2004 SP2 on G4 OS-free apps partition: What do I migrate G4->NEWG5! from 10.4.2/Library?

[Norman R. Nager, Ph.D.]

IMPORTANT BACKGROUND TO QUESTION

Office 2004 SP works great on my 2001 QuickSilver G4 where the Office
applications folder resides in an OS-free, non-Apple applications
partition.

I'm about to set up a brand new G5 with the same structure. I will use the
Setup Assistant to migrate via FireWire cable from my old G4. It will bring
over my Users folder. And I will transport the partition in which Office
2004 resides. (My MUD folder resides on an OS-free data partition with MUD
aliased to the OS 10.4.2 Users/~/Documents folder)

In my Spotlight searches when I tried several keywords, all I can find in
either OS 10.4.2/Library or OS 10.4.2/System that relates to Office 2004
were three files:

* Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Office.mdimporter
* Library/Scripts/Mail Scripts/Helper Scripts/Entourage.scpt
* Library/Scripts/Mail Scripts/Helper Scripts/Entourage.scpt
(There are two files with the identical Entourage.scpt name that Get
Info show as modified 3/22/05.)

QUESTIONS:

1. Should I import any or all of the above 3 files?

2. What am I missing? Aside from the Users Folder which will be migrated
by the Setup Assistant, where else would I find important files for running
Office 2004 SP 2 applications?

I'd deeply appreciate your response so I can get Office 2004's Entourage,
Word, and Excel up and running quickly on the new G5.

Respectfully, Norm

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi Norm,

1. No, there's no need to import any of these files. The scripts you can see
are part of Apple's Mail program, i.e. they launch when you import your
messages from Entourage into Apple Mail, so they are not related to
Microsoft Office itself. Your new G5 will have these scripts by default when
you install Mac OS X. The other file is a Spotlight file, I'm guessing the
Spotlight filter which searches Office files. Again, no need to import that
file, as it will also be part of the default OS installation.

2. You might want to import your preferences and custom dictionaries. Have a
look at this website to find out more about it:
http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/BackUpPrefs.htm
(hit "Refresh" several times when using Safari, or better yet, use a
different browser to view that page)

Michel

 

[Norman R. Nager, Ph.D.]

Wow! It went like a dream.

I booted into the factory-installed G5 Tiger to make sure all the new
hardware components were working well.

After shutdown, I booted the G5's Tiger/iLife/(etc) DVD and used Disk
Utility to erase-partition a second internal SATA drive I installed. And
then I ran the Tiger installer. When I re-started and when the option to
migrate came up, I connected the old computer to the G5 by FW cable, which
put them in FireWire Network mode. The G5 zoomed through migrating
everything it could use from the old computer.

After Disk Utility found no problems, I shutdown both computers and booted
the old one first. That put it in FireWire Target Disk mode. I booted the
G5 and then had it suck up at warp speed the contents of the old
QuickSilver's respective partitions into my G5's Data partition (including
the MUD folder) and my 3rd party Apps partition, including my Office 2004
SP2.

All I then had to do was create a new alias from the G5 Data partition/MUD
folder to the 10.4.2/Users/~/Documents folder and nip off the word " alias"
including the leading space.

That's it! When I launched Entourage, Word and Excel, it was as if I were
still sitting at the keyboard of the old computer, except everything was
FASTER by far and, well, had so much more room on the cinema display. On
the 733-mhz/1.5 GB QuickSilver trying to access a list of Notes took
several minutes versus all of a second on the 2.0 ghz/2.5 GB G5 Dual.

There were no hiccups whatsoever. When I checked my Entourage mail and
other folders, everything was there and working.

Word and Excel were just fine, only FASTER and my spreadsheets have far more
room to display.

Thanks very much to the MVPs and MS Mac BU folks for:
* valuable counsel since I moved from one partition to several
* responses to others on their issues with Office 2004 or SP2 that helped me
prevent problems
*what they've created jointly on the MVPs' support webpages and on their own
individual websites.

With greatest respect, Norm

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

Thanks very much to the MVPs and MS Mac BU folks for:
* valuable counsel since I moved from one partition to several
* responses to others on their issues with Office 2004 or SP2 that helped me
prevent problems
*what they've created jointly on the MVPs' support webpages and on their own
individual websites.

With greatest respect, Norm

Michel is not (yet) an MVP, so thank him too.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.

 

[Norman R. Nager, Ph.D.]

Michel is not (yet) an MVP, so thank him too.

Ah, well, Michel seems to be well along on the way to earning the respect
given to MVPs. The volunteers who contribute to these Office for Mac
newsgroups. Thanks!