VMware ThinApp Blog

Requirements

The following items and knowledge is required for use of this procedure:

• A clean built VM with no other installations.
• Familiarization with instructions on how to virtualize a software product via ThinApp (see, "How to Make a ThinApp Application" on http://blogs.vmware.com/thinapp).
• A legal, licensed copy of Microsoft Office 2003.
• A legal and valid Microsoft Office 2003 Volume License Key (VLK).
• Have Microsoft .NET Framework

Warning!

Setup and configuration of any version of Microsoft Office 2003 as a ThinApp package should be done with a Microsoft Volume License Key (VLK) as a Retail License Key (RLK) must be activated on each new machine it runs on.

Building a ThinApp package in no way modifies the licensing of the software product you are attempting to virtualize with ThinApp! Ensure you are in compliance with product licenses for ANY software package you wish to virtualize and deploy using ThinApp. Consult your software product's End User License Agreement (EULA) for reference and questions.

Step by Step Instructions on How to ThinApp Microsoft Office 2003

These are the basic instruction you will need on How to ThinApp Microsoft Office 2003
 

1. Start with the instructions on building a clean VM and doing a ThinApp Package.
   
2. Next, mount up an Office 2003 Standard CD and run the SETUP if it doesn't autostart.
   
3. At the license screen, enter your VOLUME LICENSE KEY to Office 2003 Standard.
   
   
4. On the USER INFORMATION window, delete the User Name, Initials, and Organization.
   
5. On the EULA screen, check the I ACCEPT box to accept the EULA.
   
6. For the type of installation, select CUSTOM INSTALL and leave the INSTALL TO folder as the default "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\" folder.
   
   
7. On the CUSTOM SETUP window, check the "CHOOSE ADVANCED CUSTOMIZATION OF APPLICATIONS" box.
   
   
8. On the ADVANCED CUSTOMIZATION screen, click the top level drop-down arrow next to MICROSOFT OFFICE and select RUN ALL FROM MY COMPUTER.
   
   NOTE: Once selected, all items should be white instead of gray.
   
9. On the SUMMARY window, select INSTALL.
   
10. Once the installation is finished, check the boxes to check for updates and dump the installation files.
    
    NOTE: Select YES to dump the installer cache.
    
11. Once the Microsoft Office Online site comes up, select the OFFICE UPDATE link…normally located in the upper-right corner of the site.
    
    
12. If you need to load the Genuine Microsoft product validation ASP code, the select CONTINUE.
    
    
13. Once the validation completes, click the CONTINUE button on the Microsoft Office Update site.
    
14. If your version of Microsoft Office does NOT have the latest Service Pack installed in it, then deselect all product updates but the Office 2003 Service Pack which you need.
    NOTE: At the time of this writing, Office 2003 Service Pack 3 is the latest Service Pack for all Microsoft Office 2003 versions.
    NOTE: If you need FULL download updates instead of the smaller update files, click the OPTIONS link on the upper right-hand corner.
    
15. Once you have the desired update(s) selected, click the AGREE AND INSTALL button on the Microsoft Office Update site.
    
16. When prompted to reboot after installing the Office 2003 Service Pack, select YES.
    
17. After the reboot, login to your VM.
    
18. If your SETUP CAPTURE automatically launches upon login, then cancel out of it and DO NOT let it run the post install scan.
    
19. Return to the Office Updates site by going to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads.
    
20. Select CONTINUE on the Genuine Advantage option.
    
21. If you need to install additional Office 2003 Service Packs. Otherwise, select the rest of the required updates.
    
22. Click AGREE AND INSTALL. Repeat the updates until all updates have been loaded.
    NOTE: If you need FULL download updates instead of the smaller update files, click the OPTIONS link on the upper right-hand corner.
    
23. Run all of the Office applications EXCEPT Outlook.
    1. Make sure to run Microsoft Office Picture Manager and to select ALL File Types.
       WARNING: DO NOT click OK on the USER NAME window that will appear as you DO NOT want to capture the user name and initials.
       
24. At this point you can do one of two things.
    1. Dump out any cached files, installer files, temp files and folders that you don't want to get captured.
    2. Configure the other settings you want in the Office 2003 package and run the post installation capture and THEN dump out the items not necessary.
       NOTE: It is suggested to just do the post installation capture and THEN dump out files and settings you do not need.
25. Select the LANGUAGE TOOLBAR drop down menu.
    
    
26. Select SETTINGS from the menu.
    
    
27. Click the LANGUAGE BAR button to bring up the Language Bar Settings window.
    
    
28. In the Language Bar Settings window, uncheck all boxes and click OK.
    
    
29. Click on the ADVANCED tab and check the TURN OFF ADVANCED TEXT SERVICES.
    
    
30. Click OK to close out the Text Services and Input Languages window. This removes the LANGUAGE TOOLBAR from the Windows Task Bar.
    
