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#192665 - 2009-03-01 09:29 PM Office compatibility
Ashpoint Offline
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Registered: 1999-08-27
Posts: 192
Loc: Sydney, NSW, Australia
My client has Office 2003 as their Word, Excel, etc source and are now getting donated documents created in Office 2007 suites.

Microsoft have issued a compatibilty package that assists.

[url]
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/detai...&displayLang=en
[/url]

My questions:

Is there a KiX solution to check if the workstation already has the compatibility pack installed AND

If not run the .EXE (hopefully silently) to install it.


Michael

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#192666 - 2009-03-01 09:38 PM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Ashpoint]
Lonkero Administrator Offline
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sure.
look into hklm\soft\microsoft\windows\current\uninstall

look up the product in there...
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#192667 - 2009-03-01 09:58 PM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Lonkero]
Ashpoint Offline
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Registered: 1999-08-27
Posts: 192
Loc: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Wow, thanks for the prompt response.

Now to the second part of the question:

If it hasn't been installed, how to install it (silently) for the user?

Regards,
Michael

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#192668 - 2009-03-01 10:41 PM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Ashpoint]
Lonkero Administrator Offline
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well, it's microsoft, so you should be able to see supported switches with simply starting as:
theConverterInstaller.exe /?
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#192671 - 2009-03-01 11:41 PM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Lonkero]
Ashpoint Offline
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Registered: 1999-08-27
Posts: 192
Loc: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Nice one with the options. I'll experiment with /quiet and /passive which are listed as options.

In the meantime the Uninstall registry key was unhelpful.

Seems there's a mixture of {xxxx.xxx.etc} identifiers and some English Names. It's probably one of the identifiers <sob>

If I go the the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel, the Compatibility Pack is plain English nominated.

Looks like I need to go on the MSFT site to see if there is a marker for the already installed software.

That is, unless someone on the KiX board can throw light on the matter.

Regards,
Michael

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#192672 - 2009-03-02 12:11 AM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Ashpoint]
Lonkero Administrator Offline
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if it is in plain english there and it's MS software, 99,9% certainty, it's in english also under uninstall-regkey.
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#192674 - 2009-03-02 02:10 AM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Lonkero]
Ashpoint Offline
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Registered: 1999-08-27
Posts: 192
Loc: Sydney, NSW, Australia
I'll go back and have a "mummy" look.
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#192681 - 2009-03-03 06:06 AM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Ashpoint]
Ashpoint Offline
Starting to like KiXtart

Registered: 1999-08-27
Posts: 192
Loc: Sydney, NSW, Australia
A great thanks to the KiX community for their assistance during my reading of the various forums. In this instance, particularly to Lonkero.

I'm proposing to roll out the following module within my login code:

 Code:
; ************************************************* Office Compatibility ************************
; Office Compatibility Update by Michael Rychter 03 March 2009
If NOT KeyExist("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{90120000-0020-0409-0000-0000000FF1CE}")
  $Ms = "We need to update your workstation to enable you to read and process"+@CRLF
  $Ms = $ms + "files created in Office 2007. Your login will be delayed a few moments"+@CRLF
  $Ms = $ms + "while the installation is done."+@CRLF + @CrLf
  $Ms = $ms + "You will only see this message once and you should be aware"+@CRLF
  $Ms = $ms + "that this is not a virus nor anything to be frightened of."+@CRLF + @CrLf
  $Ms = $ms + "If you are concerned, then phone Fred Nurk on 02 9412 6900"+@CRLF + @CrLf
  $Ms = $ms + "Please now press your <Enter> key..."+@CRLF + @CrLf
  MESSAGEBOX($ms, "My Domain", 0,60)
  Shell '"'+%COMSPEC%+'" /C "X:\Office2007Compatibility\FileFormatConverters.exe /QUIET"'
ENDIF



As usual, I would appreciate any additional comments.

