How To ThinApp Microsoft Office 2007

The steps for Virtualizing the Microsoft Office 2007 suite are much the same as most other packages.  Before we begin, as with any ThinApp build, we will need the following:

• A virtual machine running Windows XP with no additional software installed
  

  Note: I like to keep a virtual machine in my inventory for ThinApp provisioning that has a snapshot taken just after the OS was installed. This allows me to reuse the same VM each time I build a new ThinApp package (I just revert to the fresh OS build snapshot.)

• A licensed copy of the software to be installed.  Many Microsoft products will require a valid Volume License Key (VLK) but you should check with your software’s manufacture for the specifics of their licensing agreement
  

  Note: The number of licensed copies will depend on the number of machines you intend to run the software on. Just like any other non-virtualized application, Thinapp packages do not negate the need for a licensed copy of the software. You must be licensed for the number of copies used in the enterprise.

1. Power on the XP virtual machine on which you will install the Office 2007 suite.  This VM must be running a pristine copy of Windows XP with no other software installed.
   
   Note: If you have not already done so, you might consider taking a snapshot of the VM before the installation of Office so that the VM can be reused later for other ThinApp builds.
   
   
2. Run ThinApp's Setup Capture on the pristine copy of Windows XP
   
   
   Note: In our example, we have created a share for the ThinApp Setup Capture executables.  ThinApp should not be installed on the pristine copy of Windows XP.   It should be run from a network share as in the image above.
   
   
3. Click Next on the Setup Capture screen
   
   
   
   
4. Click Next on the Prescan instructions screen
   
   
   
   
5. ThinApp will perform a prescan to create a “baseline” of your VM before Office is installed.  This scan should take less than a minute.  It will later use this baseline for comparison (changes to the file system and registry) to create the virtualized package.
   
   
   
   
6. Once the prescan has completed, you’ll be presented with a screen instructing you to install your software
   
   
   
   
7. Minimize the ThinApp screen and begin your Office 2007 installation. 
   
   
   
   

   Some applications like Office will allow you to run certain components of the application from a CD.  Unfortunately, this feature is not supported by ThinApp.  Therefore, you should ensure all components of Office are installed to disk using a custom installation. If there are any patches or updates to the application, those should also be installed at this time. The installation of the application and/or patches might require a reboot.  Don’t worry if you’re forced to reboot the system, ThinApp will automatically continue where it left off. If there are any post installation customizations that need to be done, do so at this time.  Remember that any changes made will carry forward with the virtualized application.  In the case of Microsoft Word, if you need to run it after the install (to make customizations etc.,) the first time it's run, you will be prompted to provide your name and initials.  Since we want each of our users to enter their name and initials respectively (not use ours), you should not enter anything into this field and hit cancel so that it will prompt our users for this information the first time they run it (as a virtualized application.)

   
   
8. Once the installation has completed, return to Setup Capture and click Next
   
   
   
   
9. Setup Capture will then being the process of a postscan.  During the postscan, the baseline is compared to the current state of the machine.  Any changes made to the state of the virtual machine thus far will be captured as part of the build.
   
   
   
   
10. On the entry points windows, leave the primary data container as the default “Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007.dat”.  If you use thinreg to register your Thinapps on Windows, whatever has been provided for the Inventory name will show up in the Windows Add/Remove Program control panel.  Set the inventory name to reflect the contents of the virtualized application. 
    
    
    
    
11. Look though the list of entry points deselecting any application you do not wish to include within the ThinApp package set.  Click Next once complete.
    
    
    
    
12. Chose your desired sandbox location and click Next
    
    
    Note: I like to leave the sandbox with the User’s profile and control this with profile redirection
    
    
13. Chose the “Merged isolation mode” and click Next
    
    
    
    
14. In the Project Location field, provide a location to store the ThinApp build.  Once you’re satisfied, click Next
    
    
    Note: You can move/change the location of these files later if needed.  ThinApp only needs to know where to initially store the project for its first build.  Later builds or changes to the published location can be done from another location.
    
    
15. ThinApp will then begin copying the project to the build location set in the previous step 
    
    
    
    
16. Once the files have been copied, you will be presented with the build project screen.  Select the ‘Browse Project’ option.  Before we build the package, we need to perform some clean-up and make some modifications to it before we continue on. 
    
    
    

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smitty ness  - visitor |28/06/2011 14:41:20 Last time i come here too, this is bogus and misleading, if you really want to know how this works properly, keep Googling.. this is not the place where good information lives. Reply | Quote

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