OFF98: How to Run Office Programs from the Compact Disc

The ability to run Microsoft Office 98 programs from the compact disc is a new feature in Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition. This kind of installation does not install the Office programs to your local hard disk; instead, only minimal files (approximately 8 megabytes) are placed on your hard disk. Most files are read directly from the Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition compact disc in your CD-ROM drive.

NOTE: When you are running the Office 98 programs, the Office 98 compact disc must be in the CD-ROM drive.

How to Create a Run From Compact Disc Installation

To create a Run From Compact Disc installation, follow these steps:

1. Insert the Office compact disc into your CD-ROM drive.
2. To use the most common Office components (components installed during an Easy Install), open the Microsoft Office 98 folder located at the root level of the compact disc. To use all of the Office components, open the Microsoft Office 98 folder located inside of the Office Custom Install folder on the compact disc.
3. Click the Microsoft Word icon once. On the File menu, click Make Alias.
   
   You receive the follow message:
   This disk is locked, so you cannot make changes here. Do you want to
   create the alias on the desktop?
   Click OK.
4. Repeat step 3 twice for the Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint icons.
5. Double-click the Macintosh hard disk icon to open it. On the File menu, click New Folder. Type "Microsoft Office 98" (without the quotation marks) and press RETURN.
6. Drag the Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint icons from your desktop to the Microsoft Office 98 folder on your hard disk.
7. Double-click on any of the three Office icons in the Microsoft Office 98 folder on your hard disk.

The first run installation process of Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition installs the necessary components to your hard disk when you run each program for the first time. When this happens, you are prompted for your Name, Organization and CD-Key.

For additional information on the first run installation, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: NOTE: When you Quit Word for the first time, you are prompted to specify a location on your hard disk for the user Templates folder. Word requires that you specify a read/write location for the Templates folder.