Modifying OL setup?

[Linn Kubler]

Hi,

I have Office 2003 Std. installed on a number of brand new Win XP systems
and I'm finding that the first time someone logs into one of the machines OL
has to be installed and configured for that user. This is getting to be a
real pain since my users tend to move around to different systems each day.

We are using Exchange and I'm not real interested in roaming profiles and I
don't really think that's the solution anyways. So I'm looking at the
reskit and trying to figure out how to modify the installation. I think it
has to do with the custom maintenance wizard but I'm not sure how to
implement it exactly. I know it creates a .CMW file but how do you apply
that to the workstation? Or am I way off base here?

Thanks in advance,
Linn

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

You run the .cmw file with the maintwiz.exe application, as explained in the last pane of the wizard and also in the Office Resource Kit documentation.

FWIW, Microsoft uses text files with a .prf extension and a highly structured format to provide information to OUtlook that enables Outlook to create or modify a mail profile. You can create such .prf files with the Custom Installation Wizard or Custom Maintenance Wizard tools in the Office Resource Kit. For more details, including a variety of .prf deployment methods, read the excellent white paper "Configuring Outlook Profiles by Using a PRF File" at http://office.microsoft.com/search/redir.aspx?assetid=HA011403051033&QueryID=pHm7c_60I&respos=3

The page at http://www.slipstick.com/exs/olroam.htm includes information on other profile tools and resources.



--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Linn Kubler]

Thanks Sue, you are right I just needed to work through the whole wizard.
And it seems to work fine, mostly. When a user logs in for the first time
and runs Outlook, and I'm assuming Word will do this too, it prompts the
user for a name and initials. I can't seem to find in the Custom
Maintenance Wizard where to set this. Is there a different tool I have to
use for these two settings?

Thanks,
Linn

You run the .cmw file with the maintwiz.exe application, as explained in the
last pane of the wizard and also in the Office Resource Kit documentation.

FWIW, Microsoft uses text files with a .prf extension and a highly
structured format to provide information to OUtlook that enables Outlook to
create or modify a mail profile. You can create such .prf files with the
Custom Installation Wizard or Custom Maintenance Wizard tools in the Office
Resource Kit. For more details, including a variety of .prf deployment
methods, read the excellent white paper "Configuring Outlook Profiles by
Using a PRF File" at
http://office.microsoft.com/search/redir.aspx?assetid=HA011403051033&QueryID=pHm7c_60I&respos=3

The page at http://www.slipstick.com/exs/olroam.htm includes information on
other profile tools and resources.



--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

From another Office MVP:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\UserInfo
Set the values (REG_BINARY) for UserInitials and UserName. A 00 00 should be
sufficient to suppress the prompt. The user can add their own name and initials later.

I've never tried putting %username% in the CMW for the UserName value. Might be fun to try.

If you want to put in the user's actual initials, you'll have to write your own script for that. Note that the values are binary, because they support Unicode text.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Linn Kubler]

Is the UserName value settable from the CM wizard, or would I have to edit
the CMW file directly? I can't seem to find UserName in the wizard. I can
see where the initials could be a challeng to automate like this but the
user's name? I would think the user name could be taken from the logon
credentials some how.

Thanks,
Linn

From another Office MVP:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\UserInfo
Set the values (REG_BINARY) for UserInitials and UserName. A 00 00 should be
sufficient to suppress the prompt. The user can add their own name and
initials later.

I've never tried putting %username% in the CMW for the UserName value. Might
be fun to try.

If you want to put in the user's actual initials, you'll have to write your
own script for that. Note that the values are binary, because they support
Unicode text.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers