How to deploy additional packages with the installation of Office XP

This article discusses how to deploy (or chain) additional .msi packages or .exe files onto the installation of Office XP. By default, you cannot deploy the installation of one Office CD-ROM with another Office CD-ROM without running separate installations. However, the Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit contains a tool that you can use to create a modified Setup.ini file that you can use to chain several Windows Installer products into a single installation.

Chaining Windows Installer Products

To chain-deploy installations of products that use the Windows Installer, follow these steps. If you want to add a non-Windows Installer product, such as Notepad.exe, you can also follow these steps, or you can follow the steps provided in the "Chaining Non-Windows Installer Products" section of this article.

1. Install the tools from the Office XP Resource Kit.
2. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Office Tools, point to Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit Tools, and then click Setup INI Customization Wizard.
3. In the Specify an administrative installation point dialog box, type the path to your Office XP administrative installation. Click Next.
4. In the Specify an INI file to customize dialog box, select Files\Setup\Setup.ini, and then click Next.
   
   Note This is the Setup.ini file that the wizard will customize.
5. In the Specify logging and display settings to use during Setup dialog box, select any options that you want, and then click Next.
6. In the Select MSI and EXE files to include in your INI file dialog box, type the path to the .msi file for the Windows Installer package that you want to install with Office.
   
   Note You can also click Browse to locate and select the .msi file.
7. Repeat step 6 with any other .msi packages that you want to chain onto the Office installation.
8. Click Next.
9. In the Specify options for each package in your INI file dialog box, select any one of the packages listed, and then specify any options for the package. Repeat this for any of the other packages listed. Click Next.
10. In the View the summary of your INI file dialog box, view the proposed changes to the Setup.ini file, and then click Save As.
11. In the Save As dialog box, specify a name other than Setup.ini for your customized Setup.ini file. Click Save.
12. Click Finish in the last dialog box of the wizard.
13. Install Office XP with the customized Setup.ini file by using a command line similar to the following
    \\Server\Share\OfficeXP\Setup.exe /Settings \\Server\Share\OfficeXP\Files\Setup\custom.ini
    where custom is the name of your customized Setup.ini file.

Chaining Non-Windows Installer Products

If you want to add an executable (.exe) or batch file onto the installation of Office XP, you can also use a transform created by the Custom Installation Wizard (CIW).

Note You cannot chain the installation of any executable that uses a Windows Installer .msi package.

1. Install the tools from the Office XP Resource Kit.
2. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Office Tools, point to Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit Tools, and then click Custom Installation Wizard.
3. In the Open the MSI File dialog box, select the .msi file from the root of your Office administrative installation. Click Next.
4. When you get to the Add Installations and Run Programs dialog box, click Add.
5. In the Target box in the Add Program Entry dialog box, type the path to the .exe file that you want to run at the end of the Office installation.
   
   Note You can also click Browse to locate and select the .exe file.
6. Click Help to determine which settings to use for the four options listed at the bottom of the Add Program Entry dialog box.
7. After you specify your settings in the Add Program Entry dialog box, click OK.
8. Complete the remaining dialog boxes in the CIW, and then click Finish.
9. Note the sample command line in the last dialog box of the CIW, and then click Exit.