Microsoft Visio 2002 Resource Kit

Chapter 7 - Special Deployment Scenarios

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Deploying to Laptop Users
Configuring Visio for Roaming Users

By using the standard methods of customizing and installing Microsoft Visio 2002 SR-1, you can configure Visio to work most efficiently in special circumstances. If your organization uses portable computers (laptop computers), you can install Visio in a way that minimizes reliance on the network. For roaming users (traveling users), you can take advantage of the network to store Visio settings and data and make them available from any computer. You can even deploy Visio from an internal Web server and allow users to run Setup through their Web browser.

Deploying to Laptop Users

Users who travel and rely on laptop computers often work with network connections that are intermittent, slow, or unreliable. When you deploy Microsoft Visio 2002 SR-1 to laptop computers, there are several recommended methods and settings that minimize users reliance on the network and make installing and maintaining Visio more efficient for these users.

Distribution methods

You can install Visio from an administrative installation point on the network or from the Visio CD. If you set a feature to Install on Demand from an administrative installation point and then demand the feature later when you are disconnected from the network, the setup program displays a dialog box that lets you install from an alternate location, such as the CD.

Laptop users who install from a network share can use the Visio CD as a source for installing on demand, repairing, or removing Visio when they are traveling. Conversely, if they install from the Visio CD, they can use an administrative installation point to update their Visio configuration.

If you want to deploy a custom configuration to laptop users, you can create a custom CD for each user by copying either the files on the CD or a portion of the administrative installation point.

Note   You must obtain the proper user licenses before copying, modifying, or distributing a customized version of the Visio CD. For more information about volume licensing programs, contact your software reseller or see the Licensing page of the Microsoft Licensing Web site.

Copy the Visio CD

If you want laptop users to travel with a custom CD as a source, do not run Setup with the /a command-line option to create an administrative installation point. Instead, copy the folders on the Visio CD directly to the network and use this image to create the duplicates.

After you copy the contents of the Visio CD to a network share, customizing a Visio CD image is similar to customizing an administrative image. For example, you can use the Custom Installation Wizard and the Setup INI Customization Wizard as long as you point the wizards to the MSI file on the CD.

To create a customized copy of the Visio CD 

1. Insert the Visio CD into your CD-ROM drive.

2. In Windows Explorer, select all the folders on the CD.

   Be sure to display all hidden files so that you see the entire contents of the Visio CD.

3. Copy the CD contents to a network share.

   The complete CD image for Visio 2002 SR-1 Professional requires approximately 300 MB of hard-disk space. If all laptop users are running Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me), you can omit the OSP folder. The program files and core Visio MSI file require approximately 130 MB of free space.

4. Customize the CD image by creating one or more transforms (MST files) and modifying Setup.ini.

   For example, to avoid making users enter the correct product key from the Visio CD case, set the PIDKEY property in the transform, and specify the transform in the [MST] section of Setup.ini. You cannot accept the end-user license agreement, but if you specify an unattended display setting, users do not see that page during Setup.

5. Copy the image onto a CD, and distribute copies to users.

The custom CDs that you create can be used in the same way as the original Visio CD, except that Setup runs with your modifications. The customized CD image on the network can also be used as a source.

Copy a portion of the administrative image

You can copy the entire administrative installation point onto a custom CD to distribute to users. In some cases, you may want to copy only a portion of the administrative image onto a CD and distribute it to users.

For example, if all laptop users in your organization have Windows Me or Windows 2000 or later, they do not need the System Files Update to install Visio. You can remove the OSP folder from the administrative image, freeing up even more space. After you customize Visio the way you want it, you can copy the administrative image onto one custom CD, which can then be copied and distributed to users.

In this scenario, the custom CD functions as an interchangeable equivalent to the administrative installation point on the network. In addition, users are not prompted to enter a product key or accept the end-user license agreement when they install Visio from the CD, because you entered that information for them when you created the administrative installation point.

