<b><i>Practice Tip:</b></i> <b>Using the Microsoft Office Profile Wizard</b>

The Microsoft Office applications provide for a tremendous amount of flexibility in customizing them to fit your particular preferences and/or the overall needs and requirements of your work environment. Rarely, if ever, would someone use an out-of-the-box installation of a Microsoft Office product without modifying at least a few of its myriad default settings. The various adjustments you might make to custom templates, dictionaries, toolbars, AutoText and AutoCorrect lists and the like can be substantial. And to replicate those customizations on another computer, such as your home computer, could literally take you hours; and that's assuming you are able to detail in writing all the customizations you have made so that you can perform the manual transfer.

In this article, I will introduce you to the Office Profile Wizard, a simple tool provided by Microsoft as part of the Office Resource Kit, which lets you capture all of your customizations in any of the Microsoft Office applications in a matter of minutes, not hours. By allowing you the ability to both save and restore your Office settings, the Office Profile Wizard provides you with both disaster contigency (should your computer crash and you have to reinstall Microsoft Office) and with portability (so that you can transfer, for example, your custom setting from your computer at work to your computer at home).

Installing the Profile Wizard

The Profile Wizard is included in the Microsoft Office Resource Kit, a set of tools designed for network administrators and technical users to manage the customization and deployment of Microsoft Office in a networked environment. To download the Office XP Resource Kit, go to the following URL: www.microsoft.com/office/ork/xp/appndx/appa14.htm. Resource Kits are also available on Microsoft's Web site for Office 97/98, Office 2000 and Office 2003.

Once you have downloaded the installation file (orktools.exe), double click on the EXE to begin the install. Accept the terms of the license agreement and click Next. To install the Profile Wizard application only, select Custom install, change the location of the installation directory (if you want to), then click Next. In the subsequent dialog, click on the Tools icon at the top of the tree structure in the left pane and select Not Available. Then select the Office Profile Wizard icon and select Run From My Computer to include this module in the install. If you wish to install other components of the Office Resource Kit, select the Install Now (default) or Complete installation types and click Next. Begin the installation by clicking Install and click OK when completed.

Saving Your Office Settings

As mentioned above, the Profile Wizard is a tool that allows you to capture all the customizations and configuration changes you have made to your Office programs. Almost all settings for Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access, FrontPage and Publisher are captured, including changes made via each application's Tools, Options dialog. By design, the Profile Wizard excludes some settings, including user-specific information such as the user name and Most Recently Used file list (File menu).

The Profile Wizard stores the settings it captures in a file with an OPS extension. The OPS file is actually a relational database that stores the information for all the settings captured. (An OPS file viewer is included in the full install of the Office Resource Kit.)

To capture all the custom settings in your Office programs on your computer, do the following:

1. Close all open Office programs (the files and registry keys which are being captured cannot be in use).
2. Click on Start, Programs, Microsoft Office Tools, Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit Tools, Profile Wizard. This will launch the Profile Wizard.
3. Click Next. The Profile Wizard will search your computer for all Office applications which have been installed. The following dialog will be displayed:
4. The dialog defaults to the “Save the settings from this machine” option button. It also defaults to the filename “New Settings File.OPS” in the “My Documents” folder on your computer. You may change this location/filename manually or by using the Browse button.
5. By default, all Office applications are checked. If you do not wish to have settings from certain Office applications captured, then uncheck them before clicking Next.
6. Click Finish to create the OPS file. A final dialog will display which will inform you of the location and filename of the OPS file just created, as well as provide instructions for how to perform a slient restore of the OPS file.
7. Click Exit to close the Wizard.

Restoring Your Office Settings

Restoring from an OPS file is just as simple as creating one. (See the screen capture below).

1. Close all open Office programs (the files and registry keys which are being captured cannot be in use).
2. Click on Start, Programs, Microsoft Office Tools, Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit Tools, Profile Wizard. This will launch the Profile Wizard.
3. Click Next. On the “Save and Restore Settings” dialog, select the “Restore previously saved settings” option button.
4. Leave the “Reset to defaults before restoring settings” checked if you wish to first restore all Office programs back to their default settings before restoring your specific customizations. Unchecking this box will apply only your customized settings in the OPS file, without altering any other Office settings already in place on your computer.
5. Click Next or Finish to restore your settings and then Exit to close the Profile Wizard.

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Running From the Command Line

You can run the Profile Wizard from the command line with no loss in functionality. Every option available in the wizard has a corresponding command-line switch.

Use the following syntax:

Proflwiz.exe [[/r] [/s] ] [/d] [/i ] [/q] [/p] [/e]

The following table describes these command-line options.

Switch Action

/r Restore settings from specified OPS file.

/s Save settings to specified OPS file.

/d Reset defaults settings before any restore.

/i Use specified file instead of Proflwiz.ini.

/q Run in quiet mode; suppress error messages and progress bar.

/p Display progress bars; suppress error messages.

/e Display error messages; suppress progress bars.

/? Display syntax.

The parameter is required if either the /s switch or the /r switch is used. If no additional switches are used, both progress bars and error messages are displayed.

You can use the /r switch and the /d switch together.

If the /s switch and the /d switch are specified in the same command line, the /d switch is ignored.

The /p and /e switches are mutually exclusive.

Summary

The Office Profile Wizard is not only a comprehensive tool, but one which is easy to use. It provides you the means by which to back up and restore your custom settings, or a means by which to transfer those settings to another computer or share them with another individual.

