Supported installation methods for deploying Microsoft Office

The following is a list of the supported methods for installing Microsoft Office on a workstation:

• Run Setup from a Microsoft Office compact disc (CD).
• Run Setup from a set of Microsoft Office disks.
• Run Setup from a server on which an administrative installation of Microsoft Office was performed.
  
  This includes tools that large organizations may use to run the Microsoft Office Setup program, for example, Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS).
  
• Perform an image installation by using the System Difference Tool (SysDiff) that is included in Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0.
  
  The newest version of the System Difference Tool is available on the Microsoft FTP site at:
  ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/fixes/usa/nt40/utilities/Sysdiff-fix/ (ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/fixes/usa/nt40/utilities/Sysdiff-fix/)
• Perform an image installation using SMS Installer.

If you cannot reproduce the problem on a computer on which you ran Setup, Microsoft Technical Support requires that you run Setup on the problem computer in order to continue troubleshooting the issue.

An image installation involves installing Office on a workstation and making an image (a copy) of the workstation to install Office on other workstations. Note that you must be logged on to the workstation as a user (not as the administrator) when you perform this installation.

Microsoft is unable to support image installations that are created by using a third-party utility for the following reasons:

• Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of a third-party product to successfully install Microsoft Office by installing all necessary files to the correct locations and by creating all required registry entries.
• There is no method to uninstall or reinstall Microsoft Office if it is not installed by using one of the methods listed in the "Summary" section of this article.

General Guidelines for Troubleshooting Installation of Office

If you are having problems running the Microsoft Office Setup program, contact Microsoft Technical Support. If you are having problems installing Microsoft Office by using a Microsoft utility other than the Setup program, call the correct Microsoft product support group. If you are using a third- party utility, call the manufacturer of that product.

Use the following steps to troubleshoot problems that you are having when you install Office:

• Determine whether the problem occurs only on one computer.
  
  To do this, reinstall Microsoft Office on the problem computer by using the method used to install the current installation of Microsoft Office. If the problem is not corrected, run Setup.
• Determine whether the problem occurs on multiple computers or for multiple users.
  
  To do this, run Setup on another computer or log on to the computer as a user and run Setup. If the problem is corrected, the previous method of installing Microsoft Office is not successful. If you used a third- party utility, contact the manufacturer of the utility that was used. If running Setup does not correct the problem, contact Microsoft Technical Support.

For more information about supported methods of installing Office, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: