Networked Office

S

Sarah Tanembaum

Office REQUIRES specific files to be installed locally in order to run. If
you want a pure server solution, it will not work.

How many specific file(s) are you talking about? Do you have a list of what
specific files are you mentioning?

Thanks


Milly Staples said:
Please do yourself a favor and look at the Office Resource Kit and the
Windows 2003 (or whatever version of Windows you have) Terminal Services
white papers.

What you are asking has been answered many times here - if it is not the
answer you like, then look for a different vendor/solution. We have all
told you what is and is not possible, the problems inherent in trying to
meet your requests, and have basically given up providing answers that you
do not want to hear.

Office REQUIRES specific files to be installed locally in order to run. If
you want a pure server solution, it will not work.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my personal
account will be deleted without reading.

After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer, Sarah Tanembaum
asked:

| Why not possible?
|
| Thanks.
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"
| || No, you can either run Office from a TS/Citrix environment or you can
|| install it locally. You can create an admin installation point on
|| the server and have the clients load office via a logon script when
|| they first start Windows. But you cannot run it from a plain server.
||
|| --
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
|| the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my
|| personal account will be deleted without reading.
||
|| After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer, Sarah
|| Tanembaum asked:
||
||| Is it possible to run office from a server?
|||
||| We just purchased 10 brand new PC with Windows XP Pro Pre-installed,
||| an a server with ample of memory and disk space.
|||
||| We also purchase a 15-user license of Microsoft Office 2003
||| Professional.
|||
||| Instead of installing MS Office 2003 on all the workstation, is
||| there
||| a way to run Office from a server?
|||
||| I know of the terminal services/citrix way but that is out of the
||| question as it will add cost per client.
|||
||| Thanks
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

Office REQUIRES specific files to be installed locally in order to run. If
you want a pure server solution, it will not work.

How many specific file(s) are you talking about? Do you have a list of what
specific files are you mentioning?

Thanks


Milly Staples said:
Please do yourself a favor and look at the Office Resource Kit and the
Windows 2003 (or whatever version of Windows you have) Terminal Services
white papers.

What you are asking has been answered many times here - if it is not the
answer you like, then look for a different vendor/solution. We have all
told you what is and is not possible, the problems inherent in trying to
meet your requests, and have basically given up providing answers that you
do not want to hear.

Office REQUIRES specific files to be installed locally in order to run. If
you want a pure server solution, it will not work.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my personal
account will be deleted without reading.

After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer, Sarah Tanembaum
asked:

| Why not possible?
|
| Thanks.
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"
| || No, you can either run Office from a TS/Citrix environment or you can
|| install it locally. You can create an admin installation point on
|| the server and have the clients load office via a logon script when
|| they first start Windows. But you cannot run it from a plain server.
||
|| --
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
|| the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my
|| personal account will be deleted without reading.
||
|| After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer, Sarah
|| Tanembaum asked:
||
||| Is it possible to run office from a server?
|||
||| We just purchased 10 brand new PC with Windows XP Pro Pre-installed,
||| an a server with ample of memory and disk space.
|||
||| We also purchase a 15-user license of Microsoft Office 2003
||| Professional.
|||
||| Instead of installing MS Office 2003 on all the workstation, is
||| there
||| a way to run Office from a server?
|||
||| I know of the terminal services/citrix way but that is out of the
||| question as it will add cost per client.
|||
||| Thanks
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

Office REQUIRES specific files to be installed locally in order to run. If
you want a pure server solution, it will not work.

How many specific file(s) are you talking about? Do you have a list of what
specific files are you mentioning?

Thanks


Milly Staples said:
Please do yourself a favor and look at the Office Resource Kit and the
Windows 2003 (or whatever version of Windows you have) Terminal Services
white papers.

What you are asking has been answered many times here - if it is not the
answer you like, then look for a different vendor/solution. We have all
told you what is and is not possible, the problems inherent in trying to
meet your requests, and have basically given up providing answers that you
do not want to hear.

Office REQUIRES specific files to be installed locally in order to run. If
you want a pure server solution, it will not work.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my personal
account will be deleted without reading.

After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer, Sarah Tanembaum
asked:

| Why not possible?
|
| Thanks.
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"
| || No, you can either run Office from a TS/Citrix environment or you can
|| install it locally. You can create an admin installation point on
|| the server and have the clients load office via a logon script when
|| they first start Windows. But you cannot run it from a plain server.
||
|| --
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
|| the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my
|| personal account will be deleted without reading.
||
|| After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer, Sarah
|| Tanembaum asked:
||
||| Is it possible to run office from a server?
|||
||| We just purchased 10 brand new PC with Windows XP Pro Pre-installed,
||| an a server with ample of memory and disk space.
|||
||| We also purchase a 15-user license of Microsoft Office 2003
||| Professional.
|||
||| Instead of installing MS Office 2003 on all the workstation, is
||| there
||| a way to run Office from a server?
|||
||| I know of the terminal services/citrix way but that is out of the
||| question as it will add cost per client.
|||
||| Thanks
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

Office REQUIRES specific files to be installed locally in order to run. If
you want a pure server solution, it will not work.

How many specific file(s) are you talking about? Do you have a list of what
specific files are you mentioning?

Thanks


Milly Staples said:
Please do yourself a favor and look at the Office Resource Kit and the
Windows 2003 (or whatever version of Windows you have) Terminal Services
white papers.

What you are asking has been answered many times here - if it is not the
answer you like, then look for a different vendor/solution. We have all
told you what is and is not possible, the problems inherent in trying to
meet your requests, and have basically given up providing answers that you
do not want to hear.

Office REQUIRES specific files to be installed locally in order to run. If
you want a pure server solution, it will not work.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my personal
account will be deleted without reading.

After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer, Sarah Tanembaum
asked:

| Why not possible?
|
| Thanks.
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"
| || No, you can either run Office from a TS/Citrix environment or you can
|| install it locally. You can create an admin installation point on
|| the server and have the clients load office via a logon script when
|| they first start Windows. But you cannot run it from a plain server.
||
|| --
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
|| the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my
|| personal account will be deleted without reading.
||
|| After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer, Sarah
|| Tanembaum asked:
||
||| Is it possible to run office from a server?
|||
||| We just purchased 10 brand new PC with Windows XP Pro Pre-installed,
||| an a server with ample of memory and disk space.
|||
||| We also purchase a 15-user license of Microsoft Office 2003
||| Professional.
|||
||| Instead of installing MS Office 2003 on all the workstation, is
||| there
||| a way to run Office from a server?
|||
||| I know of the terminal services/citrix way but that is out of the
||| question as it will add cost per client.
|||
||| Thanks
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

Office REQUIRES specific files to be installed locally in order to run. If
you want a pure server solution, it will not work.

How many specific file(s) are you talking about? Do you have a list of what
specific files are you mentioning?

Thanks


Milly Staples said:
Please do yourself a favor and look at the Office Resource Kit and the
Windows 2003 (or whatever version of Windows you have) Terminal Services
white papers.

What you are asking has been answered many times here - if it is not the
answer you like, then look for a different vendor/solution. We have all
told you what is and is not possible, the problems inherent in trying to
meet your requests, and have basically given up providing answers that you
do not want to hear.

Office REQUIRES specific files to be installed locally in order to run. If
you want a pure server solution, it will not work.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my personal
account will be deleted without reading.

After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer, Sarah Tanembaum
asked:

| Why not possible?
|
| Thanks.
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"
| || No, you can either run Office from a TS/Citrix environment or you can
|| install it locally. You can create an admin installation point on
|| the server and have the clients load office via a logon script when
|| they first start Windows. But you cannot run it from a plain server.
||
|| --
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
|| the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my
|| personal account will be deleted without reading.
||
|| After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer, Sarah
|| Tanembaum asked:
||
||| Is it possible to run office from a server?
|||
||| We just purchased 10 brand new PC with Windows XP Pro Pre-installed,
||| an a server with ample of memory and disk space.
|||
||| We also purchase a 15-user license of Microsoft Office 2003
||| Professional.
|||
||| Instead of installing MS Office 2003 on all the workstation, is
||| there
||| a way to run Office from a server?
|||
||| I know of the terminal services/citrix way but that is out of the
||| question as it will add cost per client.
|||
||| Thanks
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

Well, I guess MS does not have solution of running apps from a
network-mounted-disk-from-a-server.

I am familiar with terminal services as well citrix/metaframe since the
early days up till now. It just does not scale.

What we have now that we have fast network, fast server, fast disk, and fast
workstation. If there are such solution where almost any new OS can do that
but does not include Microsoft.
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

Well, I guess MS does not have solution of running apps from a
network-mounted-disk-from-a-server.

I am familiar with terminal services as well citrix/metaframe since the
early days up till now. It just does not scale.

What we have now that we have fast network, fast server, fast disk, and fast
workstation. If there are such solution where almost any new OS can do that
but does not include Microsoft.
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

Well, I guess MS does not have solution of running apps from a
network-mounted-disk-from-a-server.

I am familiar with terminal services as well citrix/metaframe since the
early days up till now. It just does not scale.

What we have now that we have fast network, fast server, fast disk, and fast
workstation. If there are such solution where almost any new OS can do that
but does not include Microsoft.
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

Well, I guess MS does not have solution of running apps from a
network-mounted-disk-from-a-server.

I am familiar with terminal services as well citrix/metaframe since the
early days up till now. It just does not scale.

What we have now that we have fast network, fast server, fast disk, and fast
workstation. If there are such solution where almost any new OS can do that
but does not include Microsoft.
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

I think this is very inefficient. Why can I install my apps on a disk in my
server and mount that disk on my workstation and execute the exe file from
there.

If I need to upgrade, all I have to do is upgrade the server and those 10(or
100 workstation) will get updated instantly without clogging up the network
for transferring files between the server and those 10(or 100) client
workstation.

I think you all know what I'm talking about but most of your MVP[Microsoft
.....] are avoding the issues.

Please ....
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

I think this is very inefficient. Why can I install my apps on a disk in my
server and mount that disk on my workstation and execute the exe file from
there.

If I need to upgrade, all I have to do is upgrade the server and those 10(or
100 workstation) will get updated instantly without clogging up the network
for transferring files between the server and those 10(or 100) client
workstation.

I think you all know what I'm talking about but most of your MVP[Microsoft
.....] are avoding the issues.

Please ....
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

I think this is very inefficient. Why can I install my apps on a disk in my
server and mount that disk on my workstation and execute the exe file from
there.

If I need to upgrade, all I have to do is upgrade the server and those 10(or
100 workstation) will get updated instantly without clogging up the network
for transferring files between the server and those 10(or 100) client
workstation.

I think you all know what I'm talking about but most of your MVP[Microsoft
.....] are avoding the issues.

Please ....
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

I think this is very inefficient. Why can I install my apps on a disk in my
server and mount that disk on my workstation and execute the exe file from
there.

If I need to upgrade, all I have to do is upgrade the server and those 10(or
100 workstation) will get updated instantly without clogging up the network
for transferring files between the server and those 10(or 100) client
workstation.

I think you all know what I'm talking about but most of your MVP[Microsoft
.....] are avoding the issues.

Please ....
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

I think this is very inefficient. Why can I install my apps on a disk in my
server and mount that disk on my workstation and execute the exe file from
there.

If I need to upgrade, all I have to do is upgrade the server and those 10(or
100 workstation) will get updated instantly without clogging up the network
for transferring files between the server and those 10(or 100) client
workstation.

I think you all know what I'm talking about but most of your MVP[Microsoft
.....] are avoding the issues.

Please ....
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

I think this is very inefficient. Why can I install my apps on a disk in my
server and mount that disk on my workstation and execute the exe file from
there.

If I need to upgrade, all I have to do is upgrade the server and those 10(or
100 workstation) will get updated instantly without clogging up the network
for transferring files between the server and those 10(or 100) client
workstation.

I think you all know what I'm talking about but most of your MVP[Microsoft
.....] are avoding the issues.

Please ....
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

I think this is very inefficient. Why can I install my apps on a disk in my
server and mount that disk on my workstation and execute the exe file from
there.

If I need to upgrade, all I have to do is upgrade the server and those 10(or
100 workstation) will get updated instantly without clogging up the network
for transferring files between the server and those 10(or 100) client
workstation.

I think you all know what I'm talking about but most of your MVP[Microsoft
.....] are avoding the issues.