31. Run the post installation capture.
    
32. It is suggested to remove the entry points to programs which you do not need or want users to directly run such as FINDER and other programs.
    
33. It is suggested to leave Internet Explorer as an entry point, at least while troubleshooting, so that you can open the local Internet Explorer to add updates to Office and other such plugins and items.
    
34. Select any other post installation capture settings you desire and finish off the package.
    
35. Once done with configuring and updating Microsoft Office you need to run the ThinApp Post-Setup Capture.

    NOTE: Use the "How to make a ThinApp Application" as a reference.
    

    1. Run the ThinApp post installation scan.
       1. If you did not close the Setup Capture window, then you can NOW click NEXT to continue.
       2. If you closed the Setup Capture window, re-launch Setup Capture, select CONTINUE INSTALLATION PROCESS and click NEXT.
          
          
       3. Click NEXT again to run the post scan process.
          
       4. After the post installation scan is complete, you will be asked to select entry points for your application, assign a data container and set an Inventory name.
          1. Select the appropriate entry point or entry points.
          2. You can also select a primary data container – remember that large installations will need to use DAT files as a data container.
          3. Set your Inventory Name.

          Click NEXT when ready.
          

       5. The next screen will allow you to select which Active Directory User Groups you wish to assign permission to use this packaged application, including an Access Denied message, and where you would like the Sandbox location to be by default.
          NOTE: To use Active Directory groups, the VM which you are running this process on must be part of the domain to read in the A.D. Group SIDs.
          1. Click ADD to add in any groups desired.
             1. Set your Access Denied message if using groups.
          2. Select the default sandbox location

          Click NEXT when ready.
          

       6. Now you need to select the default Isolation Mode for the packaged application. Typically, most applications will be using MERGED for an isolation mode.
          
          
       7. You should now be asked to define a Project Location, whether you wish to build an MSI file (including the name of the MSI file), and what level of compression to use on the package.
          
          
          Typically, for testing, no compression is used. However, for finalized packages it may be desired to compress them depending upon their size.
          
          NOTE: Typical compression ratios are roughly 2:1 but can sometimes be as much as 3:1 depending upon the files in the package.
          
          Click NEXT when ready.
          
       8. At this point, your package will be created based upon the differences between the pre-installation scan and post-installation scan.
          
       9. Finally, you will be presented with an option to build your project. This essentially runs the BUILD.BAT file.
          
          You can select BROWSE PROJECT, BUILD NOW, or FINISH.
          
          1. If you select BROWSE PROJECT, you will be presented with a Windows Explorer window showing your project files. From there, if you wish, you can also run BUILD.BAT.
             
          2. If you select BUILD NOW, your project will be packaged into an executable or executables (depending upon the number of entry points selected).
             
          3. If you select FINISH, the Setup Capture window will be closed.
             
       10. Click FINISH when done.
           
36. Suggested Post-Installation Capture Package Customizations.
    1. Delete the following folders as they should not be needed for anything.
       1. %COOKIES%
       2. %DRIVE_C%
       3. %HISTORY%
       4. %INTERNET CACHE%
       5. %PROFILE%
       6. %COMMON APPDATA%\VMware
    2. If you do not want any customizations inserted into your Office 2003 package, delete the contents of the %APPDATA% except the ##ATTRIBUTES.INI file. This will enforce the user get a cleanly configured office.
    3. Outlook Modifications:

       NOTE: Of the many areas where Outlook stores User Account data, this registry is one of them. When Outlook is started for the first time, it checks if this registry entry to see if it exists and, if not, prompts the user to create a new account. While this works fine when running the ThinApp package of Office Outlook 2003 on a system that DOES NOT have Office Outlook installed, it fails to work correctly when running the ThinApp package of Office Outlook on a Windows system that DOES have Office Outlook installed. Therefore, Full Isolation Mode is required for the registry keys and files of the ThinApp version of Office Outlook so that it can store its settings correctly in order to not interfere with the locally installed version of Office Outlook.

       1. HKEY_CURRENT_USER.TXT file isolation modifications:
          1. isolation_full HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities
          2. isolation_full HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles
       2. Create/Modify the ##Attributes.INI file with DirectoryIsolationMode set to FULL in the following folders:
          1. %AppData%\Microsoft\AddIns
          2. %AppData%\Microsoft\Office
          3. %AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook
          4. %Local AppData%\Microsoft\FORMS
          5. %Local AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook
       3. HKEY_CURRENT_USER.TXT Outlook Secure Temp folder modifications:
          1. Look for "isolation_full HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security" (add it if it does not exist) and add the following entries below it.
             1. Value=OutlookSecureTempFolder
             2. REG_SZ~%Profile%\Local Settings\OutlookTemp#2300
                ADDITIONAL NOTE: If you wish for the OutlookTemp folder to be more secure, you can modify the folder path to be whatever you like.
                
37. Run the BUILD.BAT in the package.
    
38. You have finished building the ThinApp package.