If all the computers in your organization run under Windows 2000, you can use Windows 2000 software installation and maintenance (Microsoft IntelliMirror) to manage laptop installations. When users install Visio from a custom CD, IntelliMirror begins to manage the Visio installation the next time they log on to the network. In this scenario, however, the managed configuration must be identical to the initial installation: same package (MSI file), and same transform (MST file). If the two differ in any way, IntelliMirror uninstalls and then reinstalls Visio. For more information, see Using Windows 2000 Software Installation in Chapter 5 of the Microsoft Visio 2002 Resource Kit.

Recommended settings

When you configure Visio for laptop users, you can make sure that users have access to the Visio features they need without having to depend on a network connection. To ensure this access, you can do the following:

• Install all required applications and features locally; do not use the Installed on First Use installation state.

  Windows Installer must be able to connect to the source to install features on demand. If laptop users cannot connect to the network or do not have the CD handy, features set to be installed on demand are inaccessible to them.

• Do not set features to Run from Network.

  Unless laptop users have persistent and fast network connections, running applications over the network is inefficient.

You can disable installation states that rely on a network connection when you customize Visio. The Custom Installation Wizard includes two new options on the Set Feature Installation States page that disable these installation states and help ensure that users do not reset features to these states during Setup or in maintenance mode:

• Disable Run from Network

  When you select a feature in the feature tree and then select this check box, users are prevented from setting the feature to run from the network; the installation state does not appear in the list of options during initial Setup or in maintenance mode.

• Disable Installed on First Use

  When you select a feature in the feature tree and then select this check box, users are prevented from setting the feature to be installed on first use; the installation state does not appear in the list of options during initial Setup or in maintenance mode.

Child features do not inherit these settings from parent features. You must select each feature in the tree and set Disable Run from Network or Disable Installed on First Use for only that feature.

Note  The Disable Run from Network and Disable Installed on First Use properties remain in effect for as long as Visio is installed on the laptop computer.

Configuring Visio for Roaming Users

Traveling users (sometimes referred to as roaming users move between different computers on a network. By using Microsoft Visio 2002, traveling users can move between computers without changing the way that they work. Their application settings and working files travel with them, along with any system preferences.

Traveling users are possible because of roaming user profiles. Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me), Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0, and Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional support roaming user profiles, as do Windows NT Server 4.0, Windows 2000 Server, and third-party servers. Visio takes advantage of the operating systems features to make Visio settings travel with your users.

When you turn on roaming user profiles, users can switch between computers as long as they log on to the same network and retrieve their user information from that network. This flexibility helps you make the most of your computer resources.

Preparing Visio for roaming users

Users are able to travel easily from computer to computer when their documents and application preferences travel with them. This convenience requires that you configure Microsoft Visio installation and the operating system to support users who travel. Consider these guidelines:

• Use a consistent version of the operating system

  Users can roam best between computers that use the same version of the same operating system. For example, Windows 2000 to Windows 2000, Windows 98 Second Edition to Windows 98 Second Edition, and so on.

  Note   The following platforms support roaming Visio 2002 SR-1 users: Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6a.

• Use a consistent operating system language

  Make sure that the same operating system language version is installed on all computers that users roam between.

• Use a consistent version of Visio

  Make sure that the same language version and release version of Visio are installed on all computers that users roam between.

• Install Visio on a per-computer, rather than per-user, basis

  Traveling users rely on user profiles to transfer their individual settings. However, you can save both hard-disk space and download time by installing Visio on a per-computer basis. For Windows NT, log on as an administrator of the computer and then install Visio. For Windows 98 and Windows Me, install Visio before you turn on user profiles. Installing on a per-computer basis ensures that the installation information is shared by all users of that computer, so it does not need to be stored separately for each user.

  Note   Installing Visio before enabling user profiles on Windows 98 and Windows Me gives you a per-computer installation of Visio. Be aware, however, that using this method for Windows 98 and Windows Me can cause Windows Installer shortcuts to display a generic image, rather than the application icon. The shortcuts continue to function correctly; only the image is affected.

