How easy/reliable is it to update Office 2000 Standard to Office 2013 standard via GP or other batch method?

Firstly - are all the machines running Windows 7 at a minimum? If not you can't install Office 2013 as it is only supported on Windows 7 and onwards.

Firstly - are all the machines running Windows 7 at a minimum? If not you can't install Office 2013 as it is only supported on Windows 7 and onwards. See this link for more information on the system requirements for Office 2013: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee624351%28v=office.15%29.aspx

So sorry, I made a mental note before that I needed to add that data point but didn't make the change to my post.  Yes, all that are to get Office 2013 are Windows 7 Pro and domain members.  Some 32 bit and some 64 bit, but I would intend to install 32 bit Office to all.

Whoops, not sure how I managed to double post.

Alright, just so we're clear here you currently have Windows 7 machines with Office 2000 installed and you want to upgrade to Office 2013 on the same machines?

Yes, exactly.  Each copy of Outlook is set to use Google's email servers on the back end.

create a share that holds the office 2013 media
some considerations: is this a click to run or msi based installation?
and have the users run \\servername\sharename\setup.exe
It should do an upgrade but I can't test O2000 as the oldest media I have is 2003

Sorry I haven't posted for a bit.  I think you are on the right track here, but I have to test.  Once I do I will get back to you on this.  

So, it sounds like are confident this would do a good job of installing a clean copy of Office 2013, you just aren't sure it will remove Office 2000.  Is that right?  

Let's say it kept Office 2000 in place.  Any idea what this will bring over into Office 2013 from the older product and what might not come over?  Assuming Office 2000 has an nk2 file, it would be important for that to get imported, and I would ideally want all existing rules to remain as continued access (with extra manual steps) to all existing pst files in use.

I was actually surprised this client had Office 2000 on Windows 7.  I came in long after that was done.

Also, VB ITS, I wasn't aware that the Group Policy Software Installation method would not be supported for this purpose.  Can you flesh that out to let me know exactly what prevents this form being used with Office 2013?  It will just improve my understanding of that method.  Thanks in advance.

I've requested that this question be deleted for the following reason:

Only questions and comments were posted.  No actual solutions that would directly solve my actual question.

Sorry for not responding Steve, I have been away for the past few weeks on leave so I'm only getting back into the groove of things now. Would you still like some help with this issue? If so, feel free to cancel your delete request and we can pick up from  your most recent post.

Otherwise you can leave it as it is and the question will get deleted in due time. Up to you!

I could still potentially benefit from input if it is specific to the actaul need.

OK no problems, maybe let's hold off on the delete request for now then? :)

Now onto answering your questions:

So, it sounds like are confident this would do a good job of installing a clean copy of Office 2013, you just aren't sure it will remove Office 2000.  Is that right?  

That's correct, as I was under the impression that Office 2000 isn't actually supported in Windows 7. There's no supported upgrade path as far as Microsoft are concerned when it comes to going from Office 2000 to Office 2013. The minimum supported documentation that I've been able to find only mentions upgrade paths from Office 2003 to Office 2013.

Let's say it kept Office 2000 in place.  Any idea what this will bring over into Office 2013 from the older product and what might not come over?  Assuming Office 2000 has an nk2 file, it would be important for that to get imported, and I would ideally want all existing rules to remain as continued access (with extra manual steps) to all existing pst files in use.

I can't say what will happen with Office 2000, but i know with Office 2003 stuff such as the NK2 file, Outlook signatures, Outlook profiles, etc. all remain in place unless you manually clean up the leftover files.

When you first start Outlook 2013 for the first time after an upgrade, the NK2 file is automatically imported into the message store. If you find that the AutoComplete list is empty for a certain user then you can always manually import it by running Outlook with the /importnk2 switch as the NK2 file will definitely be there. If you're worried you could always implement a login script of some sort to copy the NK2 file to your server as a backup.

The rules are a different story as there's no guarantee that they will work at all after the upgrade. Your best bet is to export the rules first before the upgrade.

I was actually surprised this client had Office 2000 on Windows 7.  I came in long after that was done.

Yep, I'm still surprised that they managed to get Office 2000 working in Windows 7. Do you not have any issues at all?

Also, VB ITS, I wasn't aware that the Group Policy Software Installation method would not be supported for this purpose.  Can you flesh that out to let me know exactly what prevents this form being used with Office 2013?  It will just improve my understanding of that method.  Thanks in advance.

The Group Policy Software Installation method won't work whatsoever so you won't be able to install it that way. The only supported methods to deploying Office 2013 are outlined in this article: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee624360.aspx

Hope this answers your questions!

valid answers provided

Thanks for that David.

Great info!