Installing Office in a Windows Terminal Server Environment

Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition provides a thin-client solution in which Windows-based programs are executed on the server and remotely displayed on the client. If your users have computers with limited disk space, memory, or processing speed, you can install Microsoft Office 2000 to run in this environment.

 Important    You must install Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server, Service Pack 4 on the Terminal Server computer before installing Office 2000. You can obtain Service Pack 4 from the Microsoft Web site.

With Terminal Server, you install a single copy of Office on the Terminal Server computer. Instead of running Office locally on their hard disks, multiple users can connect to the server and run Office from there.

Toolbox   Because of the special requirements for running Office in a Windows Terminal Server environment, you must use the transform provided in the Office Resource Kit to install Office on the Terminal Server computer. Office Setup does not install Office on the Terminal Server computer without this transform. Install the Office Resource Kit (orktools.exe) from the Toolbox and see the folder Terminal Server Tools. You can find this downloadable file on the Office 2000 Resource Kit Downloads page.

To use the transform, either add it to the command line as TRANSFORMS=TERMSRVR.MST or in the SETUP.INI file (setup settings file) with MST1=TERMSRVR.MST. If you are also applying a custom MST you have created using the Custom Installation Wizard, enter the custom transform name in the MST1 position and add the TERMSRVR.MST as MST2=TERMSRVR.MST. This is one of the few cases where you are REQUIRED to use the setup settings file to install both transforms at the same time (you should not use the command line to specify the use of both transforms).

The following is an overview of how you use Office with Terminal Server:

1. The administrator installs a single copy of Office on the Terminal Server computer.
2. Users install Windows Terminal Client on their computers.
3. Users log on to the Terminal Server computer, start Windows, and run Office from within the Windows session.

   The Office applications run on the Terminal Server computer, and only the Windows display is transmitted to users’ computers.

In the Terminal Server environment, Office 2000 separates application and user data, and uses environmental information supplied by Terminal Server. This arrangement allows multiple Terminal Client users to run from the same Office installation.

To improve performance in the Terminal Server environment, Office optimizes certain functions in the Office applications to reduce the amount of network traffic necessary to update the user’s display. For example, in the Terminal Server environment, Office applications display a text-based splash screen, rather than the standard graphics-based screen — the text-based screen is faster to display.

 Tip    You can improve the performance of Office in a Terminal Server environment even more by reducing the amount of incidental display information transmitted over the network. For example, select the Office Logo Office Assistant, which uses the least amount of animation, and set application options that eliminate menu or cursor animations. Or install the Motionless Office Assistant from the Office Resource Kit.