Office 2003 Silent without enterprise version

[gosherm]

Finally, a solution for installing Office 2003 Silently without having an enterprise edition.

First, you will need ORCA to edit a MSI file with. This utility can be found in the Microsoft Platform SDK (OS Independent). Install the SDK (the only component you really need to install is Microsoft Windows Installer SDK\Tools), then browse to the bin folder in the install path (default is C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK\Bin) and run the ORCA.msi file to install ORCA.

First, on your office CD, grab the "PRO11N.MSI" (may be something slightly different (including STDsomething) depending on the actual version, I imagine that this should work for all strains of Office 2003) and stick it somewhere on your harddrive.

Second, right click on the MSI file, and select "Edit with Orca".

Now, we just need to delete a few fields, nothing terribly difficult--just the sections telling you that you can't do the install quiet, and that you can't use transforms.

Locate the table titled "AdminExecuteSequence" in the left-hand pane and click on it. In the right-hand pane, click on the row that has "SkuredQuiet" in the first column, and hit DEL on your keyboard.

Next, locate the table titled "InstallExecuteSequence" and select it. In the right-hand pane, delete the row that has "SkuredQuiet" in the first column and the row that has "SkuredCIW" in the first column.

Save the file, exit, and put the modified MSI back with the rest of your office installation source (whether that means burning it to disc or just sticking it on your HDD somewhere).

Whala. You're done.

As a side note, this was not actually all that difficult to figure out, and if you run into other "I won't let you do this because I don't feel like it" issues with this installer, here's how I figured things out.

First, I created my MST using the ORK as explained in the Office 2003 Unattended Guided. Next, I ran the install trying to do quiet and with that MST transform. Then I looked at the logfile the MSI left, and just above where it dumps all of the properties, there was a line that said "MSI (s) (C4:EC) [16:59:59:171]: Product: Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 -- Quiet-mode installation is supported only in Enterprise versions of Microsoft Office 2003." And just above that, was a line that said "Action start [time]: SkuredQuiet."

Well, removing all references to "SkuredQuiet" produced a new error message in the same location that said something about not being allowed to use a transform. So, I found that the "Action start [time]:" line immediately before that new error was for "SkuredCIW." Remove that, and it worked just fine.

So, if there are more problems, just keep following that pattern to remove the offending section. As always, keep a backup handy (though I recken that you should have the original CD to work from, eh?).

Enjoy!

[snekul]

Good work. Most people on this board seem to have access to the volume license enterprise copy of Office, which certainly makes installing Office much easier. Your post is good for all the home users who like to be legit. Although, is editing the MSI like that a violation of the EULA?

Edited November 3, 2005 by snekul

[drscouse]

Although, is editing the MSI like that a violation of the EULA?

Does a tree falling down in a forest make a noise, if no one hears it??

[gosherm]

Although, is editing the MSI like that a violation of the EULA?

An excellent question that hadn't crossed my mind before. Here's the text from the EULA for Office 2003 Pro

4. LIMITATIONS ON REVERSE ENGINEERING, DECOMPILATION, AND DISASSEMBLY. You may not

reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Software, except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation.

Full Text [PDF warning]

Now, what that actually means, I have no idea whatsoever. I do, however, feel that what I have done is at least within the spirit of the law. I haven't explained how to circumvent any copy protection (activation) or upgrade checks (nor have I even tried to figure out how), I've just tried to determine/explain how to more efficiently install the software. And I'm definately not doing anything to the actual code of the product, just the mechanism for getting it installed on the computer.

On that note, if someone from MS has a problem with this and lets me know, I'd be more than happy to remove the content of the post and to not play around in their MSIs anymore (instead, I guess it would be to repackaging or something icky like that).

P.S. Does anyone know what federal law is on this type of thing? I just finished searching my state code, and can't really find anything that relates.

Edited November 4, 2005 by gosherm

[snekul]

Honestly, I don't think MS cares too much. For example, is editing the sif files in an unattended setup, hacking files, and adding customized boot screens EULA violations, probably. But Microsoft in some previous patch that I can't recall warned people that their boot screen customizations would be lost, actually, I think that was SP2. What worries me the most, is that the installer stated these were "supported only in Enterprise versions of Microsoft Office 2003." This MSI editing seems to add a feature that they intended only the enterprise version to have. Oh well, as was said:

Does a tree falling down in a forest make a noise, if no one hears it??

Plus, you still have the justification of purchasing a legit copy, something that many others don't.

Edited November 4, 2005 by snekul