How do I deploy multiple languages in Office 2007?

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By default, Setup installs one language on a computer, but you can customize it to deploy multiple languages. If you just want to deploy a default language to every computer, see our ORK article, Deploy multiple language versions of the 2007 Office system.

To deploy multiple languages, first copy the Single Language Packs (SLPs) you want to deploy to an existing network installation point. By default, Setup installs the language version that matches the Windows user locale set on each user's computer. You can modify this according to your needs, so you can:

· Install more than one language on a single computer

· Specify exactly which languages to install on users' computers, regardless of user locale

· Specify custom settings once and then apply them to all language versions

· Deploy different languages to different groups of users

Install more than one language

Your users might need to work with Office files in more than one language. Use the following directions to install all the languages they need at once. If you just want to deploy Proofing Tools for additional languagues, see Deploy Proofing Tools for the 2007 Office system.

1. Create a network installation point for your primary Office 2007 product by copying all the files and folders from the source media to a shared network location.

 

2. Copy all the files and folders from the source media for each language pack to the same network location, and when prompted to overwrite duplicate files, click No.

 

3. In the core product folder for the product you are installing, locate the Config.xml file. For example, if you are installing Microsoft Office Standard 2007, the Config.xml file is in the Standard.WW folder.

 

4. Open Config.xml in a text editor, such as Notepad.

 

5. Find the <AddLanguage> element and uncomment the line by deleting the opening <!-- and closing --> tags.

 

6. Set the value of the Id attribute to the language tag that corresponds to the language you want to install. You can specify more than one language by including additional <AddLanguage> elements and attributes.

 

7. Specify which language to use for the shell user interface by setting the <ShellTransform> attribute of the <AddLanguage> element.

For example, to specify that Setup install both English and French, with English as the default installation language, add the following elements:

<AddLanguage Id="en-us" ShellTransform="yes"/> <AddLanguage Id="fr-fr " />

You are required to specify a value for the ShellTransform attribute whenever you add more than one <AddLanguage> element. Skipping this step causes the installation to fail.

8. To specify that Setup also match the language of the user's Windows user locale, add another line in Config.xml:

<AddLanguage Id="match" />

In this case, Setup installs all specified languages plus the language that matches the user locale, if that language is different.

9. Save the Config.xml file and then run Setup.exe and specify the path to your modified Config.xml file. Be sure to use a fully-qualified path, such as \servershareOffice12setup.exe /config \servershareOffice12Standard.WWConfig.xml.

Customize features and settings for a multilanguage installation

When you customize a multilanguage installation, most of your customizations apply to the core product, and Setup applies them to every language version that it installs. A small number of features and settings are language-specific. For example, you might see language-specific elements on the Modify user Settings and Set feature installation states pages of the Office Customization Tool (OCT), but Setup applies those customizations only when users install that language. Follow these steps to customize settings for a multi-language installation:

1. Start the Office Customization Tool by running Setup.exe from the root of the network installation point with the /admin command-line option.

 

2. Select the product you want to customize (you do not need to select a language).

 

3. Select the customizations you want to apply to any language version that you plan to install in your organization.

 

4. Save the Setup customization file (MSP file) in the Updates folder at the root of the network installation point. When Setup installs Office on users' computers, it automatically applies customizations saved in the MSP file and includes language-specific customizations as appropriate.

Deploy different languages to different groups of users

You can give different groups of users different sets of Office languages, by creating a unique Config.xml file for each group of users.

1. Follow the instructions in “Install more than one language,” above, for each group of users. Be sure to save each Config.xml file with a unique file name.

 

2. Deploy Office to each group of users separately, specifying the corresponding Config.xml file on the Setup command line. For example:

\servershareOffice12setup.exe /config \servershareOffice12Standard.WWSubAConfig.xml

–or–

\servershareOffice12setup.exe /config \servershareOffice12Standard.WWSubBConfig.xml

where Office12 is the root of the network installation point.

For more information, see the ORK article Customize a multilanguage deployment of the 2007 Office system.

- Andrea Weiss