Best practices for maintaining Office 2010

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You can maintain and customize a Microsoft Office 2010 installation by using any of the methods that are described in this blog.

Microsoft Office 2010 provides the following methods for customizing and maintaining Office installations:

  • Config.xml The Config.xml file is used to configure installation tasks. If you are using both a Setup customization .msp file and a Config.xml file to customize Office, the customizations that you define in Config.xml take precedence over those in the customization .msp file. You can use the Config.xml to configure options such as the following:
    • Specify the path of the network installation point.
    • Select the products to install.
    • Customize Setup options. These include logging and the location of the Setup customization file and software updates.
    • Specify installation options, such as user and company name.
    • Copy the local installation source (LIS) to the user's computer without installing Office.
    • Add or remove languages from the installation.
  • Office Customization Tool The Office Customization Tool (OCT) is part of the Setup program and is the primary tool for most customizations. The OCT saves customizations in a Setup customization (.msp) file, which is applied at either Setup time or during a Maintenance Mode operation. The OCT is used to customize the following areas:
    • Setup, which is used to specify default installation location and default organization name, additional network installation sources, product key, license terms, display level, earlier versions of Office to remove, custom programs to run during installation, security settings, and Setup properties.
    • Features, which is used to configure user settings and specify which Office features are installed.
    • Additional content, which is used to add or remove files, add or remove registry entries, and configure shortcuts.
    • Outlook, which is used to customize a user's default Outlook profile; specify Exchange settings; add, modify, or remove accounts; export settings; and specify Send\Receive groups.
  • Setup command-line options Setup.exe command-line options can also be used for maintenance, repair, and uninstall operations. However, the Setup.exe command-line options are limited. You can use the OCT to configure Setup properties and configure other customizations.

Find more information at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc982159.aspx?ocid=soc-n-SA-loc-services-omers