September 17, 1999

The September 1999 release of the Custom Installation Wizard (Custwiz.exe version 1.00.00.3308) adds new capabilities to handle error conditions that can result when users activate certain applications by running Microsoft Office 2000 Setup in maintenance mode.

This new Custom Installation Wizard contains all of the enhancements included with the August 1999 update of the tool. These enhancements include support for relative paths, environment variables, and generic transform files.

Toolbox    The Office Resource Kit (orktools.exe) includes the latest update to the Custom Installation Wizard (version 1.00.00.3308). You can find this downloadable file on the Office 2000 Resource Kit Downloads page.

If you installed Office 2000 with a transform (MST file) created with Custwiz.exe version 1.00.00.3217 or earlier, maintenance mode might not properly activate applications under certain conditions. In this scenario, the computer displays an error message reporting a missing file and does not start the application, or displays a message that the requested feature is unavailable.

All of the following conditions must be true in order to generate this error:

• The MST file is configured so that the installation state for either or both Microsoft Front Page® or Microsoft Outlook® is set to Not Available.
• If either Front Page or Outlook is set to Not Available, the application is not also set to Hide.
• After Office is installed with a transform, a user runs Office 2000 Setup in maintenance mode (by clicking Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel) and sets the absent Front Page or Outlook feature to Run from my computer.

Correct an existing MST file

In addition to preventing the maintenance mode error in new MST files, you can also use the new version of the Custom Installation Wizard to correct existing MST files.

To correct an existing MST file

1. Start the Custom Installation Wizard version 1.00.00.3308.
2. On the Open the MST File panel, select Open an existing MST file and enter the file name and path of the transform.
3. On the Set Feature Installation States panel, verify that the feature tree shows Microsoft Outlook for Windows® or Microsoft FrontPage for Windows as Not Available.

   When an application is set to Not Available, a red X appears next to the feature name.

4. Click Finish to save the MST file.

You can now use the Custom Installation Wizard to make additional changes to the MST file, without risk of the maintenance mode problem described earlier. When this modified MST file is used to install Office on a computer, all FrontPage and Outlook features run successfully.

Correct the problem on a user's computer

If FrontPage does not start on a user's computer, or if some features of Outlook do not install correctly when activated, you can correct the problem by running Office 2000 Setup in maintenance mode and modifying installation settings.

To correct an application startup problem on a user's computer

1. In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs, and then click the Install/Uninstall tab.
2. Select the name of the installed version of Microsoft Office 2000 and click Add/Remove.
3. On the Maintenance Mode panel, click Add or Remove Features.
4. On the Update Features panel, click the arrow next to the feature that is not working, and select Run all from My Computer.

   You can then click the plus sign (+) next to the feature and change settings for any child features.

5. Click Update Now to save your changes.

Related links

Beginning with the August 1999 update (Custwiz.exe version 1.00.00.3217), the Custom Installation Wizard also allows you to configure the new MST files for Windows Installer shortcuts. For more information, see Enhancements to the Custom Installation Wizard in the Office Resource Kit Journal.