Microsoft KB Archive/290379

Knowledge Base

OFFXP: Office Shortcut Tab Is Unavailable

Article ID: 290379

Article Last Modified on 1/31/2007

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APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Excel 2002 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Outlook 2002 Standard Edition
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Word 2002 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q290379

SYMPTOMS

When you view the Shortcut tab in the Properties dialog box for any of the Office shortcuts on the Programs menu, the entire tab may be unavailable.

NOTE: On Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), only the Target box is unavailable on the Shortcut tab of the Properties dialog box.

CAUSE

The items on the Shortcut tab are unavailable if you install Office and you are using one of the following versions of Windows:

• Microsoft Windows 98 -or-
  

• Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0 with Internet Explorer 4.01, at least Service Pack 1, and Windows Desktop Update installed -or-
  

• Microsoft Windows 2000 -or-
  

• Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me)

Office XP shortcuts installed on these versions of Windows are Windows Installer shortcuts. Windows Installer shortcuts do not directly reference the path of the shortcut target. Instead, they contain a token that the Windows Installer resolves to the path of the shortcut target.

WORKAROUND

If you want to customize the Office shortcuts on the Programs menu, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Create Your Own Shortcuts

You can create your own shortcuts to the Office programs and replace the ones installed by Office with the ones that you create.

NOTE: Any shortcuts that you create by using this method are not Windows Installer shortcuts and do not take advantage of the features offered by the Windows Installer. See the "More Information" section of this article.

For example, to replace the shortcut for Microsoft Word, follow these steps.

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

1. Click Start, point to Programs, and then click Windows Explorer.
2. In Windows Explorer, open the \Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder, and then delete the shortcut for Word.
3. In Windows Explorer, open the \Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10 folder, and then right-click Winword.exe.
4. Click Create Shortcut on the shortcut menu.
5. Right-click the shortcut that you just created, and then click Properties. Modify the necessary fields on the Shortcut tab, and then click OK.
6. Move this shortcut to the \Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder.

NOTE: Your custom shortcut may be replaced by a Windows Installer shortcut if you name the shortcut Microsoft Word, and if either of the following is true:

• You use the Detect and Repair feature in Office, and the Restore my shortcuts while repairing check box is selected. -or-
  

• You select the Repair Office option in Maintenance Mode Setup, click Next, click the Detect and Repair errors in my Office installation option, and then select the Restore My Start Menu Shortcuts check box.

In this situation, you must recreate your custom, non-Windows Installer shortcuts.

Method 2: Customize Shortcuts with the Custom Installation Wizard

The Custom Installation Wizard (CIW) is a tool available in the Microsoft Office Resource Kit (ORK). (To obtain, see the "More Information" section of this article.) The advantage of using the CIW is that the custom shortcuts you create this way are Windows Installer shortcuts that take advantage of the features offered by the Windows Installer.

To create custom shortcuts by using the CIW, follow these steps:

1. Start the Custom Installation Wizard.
2. In page 2 of the CIW, locate and select the .msi file from your installation source. For example, select Proplus.msi if you are using Microsoft Office Professional with FrontPage.
   
   NOTE: You can only use the CIW with Enterprise editions of Office XP. If the .msi file that you are using contains "ret" (for example, Proret.msi) in the file name, you are using a non-Enterprise edition of Office.
3. Provide a path and name for the transform file (.mst) in page 4 of the CIW.
4. In the Add, Modify, or Remove Shortcuts dialog box of the CIW, select the shortcut that you want to customize, and then click Modify.
5. In the Add/Modify Shortcut Entry dialog box, specify any or all of the following items:
   • Target
   • Location
   • Name
   • Start in (location)
   • Shortcut key
   • Run (window state)
   • Icon
6. Make the changes to the shortcut properties, and then click OK.
7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 for each of the shortcuts that you want to customize.
8. Click Finish. The last page in the CIW provides the command-line switches for running Office Setup by using the transform file created by the CIW.
   
   NOTE: The /qb+ switch on the end of the example command line is optional.
   
   
9. Run Office Setup using the command line provided by the CIW. For example, your command line may be similar to the following
   
   

   path\Setup.exe Transforms=drive:\MyShortcuts.mst

   where path is the path to Setup.exe, and drive:\MyShortcuts is the path and name of the transform file (.mst).

MORE INFORMATION

Windows Installer shortcuts offer the following added benefits over standard shortcuts:

• Windows Installer shortcuts allow programs on the Programs menu to be set to Installed on First Use.
• Windows Installer shortcuts allow the Windows Installer to autorepair programs when started.

For more information about the Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit, please browse to the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/xp/default.htm

Additional query words: grayed out grey prb

Keywords: kbprb KB290379

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