• Install Visio features to run from the network

  If you install the Visio features on the network, these features are always available to traveling users, as long as your network is running. With the features on the network, you also cut down on the number of files and other objects that must be copied to each hard disk when users travel to a new computer.

• Install crucial Visio features to run from the local hard disk

  You can install the Visio features that users need most to run from the local hard disk. For example, if everyone uses Visio on a daily basis to work on certain drawings, you can ensure that their work is not interrupted by server problems by installing Visio on the local hard disk.

• Install Visio to the same drive and folder on each computer

  If users travel from a computer that has Visio installed on drive C to a computer that has Visio installed on drive D, or if users travel from a computer that has Visio installed in C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Visio 10 to a computer that has Visio installed in C:\Program Files\Visio, their shortcuts and customized settings might not work correctly. For more information, see the sidebar Windows Installer Shortcuts and Roaming Users in this topic.

• Install Visio using the same installation method on each computer

  Install Visio on each computer as either per-user or per-computer, not as a combination of the two.

• Store user information on the network

  When you configure a user profile for use by a roaming user, it is copied to the network and then downloaded when the user travels to a new computer. To make roaming even easier, you can also store other information, such as your users My Documents or Personal folders, on a server so that users can open those documents from any computer they are using.

  Tip   If you store user information on a file server, rather than on your Primary Domain Controller (PDC), you can balance the load on your servers more efficiently. For more information about load balancing, see your network documentation.Tip   Make sure that user profiles and system policies allow users to install the applications they need when they travel to a new computer. On Windows 2000, you can use Microsoft IntelliMirror to deploy Visio, or on Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 you can set the Always install with elevated privileges policy for Windows Installer. Deploying with IntelliMirror or using the policy allows any user to install Visio features as if the user were an administrator for that computer.

See also

Traveling users rely on roaming user profiles to track their user information.

For more information about roaming user profiles in Windows NT 4.0, see the Guide to Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Profiles and Policies on the Microsoft Windows NT Web site.

For more information about roaming user profiles in Windows 2000, see Microsoft Windows 2000-based Roaming User Profiles in the Windows 2000 Server documentation.

Customizing Visio for roaming users

You can get the best performance out of Visio for your traveling users by carefully customizing certain Visio installation settings and by configuring user profiles so that user data is available from any computer on the network.

Customizing the Visio installation

There are several settings in the Office XP Custom Installation Wizard that you can change to make it easier to set up Visio for traveling users.

To customize the Visio installation for traveling users 

1. Start the Office XP Custom Installation Wizard.

2. On the Specify Default Path and Organization page, verify that <Program Files>\Microsoft Office appears in the Default installation path box.

3. On the Set Feature Installation States page, set the installation state for Microsoft Visio to Run from Network.

   To set a mission-critical feature to run from the local hard disk, set the installation state for the feature to Run from My Computer.

4. On the Modify Setup Properties page, set the property TRANSFORMSATSOURCE to Cache transforms locally in a secure location.

5. If your users need to roam to a computer that does not support Windows Installer shortcuts, on the Add, Modify, or Remove Shortcuts page, clear the check box for Create Windows Installer shortcuts if supported.

   In this case, Visio Setup creates only standard shortcuts, and you must install Visio into the same folder structure on every computer to which users will roam.

   Windows Installer shortcuts and roaming users 

   Windows Installer shortcuts are supported on Windows 98, Windows Millennium, and Windows 2000. They are also supported on Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 6a, if you have Internet Explorer 4.01 SP-1 or greater installed with Active Desktop, or Internet Explorer 5.01 installed with the Windows Desktop Update.

   When a user logs on to a computer that has roaming user profiles enabled, Windows automatically copies the users shortcuts from the server to the users computer. If Visio Setup creates Windows Installer shortcuts, but the user logs on to a computer without Windows Installer shortcut support, the shortcuts will not work. However, if the user runs the application once on a computer that supports Windows Installer shortcuts, the shortcuts are modified to include the path. Then if the user runs the application on a computer without Installer shortcut support, and Visio is installed in the same folder structure, the shortcuts will work correctly.

