April, 2009

  • How to deploy specific fonts in Office 2007. This applies to Word Outlook Excel Powerpoint and Access.

    If you are looking to deploy these settings in the OCT, here is how to accomplish that.

    Attached is a .zip file with a sample Blank.potx (For PPT), Normal.dotm (For Word), and a reg file with the settings for Outlook, Excel, and Access.  These sample files change the font to arial for all the products. This attachment (fonts.zip) is at the bottom of this blog post.

     


     1. On the “add registry keys section” import the fonts.reg file.
    (This will set the default font to Arial for Excel, Access, and Outlook.)

     

    2. In the add files section of the OCT add Blank.potx and for the location choose “[AppDataFolder]\Microsoft\Templates”
    (This will set the default font to Arial for Powerpoint .)

     

    3. In the add files section of the OCT add default.dotm and for the location choose “[AppDataFolder]\Microsoft\Templates”
    (This will set the default font to Arial for Word.)

    4. I
    n the remove files section of the OCT click add and enter this path “[AppDataFolder]\Microsoft\Templates\normal.dotm”  
    (This will remove a previous dotm if 2007 was previously installed)

     

    5. In the remove files section of the OCT click add and enter this path “[AppDataFolder]\Microsoft\Templates\Blank.potx”    
    (This will remove a previous blank.potx if 2007 was previously installed)

     


    Here are the details behind how each application handles the default fonts. I followed these instructions to obtain the reg keys, and templates for the individual apps in the sample files that are attached.

    Changing Default Font for Access 2007:

    To change the default font as Arial for Access, use this registry key:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Access\Settings
    Name: “Default Font Name”
    Type: “REG_SZ”
    Value: “Arial”

    Changing Default Font for Excel 2007:
    To change the default font as Arial for Excel, use this registry key:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Excel\Options
    Name: “Font
    Type: “REG_SZ”
    Value: “<Font Name>,<Font size> ie “Arial,11”
    Here, the font size is also set within the same key.
    Changing Default Font for Word 2007:

    In order to change the default Font for Word 2007, we have to create a
    ‘Normal.dotm’ file for the user. Please follow the steps below to create and save a
    new normal.dotm file and see if that will meet you requirements.
    1. Open up Word 2007; On the Styles quick access bar, right click the Normal style
    and select "Modify"
    2. In the "Modify Style" window, select the "New documents based on this template"
    radio button.
    3. Click on the Format button and arrow down; select Font
    4. Set the font as Arial and click OK
    5. Click on the Format button and arrow down; select Paragraph…
    6. Change the line spacing as Single and click OK twice
    7. At this point, the Normal.dotm has been changed in the
    %Appdata%\Microsoft\Templates, so we should be able to add it to the OCT tool for
    deployment.

    For your testing, attached a sample Normal.dotm file based on your requirement.

    Changing the Default Font for PowerPoint:

    In order to change the default font for PowerPoint 2007, we have to create a base
    template and save it in default templates folder. Please follow the steps mentioned
    below to create and save a base template and see if that will meet your
    requirements.

    1. Start PowerPoint 2007.
    2. Select View tab ; then select Slide Master
    3. On the Slide Master (Slide Master: the slide that stores information about the
    design template applied, including font styles, placeholder sizes and positions,
    background design, and color schemes.), make the changes that you want to be
    reflected in every new presentation. You have to make the changes to each slide of
    the slide master.
    4. Then click Close Master View.
    5. Click Office Button and then click Save As > Other formats
    6. Pick PowerPoint Template from the Save As Type list box
    7. Save the template as Blank.potx. PowerPoint will automatically chooses the
    folder as %Appdata%\Microsoft\Templates, so accept the default location. The
    default location would be <Drive>\Documents and Settings\<User Profile>\Application
    Data\Microsoft\Templates.
    9. Close the file and start a new presentation to verify the font.
    For your testing, attached a sample Blank.potx file based on your requirement.

    Changing Default Font for Outlook 2007:

    The Font information for Outlook is held within the registry. However, this is a
    little more complex to get than the previous applications. The registry information
    that holds the Font information for Outlook is in binary format. Also, Outlook has
    3 main Font settings, each with a complex and simple setting. I have detailed the
    registry keys below:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\MailSettings

    Name: "ComposeFontComplex"
    Type: “Hex”
    Value: value is in Binary format

    Name: “ComposeFontSimple”
    Type: “Hex”
    Value: value is in Binary format

    Name: “ReplyFontComplex”
    Type: Hex”
    Value: value is in Binary format

    Name: “ReplyFontSimple”
    Type: “Hex”
    Value: value is in Binary format

    Name: “TextFontComplex”
    Type: “Hex”
    Value: value is in Binary format

    Name: “TextFontSimple”
    Type: “Hex”
    Value: value is in Binary format

    I have attached a reg file (font.reg) which contains the Outlook binary
    information for the default Font for each group. I have set this to Arial.
    By double clicking on this registry file, it will enter the information into
    the registry thus changing the default Font to Arial.

    I did the following to create the registry file to set the default Font to Arial in
    Outlook 2007:

    - Launch Outlook
    - Select “Options” from the “Tools” menu
    - Select the “Mail Format” tab
    - Select the “Stationary and Fonts” button
    - Change the Font setting to Arial for each of these options: New Mail Messages,
    Replying and forwarding messages, Composing and reading plain text messages

    Then exporting the Outlook Default Font registry information using these steps:

    - Select the “Start” Button, select “Run” and type “Regedit”
    - Browse to the following key -
    “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\MailSettings”
    - Right click on the key and select “Export”
    - Export the file to desktop
    - Browse to Reg file on the desktop
    - Right click on the Reg file and select “Edit”
    - In Notepad remove any additional keys which are not needed and save the .reg file

  • Unable to activate Office 2007 over the Phone. "Installation ID invalid"

    Issue:
    Unable to activate over the internet. "Product has been activated too many times"
    Attempting to activate over the phone then also fails with "Installation ID is invalid"

    Resolution:

    -Step 1

    Goto start, and then search or run.

    If using Vista, Windows 2008, or Windows7
    Type in %allusersprofile%\Microsoft\OFFICE\DATA

    If using Windows XP, Windows 2003, or Windows 2000
    Type in %allusersprofile%\application data\Microsoft\OFFICE\DATA

    Hit enter. You will see the following files below.

    Capture

    (Note: If you are having this issue in Office 2003 the files will be OPA11.BAK, and OPA11.DAT)

    Delete the OPA12.DAT (or OPA11.DAT if 2003) file. Then re-open an office app and attempt activation over the phone again.

    This is documented in step 3 of KB919895

    How to troubleshoot problems that you may experience when you try to activate a 2007 Office product
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919895


    -Step 2 (Step 2 is not always required, but sometimes is)

    Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

    Delete the registration key in the registry for the product you are having issues activating.

    (Note: If you are having this issues in Office 2003 the registration key will be in 11.0. If 2007 the registration key will be in 12.0)

    For this example let’s say we are having this issue with Office 2007 Enterprise.

    Open the registry by Clicking on start, goto run (or start search if using Vista), type regedit and hit enter.

    Browse to HKLM\software\microsoft\office\12.0\Registration\{Guid}

    You may have more than one {guid} listed under the registration key. Look at the “ProductName” key on the right side to determine which guid is for the problem product. In my example we can see that the ProductName is “Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007”. So we will delete the {90120000-0030-0000-0000-00000FF1CE} Guid on the left.

    Untitled

    Re-launch an Office app. Like Word for example. It will prompt you to enter your product key. Enter your product key and then when you go to activate you will have a new installation ID and should be able to activate over the phone. If automated activation over the phone fails, make sure to speak to the live representative.

  • How to deploy a customized normal.dotm with Office 2007

    This is only applicable if you are able to customize Office with the OCT.
    Retail copies of Office do not have the ability to use an OCT.

     



    Click on start, goto run.
    Type %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates, and hit enter.
    Right click on the normal.dotm and choose open. Make whatever changes you would like and save.

    In your OCT in the “add files” section add the normal.dotm that you just modified.
    For the destination path use “[AppDataFolder]\Microsoft\Templates


    Then in the “remove files” section add “[AppDataFolder]\Microsoft\Templates\normal.dotm


    This second step to remove the normal.dotm is required to make sure that your custom .dotm from the add files section will get laid down even if there is a previous normal.dotm from a previous installation of Word. If you don’t remove the previous one first, I have seen instances where setup won’t replace it.

  • 2007 Office system (SP2) Administrative Template files (ADM, ADMX, ADML) and Office Customization Tool are available for download.

    If your planning on deploying SP2 for Office 2007 don’t forget to update the Office Customization Tool (OCT) and use the latest group policy files. These can both be downloaded as a single package from this link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=73d955c0-da87-4bc2-bbf6-260e700519a8&displaylang=en

     

    One you have AdminTemplates.exe downloaded follow these steps to update the OCT.

    1. Double-click AdminTemplates.exe and accept the EULA. Click Continue.

    image

    2. Pick a location to extract all files when prompted and click OK. (make a new folder to extract everything in)

    image

    3. You should have a folder with contents that looks like this:

    image

    4. Replace the \Admin folder in your 2007 Office system installation files or installation image with the downloaded Admin folder.

    That’s it. Now when you run “setup.exe /admin” from your installation source to launch the OCT you will be using the new version.

    It’s also worth mentioning that all of the group policy files to manage Office 2007 settings are contained in the ADM and ADMX folders. Office2007GroupPolicyAndOCTSettings.xls contains details on all of these settings and what options are available.

    More information about this update and what has changed is available on the Office System TechCenter: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=149867

  • Office 2007 Service Pack 2 Available Today

    SP2 released to web for download today. We have a great KB article that contains links to all the downloads and description KB’s for each package. Check it out here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968170.

    SP2 contains a lot of great enhancements and fixes to Office 2007. Here are a few of them:

    • Support for Open Document Format (ODF)
    • Built in support for XPS and PDF (Add-in no longer required)
    • Improved performance and responsiveness in Outlook
    • SP2 can be uninstalled

    The last bullet will be the topic of another post very soon. For the first time in Office history we can uninstall a service pack without having to remove and reinstall everything. This is done with a tool called “Microsoft Service Pack Uninstall Tool for the 2007 Microsoft Office suite”, or OARPMAN for short. More on this soon!