Best regards,
Michael

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#192684 - 2009-03-03 10:52 AM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Ashpoint]
Lonkero Administrator Offline
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Registered: 2001-06-05
Posts: 22346
Loc: OK
ok, good to hear you got it working.
if you already do the messagebox part, you could also do /passive

it's a matter of opinion, imo, but that way user sees some text what is happening...
propably won't reduce phone calls, but, if someone calls they can't open office 2007 documents and you ask: "did the installer run on your computer?"
then he/she answers: "yes, it started but I didn't like it's overall look, so I quickly powered of my computer"
and the story goes on...
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#192687 - 2009-03-03 01:39 PM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Lonkero]
Glenn Barnas Administrator Offline
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Registered: 2003-01-28
Posts: 4396
Loc: New Jersey
I agree with the /passiv argument - it provides the progress bar only so the user can tell it's working. /Quiet installs are really only appropriate for those done when nobody is logged in. With Passiv, the user can guage the pain they should expect, decide whether to get a cup of coffee, or just wait for it to all be over. ;\) Also, if it takes so long that a call to the help desk is needed, the technician can gauge what is happening and where it might have hung up.

For those reading this and not familiar with MessageBox, it is critical to use a timeout in any login script process that prompts for input. If this account were used to perform an unattended install of some kind and ran the script, the process would hang forever rather than just be delayed for a minute if a timeout was not used.

Finally, I'm guessing this is a fairly tiny environment where everybody has local admin rights to their PC so they can install software during login. This is generally not a good practice if any level of security is desired. We've had several discussions on how to trigger admin priveleged installs via the login script that run outside of the user process. (ie - don't rely on elevating the user process with runas or runnas, but spawn an independent login process via the task scheduler.) This will be the focus of an upcoming Script Vault article. The general concept is
  • Login script detects the need for software or some admin-level task. Users generaly have read access to make this determination, but not the write access to make the change.
  • Login script writes a file to a server requesting the specific update, usually to @WKSTA.ini using a WriteProfileString command. Fast & direct.
  • Server finds the file, reads the entry & deletes the file. The server then copies a small batch file to the PC and creates a scheduled task to run the batch file. The batch file performs any task needed to prep and run the install command, including mapping any drives. There is no defined time to run this task, however. The task is created with a user account that has local PC admin rights, such as "Domain\SW-Installer".
  • The server triggers the task to run "right now"
Depending on the frequency that the server checks for new files (5-10 seconds), the installation will run in a separate process under local admin rights, and will start even before the typical login script has completed. This provides a fast, reliable, and secure install method.

Glenn
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#192690 - 2009-03-03 06:36 PM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Glenn Barnas]
Ashpoint Offline
Starting to like KiXtart

Registered: 1999-08-27
Posts: 192
Loc: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Wow, great comments.

Glenn, what's the information about "an upcoming Script Vault article"

I had never heard of the /passive switch, so back to the reading glasses.

Michael

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#192693 - 2009-03-03 09:00 PM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Ashpoint]
Lonkero Administrator Offline
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Registered: 2001-06-05
Posts: 22346
Loc: OK
never?
you posted about it before \:\)
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#192694 - 2009-03-03 09:37 PM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Lonkero]
Ashpoint Offline
Starting to like KiXtart

Registered: 1999-08-27
Posts: 192
Loc: Sydney, NSW, Australia
I must be behind in my Alzheimer tablets.

My mind was focused on the MessageBox command and wondered if the /PASSIVE switch was for that!!

I'm Ok now!

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#192695 - 2009-03-03 10:21 PM Re: Office compatibility [Re: Ashpoint]
Glenn Barnas Administrator Offline
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Registered: 2003-01-28
Posts: 4396
Loc: New Jersey
If you browse to the root of the Forums here, you'll see the Kixtart Learning and Script Vault forums. I moderate the Script Vault and post "almost ready to use code snippets" there, usually based on a specific concept or project.

The question of performing admin tasks during login has been raised so many times that I'm preparing an "almost ready to use solution" with corresponding documentation for publication there. Half the solution - running kix as a service - is already there.

Glenn
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