The Microsoft Office applications provide for a tremendous amount of flexibility in customizing them to fit your particular preferences and/or the overall needs and requirements of your work environment. Rarely, if ever, would someone use an out-of-the-box installation of a Microsoft Office product without modifying at least a few of its myriad default settings. The various adjustments you might make to custom templates, dictionaries, toolbars, AutoText and AutoCorrect lists and the like can be substantial. And to replicate those customizations on another computer, such as your home computer, could literally take you hours; and that's assuming you are able to detail in writing all the customizations you have made so that you can perform the manual transfer.

In this article, I will introduce you to the Office Profile Wizard, a simple tool provided by Microsoft as part of the Office Resource Kit, which lets you capture all of your customizations in any of the Microsoft Office applications in a matter of minutes, not hours. By allowing you the ability to both save and restore your Office settings, the Office Profile Wizard provides you with both disaster contigency (should your computer crash and you have to reinstall Microsoft Office) and with portability (so that you can transfer, for example, your custom setting from your computer at work to your computer at home).

Installing the Profile Wizard

The Profile Wizard is included in the Microsoft Office Resource Kit, a set of tools designed for network administrators and technical users to manage the customization and deployment of Microsoft Office in a networked environment. To download the Office XP Resource Kit, go to the following URL: www.microsoft.com/office/ork/xp/appndx/appa14.htm. Resource Kits are also available on Microsoft's Web site for Office 97/98, Office 2000 and Office 2003.

Once you have downloaded the installation file (orktools.exe), double click on the EXE to begin the install. Accept the terms of the license agreement and click Next. To install the Profile Wizard application only, select Custom install, change the location of the installation directory (if you want to), then click Next. In the subsequent dialog, click on the Tools icon at the top of the tree structure in the left pane and select Not Available. Then select the Office Profile Wizard icon and select Run From My Computer to include this module in the install. If you wish to install other components of the Office Resource Kit, select the Install Now (default) or Complete installation types and click Next. Begin the installation by clicking Install and click OK when completed.

Saving Your Office Settings

As mentioned above, the Profile Wizard is a tool that allows you to capture all the customizations and configuration changes you have made to your Office programs. Almost all settings for Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access, FrontPage and Publisher are captured, including changes made via each application's Tools, Options dialog. By design, the Profile Wizard excludes some settings, including user-specific information such as the user name and Most Recently Used file list (File menu).

The Profile Wizard stores the settings it captures in a file with an OPS extension. The OPS file is actually a relational database that stores the information for all the settings captured. (An OPS file viewer is included in the full install of the Office Resource Kit.)

To capture all the custom settings in your Office programs on your computer, do the following:

1. Close all open Office programs (the files and registry keys which are being captured cannot be in use).
2. Click on Start, Programs, Microsoft Office Tools, Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit Tools, Profile Wizard. This will launch the Profile Wizard.
3. Click Next. The Profile Wizard will search your computer for all Office applications which have been installed. The following dialog will be displayed:
4. The dialog defaults to the “Save the settings from this machine” option button. It also defaults to the filename “New Settings File.OPS” in the “My Documents” folder on your computer. You may change this location/filename manually or by using the Browse button.
5. By default, all Office applications are checked. If you do not wish to have settings from certain Office applications captured, then uncheck them before clicking Next.
6. Click Finish to create the OPS file. A final dialog will display which will inform you of the location and filename of the OPS file just created, as well as provide instructions for how to perform a slient restore of the OPS file.
7. Click Exit to close the Wizard.

Restoring Your Office Settings

Restoring from an OPS file is just as simple as creating one. (See the screen capture below).

1. Close all open Office programs (the files and registry keys which are being captured cannot be in use).
2. Click on Start, Programs, Microsoft Office Tools, Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit Tools, Profile Wizard. This will launch the Profile Wizard.
3. Click Next. On the “Save and Restore Settings” dialog, select the “Restore previously saved settings” option button.
4. Leave the “Reset to defaults before restoring settings” checked if you wish to first restore all Office programs back to their default settings before restoring your specific customizations. Unchecking this box will apply only your customized settings in the OPS file, without altering any other Office settings already in place on your computer.
5. Click Next or Finish to restore your settings and then Exit to close the Profile Wizard.

[IMGCAP(1)]

Running From the Command Line

You can run the Profile Wizard from the command line with no loss in functionality. Every option available in the wizard has a corresponding command-line switch.

Use the following syntax:

Proflwiz.exe [[/r] [/s] ] [/d] [/i ] [/q] [/p] [/e]

The following table describes these command-line options.

Switch Action

/r Restore settings from specified OPS file.

/s Save settings to specified OPS file.

/d Reset defaults settings before any restore.

/i Use specified file instead of Proflwiz.ini.

/q Run in quiet mode; suppress error messages and progress bar.

/p Display progress bars; suppress error messages.

/e Display error messages; suppress progress bars.

/? Display syntax.

The parameter is required if either the /s switch or the /r switch is used. If no additional switches are used, both progress bars and error messages are displayed.

You can use the /r switch and the /d switch together.

If the /s switch and the /d switch are specified in the same command line, the /d switch is ignored.

The /p and /e switches are mutually exclusive.

Summary

The Office Profile Wizard is not only a comprehensive tool, but one which is easy to use. It provides you the means by which to back up and restore your custom settings, or a means by which to transfer those settings to another computer or share them with another individual.