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Installation of TekVISA Toolbars for Microsoft Office under Windows 10/64-Bit and Windows 11/64-Bit

Disclaimer: This is an internal document written for Pulse Research Lab (PRL). We are providing it as a service to the community, but we make no representations as to the correctness, utility, or security implications of following these instructions. All software mentioned in this document is copyright by Microsoft or Tektronix, respectively, and PRL does not sell or distribute any of this software. Users of these instructions assume all risks of installing this software as described.

These instructions have been tested with:

  • Windows 64-bit:
    • Windows 10 Pro 21H2
    • Windows 11 Pro/ARM64 22H2
  • Microsoft Office
    • Microsoft Office Pro 2021
    • Microsoft Office Home and Student 2019
    • Microsoft Office Home and Business 2013
  • TekVISA
    • TekVISA 4.04 TekVISA Toolbars 4.0.0.80

We believe similar instructions will work with most 64-bit versions of Windows 7 through Windows 11, although we have not tested exhaustively. We believe similar instructions will work with most versions of Microsoft Office up to and including Office 2021, although we have not tested exhaustively.  These instructions will NOT work with any 64-bit version of TekVISA, as the toolbars were never updated to work with 64 bit TekVISA.

Short Version:

  1. Install the 32-bit versions of Microsoft Office, TekVISA, and the TekVISA Toolbars
  2. Manually copy the toolbar template files to %OFFICEROOT%\startup and \xlstart
  3. Add those directories as Trusted Locations to the Office Trust Center

Extended Version:

  1. Introduction and Motivation:
    1. The TekVISA Toolbars for Microsoft Office are some of the best, most productivity-enhancing software we’ve ever used. Any engineer that has struggled to bring oscilloscope captures or oscilloscope waveform data into Word or Excel can appreciate how brilliantly simple it became to click a button and have the data magically appear in your document.
    2. Unfortunately, this functionality started breaking for many people when they moved from 32-bit Windows to 64-bit Windows, and it was not clear why it stopped working, since some installations broke and some installations did not.
    3. This 2008 post by a Tek employee on the Tek support forums provided the clue:
      1. “Per chance are you using Office 64-bit? The toolbar only works with Office 32-bit,” and:
      2. “The issue is that the Excel tool bar requires a 32 bit Tek Visa and the current Tek Visa on Tek.com is only for 64 bit OS. At this time we do not have a working solution for the Excel tool bar.” [emphasis mine]
      3. This highlighted section is no longer true, as I was able to download the required 32-bit components from tek.com on 20 March 2023.
    4. The solution was to ensure that our Office installation was 32-bit, and then install old 32-bit versions of TekVISA (4.04) and the TekVisa Toolbar.
  2. General Notes:
    1. Run all installers as a Windows local Administrator by right-clicking and choosing Run as Administrator.
      1. You should log in as a local Administrator before performing these steps; otherwise you will need to provide Adminstrator credentials every time you run an installer.
    2. Once the installation is complete you can log out and log back in as a Standard user (e.g. non-Administrator), and things should still work.
    3. Pay close attention to the directories cited in these instructions, as we will be working with the 32-bit software, which is generally (but not always) in the Program Files (x86) directory and not the 64-bit sofware in the Program Files directory (although sometimes 32-bit software will also live there).
  3. Ensuring your Office is 32-bit:
    1. Although your operating system can be 64-bit, the TekVISA toolbars will only work if your Office installation is 32-bit.
    2. Furthermore, most modern versions of the Office installer will default to a 64-bit installation on 64-bit operating systems.
    3. To check your Office bitness, open Word and go to File: Account: About Word:
    6. If your Office is already 32 bit, you can skip to the next section.
    7. If your Office is 64 bit, you must uninstall Office, reboot, and then re-install Office using the 32-bit installer.
      1. Check your installation media and license:
        1. You should use the same installation media that you originally used to install your 64-bit version of Office, and install the same version that is currently activated for you.
        2. You also should ensure that you have the same product key (if you used a product key) that you used to install the 64-bit version of Office that is currently activated for you.
        3. If either of these is not true, your 32-bit installation of Office may fail to activate after installation.
        4. PRL is not responsible if you deactivate or otherwise invalidate your Office product by following these instructions.
      2. If you purchased your copy of Office online you may need to download either the 32-bit stub or the complete Offline Installer from www.office.com.
        1. The default “stub” installer (around 7 MB) that downloads when you purchase Office online will default to downloading and installing the 64-bit version of Office if you are running a 64-bit operating system.
        2. If you sign into www.office.com, choose Install Apps, and select Choose a Version, you can download either the 32-bit stub installer or the combo Offline installer (2 -4 GB) that contains both bitnesses:
      3. If you use the Offline Installer, double-click to mount the .ISO as a virtual DVD, but do NOT run the default Setup at the root of the DVD:
      4.  
      5. Instead, open the Office folder and run Setup32.exe:
  4. Install and Verify TekVISA:
    1. Once 32 BitOffice has been installed, then you can install the TekVISA components.
      1. Download and run TekVISA_404_066093809.exe from:
        1. https://www.tek.com/en/support/software/driver/tekvisa-connectivity-software-v404 
      2. This may trigger an automatic reboot after it installs the first set of components.
        1. If it does, re-run TekVISA_404_066093809.exe after your PC reboots.
      3. On Windows 11/Arm64, the installer does not require a reboot, but it will “finish” the first half of the installation and silently quit, requiring you to re-run the installer again to finish installing all the required components.
      4. Decline the suggestion to install Adobe Acrobat Reader and to read the ReadMe, but accept all other default choices.
      5. The installer will spawn a lot of little disappearing windows, and may take 5-10 minutes, so allow it to finish until all the apparent activity has stopped.
      6. It will not present any sort of “finished” dialog box.
      7. Installation is complete when OpenChoice Instrument Manager appears in the Start menu or Apps menu.
    2. Once TekVISA has been set up, run the OpenChoice Instrument Manager from the Start Menu:
      1. Ensure that a Windows-based sampling scope is powered up and on the network, with the Tek Scope application running (e.g. with waveforms displaying). 
    3. Instrument Manager should locate the scope on the LAN and report its IP address correctly. If you select it and click Identify, it should report its model number correctly:
      2. Discovery of new instruments on your LAN may take up to 5 minutes the first time TekVISA runs. This is normal, and will not happen every time, as the list of
        known devices is cached 
      3. Note that this step is not required when using the TekVISA toolbars; this is just a verification step to ensure that TekVISA was installed properly and that the scope is visible on the network.
      4. Close Instrument Manager. 
  5. TekVISA Toolbar Installation and Setup: 
    1. Now run TektronixToolBarsSetup_066133202.exe, available from:
    2. https://www.tek.com/en/support/software/utility/tektronix-toolbars-microsoft-office-32-bit-v404 