Please ....
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

I think this is very inefficient. Why can I install my apps on a disk in my
server and mount that disk on my workstation and execute the exe file from
there.

If I need to upgrade, all I have to do is upgrade the server and those 10(or
100 workstation) will get updated instantly without clogging up the network
for transferring files between the server and those 10(or 100) client
workstation.

I think you all know what I'm talking about but most of your MVP[Microsoft
.....] are avoding the issues.

Please ....
 
S

Sarah Tanembaum

I think this is very inefficient. Why can I install my apps on a disk in my
server and mount that disk on my workstation and execute the exe file from
there.

If I need to upgrade, all I have to do is upgrade the server and those 10(or
100 workstation) will get updated instantly without clogging up the network
for transferring files between the server and those 10(or 100) client
workstation.

I think you all know what I'm talking about but most of your MVP[Microsoft
.....] are avoding the issues.

Please ....
 
K

Kevin Weilbacher [SBS-MVP]

Nope, we're not avoiding the issues. We're simply providing you "our"
experiences and insight - and that's all any of us can do. No product is
perfect. And we certainly don't pretend to have all the answers. If you
don't like our responses, then I would suggest that you consider moving your
arguments to another NG that may have the answers you are looking for.

--
Kevin Weilbacher [SBS-MVP]
"The days pass by so quickly now, the nights are seldom long"


Sarah Tanembaum said:
I think this is very inefficient. Why can I install my apps on a disk in my
server and mount that disk on my workstation and execute the exe file from
there.

If I need to upgrade, all I have to do is upgrade the server and those 10(or
100 workstation) will get updated instantly without clogging up the network
for transferring files between the server and those 10(or 100) client
workstation.

I think you all know what I'm talking about but most of your MVP[Microsoft
....] are avoding the issues.

Please ....


Cary Shultz said:
Sarah,

I might jump in here for a second.

First of all, the idea of a Terminal Server is generally a really good idea.
I have been using Terminal Server for the last 15 months or so and it is
generally a great thing. As Kevin mentioned, you can no longer install
Terminal Server in Application Mode ( err, that is the WIN2000
terminology.... ) on the SBS2003 Server itself. There are some very good
reasons for this. You would need a second server that would be the Terminal
Server. On SBS2000 you can indeed do this - but again, not generally a good
idea to run Terminal Server in Application Mode on a Domain Controller....

However, since you have powerful workstations, you have a really good point
/ question as to why do you would want to turn them into thin clients. I
would probably not want to do that! Du hast schon das Geld ausgegeben!

Secondly, you can indeed make an Administrative Installation of Office 2003
on your Server and install that application on each workstation from that
Admin Installation. The advantages of doing this are 1) you have a common,
accessible installation point and 2) you do not have to worry about losing
the Office 2003 CD! However, the disadvantage of doing this ( compared to
my next suggestion ) is that when you want to update the clients ( sagen
wir, dass Microsoft Office 2003 SP1 liefiert ) you have the problem of
updating each client - this usually involves uninstalling Office 2003 from
each client ( you could use the utility from the Office 2003 Resource
Kit
to
do this! ) and then running the installation on each workstation. Sure, you
could probably do this via a logon script, but you still have the
administrative overhead ( you have to write the additional lines in the
logon script and make sure that it is run on each machine and then rem out
the additional lines in the logon script ). So, with this solution you have
a really nicely located Administrative Installation Point that you can
nicely keep up to date but you have the problem on the workstations.

So, I would suggest to you that you take a good long look at using Group
Policy to install Office 2003 to all of your computers ( or users ). You
simply make that one Administrative Installation Point ( via setup.exe
/a ) - which you can still update when security patches are releases or when
a Service Pack is released - and you have the ability to very quickly and
without much administrative overhead install this to your clients and - here
comes a really neat point - easily and quickly update the clients when those
security patches or Service Packs are released. Additionally, if you make
use of the Office 2003 Resource Kit you can create .mst files ( aka
Transforms files ) that will allow you to customize the installation ( say
that Heinz and Hans get Excel, Word and Outlook while Ulrike and Petra get
PowerPoint, Word and Outlook ). Furthermore, you can set a lot of the
options via a GPO that will ensure that all of your users have the settings
that they need. You will not have to go to each computer and make sure that
all of those specific settings are properly configured. Do it via the GPO
and there you have it! Also, you can control it so that your clients can
not go to the officeupdate.microsoft.com and make untested updates to the
Office 2003 installation. This is a really nice feature as well.....

