Install Doc Page