Windows 7 directory structure for deployed macros

[Macropolis]

I'm looking for some guidance on how to migrate MS Word 2003/OS XP macros to Word 2010/OS Windows 7.

These are robust macros that are deployed to hundreds of users over our network. Currently, the macros are stored in two
places on the user's PC in the Word 2003/OS XP configuration:

GLOBAL OR SHARED MACROS - C:\Documents and Settings\All users\Application data\Microsoft\Word\Startup
(This directory contains six or seven "Projects" [.dot files] that have considerably involved programming and forms in them)

USER'S MACRO FILES - C:\program files\deptMacros
(This directory contains hundreds of .dot files, with relatively simple macro functionality in them)

My question is, what are the corresponding directory structures for Word 2010/OS Windows 7?

I know XP "C:\Documents andSettings\" is now "C:\Users\" in Windows 7, but beyond that I'm not quite sure.
I did try "C:\Users\Default\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP" for Windows 7,
but when I opened Word 2010 I couldn't find the macros, even when I went to "Customize the Ribbon > Macros".

I inherited this project, so I'm not really certain why thedual directory structures were set-up in the first place.

Any assistance would be most appreciated.
Thanks!

[Frosty]

What's really strange about that structure is that your company macros are deployed to a profile location (which is typically for user settings) and your user templates are deployed to a static location on the C:\. That's a funky set up, quite honestly.

But the answer to your question depends on whether you are using 32-bit office in Win7, or 64-bit office in Win7 ... and, I suppose, whether you are using 64-bit Win7 or not.

My experience is in Win7 64 bit with 32 bit Office. If you are dealing with 64 bit office, there will be some additional issues to deployment (as there are some quirks to getting some things up and running in 64-bit office).

However, I think what you're looking for is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office. The convention is that 32-bit applications are installed in the Program Files (x86) folder, and 64-bit applications are installed in the Program Files folder.

There are additional complexities in the C:\Users structure, as there is a an AppData structure (corresponding to the Application Data folder from XP), but with an additional wrinkle of subdirectories: Local, LocalLow and Roaming. You will see that Microsoft deploys various things to different locations (quick style templates are in the profile, but some built in document themes are in the Office 14 directory in Program Files (or Program Files (x86), depending on your version of Office).

You'll also have a new thing to deal with: Trusted Locations and Trust Center. None of your global addins or user templates will function until you allow those to be run by adding them as trusted locations.

[Macropolis]

Thanks for such a rapid reply.

OS is Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit

Office is MS Office Professional Plus 2010 (MS Word) 32-bit

Just for my own understanding, how should our current macros directory structure be?

For the migration to Word 2010/Windows 7, can everything be kept in one directory?

Also, I'm just seeing how well the macros will work in the new environment, so I'm manually dropping the files in their folders, rather than doing a proper deployment.

I'm really not familiar with directory structures and their relation to individual operating systems, so please be as explicit as you can with your answer.

Thanks

[Frosty]

Hmm, it's tough to know how your macro directory structure should be set up, because the answer could be really varied. I don't mean to sound insulting, but you seem to have a pretty big knowledge gap in terms of setting these item up.

The best summary can be expressed this way: the process you used to "upgrade" templates from Word 2000 to Word 2003 would have been minimal. That process is much more complicated this time around, and you may need someone to help you walk through it.

The conversion could be as "easy" as simply dropping your global addins into a folder of your choosing (C:\Word_Global) and then telling Word 2010 to "trust" that location.
Keeping the User Templates in the "same" location (C:\Program Files\deptMacros) would probably be a good idea, although you'll need to "trust" that location as well.

But if your global addins have programmatic references to each other (think of these as hard-coded "paths" to each other), then you may need to open each of them, attempt to compile, and resolve the references to point to the "right" location.

I can't advise you as the the right locations for these files in your system, except to say that you should probably talk to one of your network engineers. But I could write a book on all the things you *might* need to know just to set these things up in your environment (and people have).

I'd suggest just trying, and then asking specific questions as you try to get the macros running.

Another thing to note-- whatever User Interface elements your macros had (toolbars, additional buttons on existing memos, etc), will all appear in the addins tab on the Ribbon, once you get your Word setup properly. But you will have a fairly major task getting that stuff moved into the ribbon interface. This is not a small task, even just to set it up for the purposes of testing functionality.

[Frosty]

So, to sum up, in Word, you need this
1. File > Options > Advanced > File Locations > Word Startup (this needs to point to your global addins folder)
2. File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Trusted Locations (this needs to point to both your global addins folder, and your user templates folder)

After that, see if the macros load...

[Macropolis]

Much thanks!