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dwelldon

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Adm File for setting word user templates folder

Hi,

  I am trying to create an ADM file that will allow me to change where word looks for user templates. I have tried creating my own adm file but without much look. It imports into group policy editor but I can't edit the field. What am I doing thats wrong.

CLASS USER
CATEGORY "Word Directory"
POLICY "Word user templates"
KEYNAME Software\Microsoft\office\11.0\common\general
PART "UserTemplates"
EDITTEXT
VALUENAME "UserTemplates"
END PART
END POLICY
END CATEGORY

Any help

Avatar of oBdA
oBdA

Highlight the "Administrative Templates" tree, and in the View > Filter menu, uncheck the "Only show policies that can be fully managed".
Your own policy will then be displayed in red, as it's not a group policy, but what Microsoft calls in changing terms "Branding", "Tatooing", or "Preferred setting", as you're manipulating the registry as if you'd used regedit. These policies will NOT simply "go away" if you later set the policy to "not configured", it will keep the last value set.
Important during testing: before you change a registry path in an adm file, set the policy for this path to "not configured" before you edit the adm file!
Example: you test with "KEYNAME Sofwtare\Microsoft\office\11.0\common\general", enable the policy, and then find out that you had a typo in "Software". If you now just edit the adm file and reimport it, you'll have the former "Sofwtare" key forever in your policy if you don't set the test policy back to "not configured" before changing the adm file.
Why re-invent the wheel? Whats wrong with using the Microsoft ones?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/826170en

Steve
Avatar of dwelldon

ASKER

it does not allow you to change the user templates directory, thats the problem.
obda, cheers, thats sorted that out.

But I have another issue now where word, refuses to recognise the changes.
???
Fair enough, thought I'd seen it in there, must be just the workgroup templates we set before.  The only difference between what you have and ones I have done is to put the EDITTEXT type on the same line as PART btw but I guess oBdA has it sussed so I'll shut up.

Steve
Have you checked if the change made by the policy actually made it into the user's registry?
It makes it into the registry without any problems at all.

Just word doesn't pick it up
I've had then when a component of Office was using the newer version... i.e. path has gone into the 9.0 key but now the user has an Office XP app that used 10.0 key etc.
If you looks in Tools | Options | file locations in Word does it see it then?  If not change it there.  Does it change the same key (use regedit.exe to search for the path you enter across HKCU).
Its a clean install the pc has never had any other version of office installed. So there are not any other reg keys.

It does change the same key. But for some reason it never recognises it when changed by GPO
Just to exclude the obvious: are you actually using Office 2003?
In addition, check out HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\General, if the UserTemplates entry is defined there; this is the key that gets changed with the Office adm templates, and this one has precedence over the default registry path.
I am using office 2003, there is nothing set under policies, so I am even more confused.
I'm somewhat at a loss; what happens if you change the path from Office? Can you see the changed value in the registry key above?
Have you tried it after a logoff or reboot?  Does your 2003 installation have the office preloaded bit from the startup group so it is already in memory - maybe it is reading the registry before you are setting it?
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Netman66
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normal.dot I presume?  Might be worth a second Q over here  https://www.experts-exchange.com/Applications/MS_Office/  I used to answer questions there when 50 points was a lot :-) but if you haven't got five answers in the time it takes me to type this then it is an unsual question...
Oops, yep - big typo there!

NORMAL.DOT

I deleted the normal.dot and hey presto