   If you clear the check box for Create Windows Installer shortcuts if supported in the Custom Installation Wizard, Setup installs only standard shortcuts, which function properly on any Windows operating system. Standard shortcuts include the folder path for the application, so you must install Visio into the same folder hierarchy on each computer so that the folder path entries in the shortcuts are correct on each computer. Standard shortcuts do not allow for advertising of applications or features.

Managing user profiles

Traveling users rely on roaming user profiles to track their user information and on servers to make sure that the user profile information travels with them. To support traveling users, you must set up both client and server computers with roaming user profiles (profiles that travel with the user account). Roaming user profiles are stored on the server and automatically downloaded to the client computer when users log on.

By using roaming user profiles, traveling users can log on to any computer on the network and download their user profile information. When users change any of their settings, the profile is automatically updated on the server when they log off, and their new information is automatically updated, too.

Note   During Setup, Windows Installer lets you set Visio features to Installed on First Use. This installation option works on a per-computer basis rather than on a per-user basis, so Windows Installer cannot track which features your users have installed as they travel between computers. Your users application settings travel, but not the specific features that have been installed on a particular computer. When users log on to the new computer and attempt to open a feature, they might have to wait while the feature is installed.

Microsoft Visio helps traveling users by storing all application data (such as user information, working files, and settings and preferences) in the Application Data folder for easy retrieval by the profile. All files that reside in the Application Data folder are available to the user from any computer in the network.

The Application Data folder is located in different places, depending on your operating system installation. The following table identifies the default locations for the Application Data folder for each installation.

Special considerations for international travelers

Because operating systems differ in their support of some languages, users who are traveling internationally can take their roaming user profiles to another computer only when both the source and destination computers use the same code page.

Note   You must have a consistent level of security in your operating system to travel successfully between computers. For example, if you are using a Microsoft Windows 2000 computer with 128-bit encryption capabilities, you must travel to another Windows 2000 computer with 128-bit encryption for all of your security settings to work as you expect.

Within the limitations of multilingual support in various operating systems, you can make accommodations for users who travel internationally. The following operating systems allow users to take roaming user profiles from one computer to another:

• Windows NT Workstation 4.0 or Windows 95, or Windows 98.

  In this case, both the destination computer and the source computer must use the same language version of the operating system.

  or

• Windows 2000 Professional with support for multiple languages.

For example, if your organization is based in the United States, but your users travel frequently to Europe and Asia, you can install the English version of Windows NT Workstation 4.0 or Windows 98 on all computers available to traveling users. This arrangement allows traveling users to take their Visio settings and files with them.

Tip   When traveling users log on to the network, their roaming user profiles are downloaded to their new location. For users who travel abroad, it might be more efficient to set them up to use a local server at their destination, rather than downloading large amounts of data from their original domain.

Find Shape Database

If hard-drive space is a concern when you install Visio 2002 SR-1 for roaming users, you can specify whether Visio 2002 SR-1 uses the Find Shape local database. By default, Visio 2002 SR-1 copies the ShapeGallery.mdb database to users profiles upon first use. Because this database is approximately 10MB, when multiplied by the number of users in your environment, this can require a significant amount of disk storage space. And for roaming users, the time it takes to download the database can be prohibitive.

To avoid these problems, you must add a registry key to the users computer. Alternatively, you can add the key to all computers by using the Custom Install Wizard.

To prevent Visio from using the Find Shape database 

1. Add the DWORD value "Index" to the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Visio\Shape Gallery

2. Set the value of Index to "0"

Making these registry changes will prevent Visio from copying the ShapeGallery.mdb database file to user profiles. If you make this change, users will not be able to use the "Find Shape" feature in Visio 2002 SR-1 to search for shapes locally, because the ShapeGallery.mdb database will not exist on their computer. However, they will be able to search for shapes over the Internet.