[Ben.Hahlen]

I have tried to search, but I couldn't find this.
So here it is:
When installing office "normally", so using the normal CD, you are asked if you would like to delete the cached installation source from your HD.
Since I have create an administrative installation of Office, this is not happening anymore, and according to Microsoft, you cannot cache the source using an administrative installation point.
Now I am wondering whether it is possible to recreate the administrative install point to a "normal" install again to be able to cache the installation source.
Does anybody here have any experience with this? Or does anybody know whether it is possible?

Thanks in advance.

[Ben.Hahlen]

*bump*
Come on guys, my hopes are on you...

[Ben.Hahlen]

Since the first question might be unanswerable, here another question, that is related, and might be a good work-around:
Is it possible to slipstream updates into Office 2003 without making an administrative install point?
Or do I need to install the updates seperately then?

[slimzky]

Ben.Hahlen, on Mar 6 2005, 09:45 AM, said:

Since the first question might be unanswerable, here another question, that is related, and might be a good work-around:
Is it possible to slipstream updates into Office 2003 without making an administrative install point?
Or do I need to install the updates seperately then?
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i dont think so.. look

Quote

Office 2003 - Slipstreaming

» Section 1 - Creating an Administrative Installation Point

First, we'll need to create an Administrative Installation Point so we can be able to slipstream the updates into Office 2003 (You cannot just do a direct copy from CD to the Hard disk and hope that it will work. It won't.)

[baliktad]

OK, a few points regarding this:

1) Administrative install = uncompressed source. You can only slipstream patches to an administrative install.

2) Administrative installs were introduced in Office 2000, and used to be the recommended way to deploy Office on a network. The idea was that the single source on the network could be easily patched and kept up to date by an administrator. In practice, this concept failed horribly as it was too easy for clients to get out of sync.

3) The Office Local Cache (stored in the MsoCache dir) is the recommended way to deploy Office now, on a network or a standalone computer. Local Cache *requires* the compressed source (ie, the way the cd came, files still in cabs). Yes, this means you cannot slipstream patches if you want to use Local Cache.

You should make every effort you can to use Local Cache, as it will save you umpteen hours later and you'll never be prompted for your CD later when using Office Update or patching manually. EVEN THOUGH you cannot slipstream patches, it is worth it, trust me.

To deploy Office + patches, you should download the patches you want to apply. Extract each patch - you can dump all the .msp's together and simply run ohotfix once (should be included in each patch you download) to apply them "smartly." Refer to the ORK or post a response here if you have more questions.

[Ben.Hahlen]

baliktad, on Mar 14 2005, 12:40 AM, said:

OK, a few points regarding this:

1) Administrative install = uncompressed source.  You can only slipstream patches to an administrative install.

2) Administrative installs were introduced in Office 2000, and used to be the recommended way to deploy Office on a network.  The idea was that the single source on the network could be easily patched and kept up to date by an administrator.  In practice, this concept failed horribly as it was too easy for clients to get out of sync.

3) The Office Local Cache (stored in the MsoCache dir) is the recommended way to deploy Office now, on a network or a standalone computer.  Local Cache *requires* the compressed source (ie, the way the cd came, files still in cabs).  Yes, this means you cannot slipstream patches if you want to use Local Cache.

You should make every effort you can to use Local Cache, as it will save you umpteen hours later and you'll never be prompted for your CD later when using Office Update or patching manually.  EVEN THOUGH you cannot slipstream patches, it is worth it, trust me.

To deploy Office + patches, you should download the patches you want to apply.  Extract each patch - you can dump all the .msp's together and simply run ohotfix once (should be included in each patch you download) to apply them "smartly."  Refer to the ORK or post a response here if you have more questions.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So then it should be possible just to copy the cd-contents to my DVD, install it from there, including the settings I set in my .MST file, and then apply the patches afterwards, right?
And what about the service packs? Extract those as well?
And do I need the "Full File" updates, or just the "client" updates?
If so, I need to start finding all the patches
Found all the updates, and downloaded them.

Do I need any switches when running that "ohotfix"?
I couldn't really find it in the link you gave, might have overlooked it though.
Thanks for your help

[baliktad]

Yes, copy the contents of your Office CD directly. Add your MST, and use setup.ini to point to it so that it's used by default when you run setup.exe

Download all the patches you need, SP1 and any applicable post-SP1 hotfixes. Once you extract them, you should end up with an .msp for each one. Dump them all in the same director with ohotfix.exe (and associate ohotfix.ini and ohotfixr.dll). Ohotfix will take care of applying all the relevant patches in the right order. You shouldn't need any switches, as all options are specified in ohotfix.ini. Just open it up, each parameter is clearly explained.

Client updates should be fine as long as you use Local Cache, no need to use the full file update unless you encounter a problem with a corrupted Local Cache or something.

[Ben.Hahlen]

baliktad, on Mar 15 2005, 08:00 AM, said:

...and associate ohotfix.ini and ohotfixr.dll)...
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

How do I associate the dll?
In the ini I just need to set the names of the .msp's of the hotfixes, right?

[baliktad]

You don't need to do much of anything. I said "associate" when I meant "associated." Here's all you need:

ohotfix.exe
ohotfix.ini
ohotfixr.dll
all of your .msp's

Put them all in the same directory. Run ohotfix.exe. Done.

The only change you might possibly want to make would be to get rid of the completion notice at the end that tells you you're done. I rather like it, but if you don't want it, open up ohotfix.ini, find the line that says "ShowSuccessDialog=1" and change it to "ShowSuccessDialog=0"