Change users' configurations after installing Office 2010
Applies to: Office 2010
Topic Last Modified: 2011-10-12
You can make changes to an existing installation of Microsoft Office 2010 by using the instructions in this article.
In this article:
Overview
Customize an existing Office installation
How customization works
Overview
After you install Office 2010 on users' computers, you can make changes to the installation by using the same tool that you used to customize the installation originally. By running the Office Customization Tool (OCT) and creating or modifying a Setup customization file (.msp file), you can customize the Office installation. For example, you can add or remove features, modify user settings, or add or remove files or registry entries.
In Office 2010, two architecture-specific versions of the OCT are available: one for 32-bit Office 2010 and one for 64-bit Office 2010. The 64-bit version of the OCT supports 64-bit client editions of Office 2010, and provides the same user interface, capabilities, and configurable settings as the 32-bit version. You use the same command to run the 32-bit or 64-bit version of the OCT. For instance, if you want to run the 32-bit OCT, run the setup.exe /admin command line from the x86 (32-bit) folder as shown in the following example: \\server\share\Office14\x86\setup.exe /admin. To run the 64-bit OCT, run the setup.exe /admin command line from the x64 (64-bit) folder. For more information about 64-bit Office 2010, see 64-bit editions of Office 2010. For more information about the OCT, see Office Customization Tool in Office 2010.
Note
If you have created an initial Setup customization file (.msp file) for an Office 2010 product (for example, Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010) and you later want to modify the installation to add language packs, you can do so by using the Import feature in the OCT. In such cases, you first add the language packs to the network installation point that contains the Office product source files. Then, you run the OCT from the root of the network installation point and create a new Setup customization file for the same product, and import the original customization .msp file that you created previously for Office Professional Plus 2010. For more information, see To import a customization .msp file to add languages to an existing installation in Import an Office 2010 Setup customization file. For information about the network installation point, see Create a network installation point for Office 2010.
Updating an Outlook profile
For Microsoft Outlook, in addition to making changes to the installation by using the OCT, you can update Outlook profiles by distributing a new Outlook Profile file (.prf). For example, if you saved a .prf file with your users' Outlook profile configurations when you installed Microsoft Outlook 2010 and you are making minor changes to the profile, you might choose to make the change in the .prf file and distribute the files to users. For more information about how to update profiles by using a PRF file, see Customize Outlook profiles by using an Outlook Profile (PRF) file.
Customize an existing Office installation
Use the following procedure to customize an existing installation of Office 2010.
To customize the installation
From the root of the network installation point that contains the source files, run the following command line to start the OCT: \\server\share\setup.exe /admin
In the Select Product dialog box, select the product that you want to customize, and then click OK.
In the left pane, select an area of customization, click the option that you want to customize, and then customize the installation in the right pane.
For example, to remove Microsoft Access 2010 from the installation, locate Features in the left pane, and then click Set feature installation states. In the right pane, expand Microsoft Office, right-click Microsoft Office Access, and select Not Available.
On the File menu, click Save As after you finish customizing the installation.
Specify a unique name for the customization file with an .msp file name extension, and then click Save.
Deploy and apply the Setup customization file (.msp) to users' computers. For more information, see Applying Setup customization .msp files to existing installations.
If you decide later that you want to make additional changes to an existing installation, you can use the OCT to create a new maintenance customization .msp file. For example, you might want to modify existing feature installation states.
As a best practice for modifying existing feature installation states on an existing installation of Office 2010, we recommend that you create a new Setup customization .msp file to make only the changes that you want to implement. To avoid unexpected results, you must specify only the changes that you want to make. For example, to create a Setup customization .msp file to add the Access feature after an initial installation, start the OCT and create a new customization .msp file for the product. In the left pane of the OCT, locate Features, and then click Set feature installation states. In the right pane, expand Microsoft Office, right-click Microsoft Office Access, and then select Run from My Computer. On the File menu, click Save As, and specify a path and file name for the .msp customization file.
How customization works
Because the Setup customization file that is created by the OCT is a Windows Installer package (.msp), you can apply the file to users' computers as you would apply a software update. The Office installation is modified by using the customizations defined in the .msp file. The following sections describe how to deploy customization .msp files to existing Office installations and show customization patch sequencing.
Applying Setup customization .msp files to existing installations
To apply the Setup customization (.msp) file to existing installations, you must apply the .msp file directly to the user's computer. You cannot apply the customization file to existing installations by placing the .msp file in the Updates folder and running Setup again on the user's computer, or by running Setup with the customization file specified in the command line.
For example, users can apply the Setup customization .msp file by double-clicking the .msp file or by running msiexec with the /p option, at a command prompt as shown in the following example:
msiexec.exe /p \\server\share\custom.msp
For information about Windows Installer command-line options, see Windows Installer Command-Line Options (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=162945).
You can also use a deployment management program, such as Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007, to deploy Setup customization files. For more information, see the System Center Configuration Manager TechCenter Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=162933).
Although you can use Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) to deploy software updates, you cannot use WSUS to deploy Setup customization .msp files.
Setup customization patch sequencing
Every time that you save a customization .msp file in the OCT, the tool updates the customization file’s patch sequencing number with the current computer date and time stamp and generates a new patch globally unique identifier (GUID). The OCT .msp files are applied chronologically according to their time stamps.
To show the sequencing behavior, assume that you created the following .msp maintenance files:
An OCT .msp file that is named uninstall-access.msp, in which you set Microsoft Office Access to Not Available. This file is saved first, so it has a lower patch sequence number and an older date and time stamp. This .msp file is sequenced first and Access is set to Not Available on users' computers.
An OCT .msp file that is named install-access.msp, in which you set Microsoft Office Access to Run all from My Computer. This file is saved last, so it has a higher patch sequence number and a newer date and time stamp. This .msp file is sequenced later than the first OCT .msp file, uninstall-access.msp. Therefore, Access is set to Run all from My Computer on users' computers.