Sarah, Du kannst Dich gerne an mich wenden solltest Du Fragen ueber das
Group Policy Object haben....

HTH,

Cary
an
 
K

Kevin Weilbacher [SBS-MVP]

Nope, we're not avoiding the issues. We're simply providing you "our"
experiences and insight - and that's all any of us can do. No product is
perfect. And we certainly don't pretend to have all the answers. If you
don't like our responses, then I would suggest that you consider moving your
arguments to another NG that may have the answers you are looking for.

--
Kevin Weilbacher [SBS-MVP]
"The days pass by so quickly now, the nights are seldom long"


Sarah Tanembaum said:
I think this is very inefficient. Why can I install my apps on a disk in my
server and mount that disk on my workstation and execute the exe file from
there.

If I need to upgrade, all I have to do is upgrade the server and those 10(or
100 workstation) will get updated instantly without clogging up the network
for transferring files between the server and those 10(or 100) client
workstation.

I think you all know what I'm talking about but most of your MVP[Microsoft
....] are avoding the issues.

Please ....


Cary Shultz said:
Sarah,

I might jump in here for a second.

First of all, the idea of a Terminal Server is generally a really good idea.
I have been using Terminal Server for the last 15 months or so and it is
generally a great thing. As Kevin mentioned, you can no longer install
Terminal Server in Application Mode ( err, that is the WIN2000
terminology.... ) on the SBS2003 Server itself. There are some very good
reasons for this. You would need a second server that would be the Terminal
Server. On SBS2000 you can indeed do this - but again, not generally a good
idea to run Terminal Server in Application Mode on a Domain Controller....

However, since you have powerful workstations, you have a really good point
/ question as to why do you would want to turn them into thin clients. I
would probably not want to do that! Du hast schon das Geld ausgegeben!

Secondly, you can indeed make an Administrative Installation of Office 2003
on your Server and install that application on each workstation from that
Admin Installation. The advantages of doing this are 1) you have a common,
accessible installation point and 2) you do not have to worry about losing
the Office 2003 CD! However, the disadvantage of doing this ( compared to
my next suggestion ) is that when you want to update the clients ( sagen
wir, dass Microsoft Office 2003 SP1 liefiert ) you have the problem of
updating each client - this usually involves uninstalling Office 2003 from
each client ( you could use the utility from the Office 2003 Resource
Kit
to
do this! ) and then running the installation on each workstation. Sure, you
could probably do this via a logon script, but you still have the
administrative overhead ( you have to write the additional lines in the
logon script and make sure that it is run on each machine and then rem out
the additional lines in the logon script ). So, with this solution you have
a really nicely located Administrative Installation Point that you can
nicely keep up to date but you have the problem on the workstations.

So, I would suggest to you that you take a good long look at using Group
Policy to install Office 2003 to all of your computers ( or users ). You
simply make that one Administrative Installation Point ( via setup.exe
/a ) - which you can still update when security patches are releases or when
a Service Pack is released - and you have the ability to very quickly and
without much administrative overhead install this to your clients and - here
comes a really neat point - easily and quickly update the clients when those
security patches or Service Packs are released. Additionally, if you make
use of the Office 2003 Resource Kit you can create .mst files ( aka
Transforms files ) that will allow you to customize the installation ( say
that Heinz and Hans get Excel, Word and Outlook while Ulrike and Petra get
PowerPoint, Word and Outlook ). Furthermore, you can set a lot of the
options via a GPO that will ensure that all of your users have the settings
that they need. You will not have to go to each computer and make sure that
all of those specific settings are properly configured. Do it via the GPO
and there you have it! Also, you can control it so that your clients can
not go to the officeupdate.microsoft.com and make untested updates to the
Office 2003 installation. This is a really nice feature as well.....

Sarah, Du kannst Dich gerne an mich wenden solltest Du Fragen ueber das
Group Policy Object haben....

HTH,

Cary
an
 

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