    3. When this is finished there will be a Tektronix Toolbar Start Preferences application on the desktop:
    4.  
    5. Run it, and choose to Launch when Word is started and Launch when Excel is started:
    6.  
    7. Click Ok to close the Preferences
  6. Trust Settings: 
    1. Find the “root” directory of your Office installation(s) and the application subdirectory.
      1. On our installations, the root is at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root, and the application subdirectory for Office 2021 is at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16 
      2. If you’re running a different version of Office, it may be \Office15 or some other directory. The directory may depend on both the version of Office installed and on the installation method.
      3. Find the locations of WINWORD.exe and EXCEL.exe to determine what directory your particular installation of Office starts from.
        1. You can also launch Task Manager, click More Details, expand the Microsoft Word process, right-click the sub-process hosting your open document, and choose Open file location to locate your application subdirectory:
      4. For example we even have one installation of 32-bit Office 2013 with a root at 
        1. C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15 
        2. which seems to violate the Program Files/64-bit vs. Program Files (x86)/32-bit convention, but that’s where Office decided to install itself, and the TekVISA toolbars work.
    2. Launch Word and open a Blank document. Go to File: Word Options: Trust Center and click Trust Center Settings:
    4. Click on Trusted Locations and Add New Location:
    6. Browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root (or the root directory for Microsoft Office installations on your particular computer) and click Ok. Note that you won’t see any files (such as TekWToolbar.dot) because you are adding a directory, not a file:
    8. Once the location is showing in the resulting dialog box, check theSubfolders of this location are also trusted box, and then click Ok:
    11. Ensure that C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root (or the root directory for Microsoft Office installations on your particular computer) appears in the User Locations, then Click Ok twice to close all the dialog boxes. Close Word. 
  7. Copy TekVISA Toolbars:
    1. In Windows Explorer, navigate to: 
      1. C:\Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\VISA\WinNT\TekVISA\WordToolbar 
    2. Copy TekWToolbar.dot and paste it into: 
      1. C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\STARTUP\ 
      2. (or \STARTUP\ in the application subdirectory for your particular installation of Microsoft Office)
    3. Copy TekXLToolbar.xla and paste it into: 
      1. C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\XLSTART\ 
      2. (or \XLSTART\ in the application subdirectory for your particular installation of Microsoft Office)
  8. Complete TekW Toolbar Setup for Word: 
    1. Launch Word and open a Blank document.
    2. You should have a new Add-Ins menu. Click it to display the TekW Toolbar, then click the far left button to display the TekW Connection dialog box:
    4. The first time you click theTekW Connection button, Windows Defender will display a warning. Check the appropriate boxes to permit this action on Domain and/or Private Networks, as desired:
    6. Once you’ve clicked Allow access, you will need to click the TekW Connection button again. Select the desired instrument and click Ok:
    8. The remaining buttons on the TekW Toolbar will be enabled, and you can now use them to insert data or screencaptures directly into your document:
    9.  
    11. Quit Word, log out, and log back in as a Standard user (e.g. non-Administrator).
      1. Launch OpenChoice Instrument Manager. 
        1. Discovery of new instruments on your LAN may take up to 5 minutes the first time TekVISA runs for each user that logs into this machine. This is normal, and will not happen every time, as the list of known devices is cached.
      2. Run the Tektronix Toolbar Start Preferences application on the desktop: 
        1.  
        2. And choose to Launch when Word is started and Launch when Excel is started.
      3. You will have to re-add your Office root directory (and subdirectories) to the Trusted Locations in Office’s Trust Center, as described above, the first time Word or Excel runs for each user that logs into this machine, but this process only has to be performed once, and does not require Administrator privileges.
      4. When each non-Admin user starts Word for the first time, they will be presented with this Security Warning. Even after they click Enable Content:
      6. they may still see the following error every time they start Word:
      7.  
      8. But this does not appear to affect the functionality of the TekVISA Toolbar, even it is annoying.
      9. Re-running the TekVisa Toolbar installer twice, once to uninstall and once again to re-install, under a user account other than the user that installed it originally, may fix this issue.
    12. This concludes setup for the TekVISA Toolbar for Word. 
  9.  Complete TekXL Toolbar Setup for Excel:  
    1. Launch Excel and open a Blank workbook.
    2. You should have an Add-Ins menu. Click it to display the TekXL Toolbar, then click the far left button to display the TekW Connection dialog box:
    4. The first time you click the TekW Connection button, Windows Defender will display a warning. Check the appropriate boxes to permit this action on Domain and/or Private Networks, as desired:
    5.  
    6. Once you’ve clicked Allow access, you will need to click the TekW Connection button again. Select the desired instrument and click Ok:
    7.  
    8. The remaining buttons on the TekXL Toolbar will be enabled, and you can now use them to insert data or screencaptures directly into your workbook:
    11. Quit Excel, log out, and log back in as a Standard user (e.g. non-Administrator).
      1. Launch OpenChoice Instrument Manager.
        1. Discovery of new instruments on your LAN may take up to 5 minutes the first time TekVISA runs for each user that logs into this machine. This is normal, and will not happen every time, as the list of known devices is cached.
      2. Run the Tektronix Toolbar Start Preferences application on the desktop: 
        1.  
        2. And choose to Launch when Word is started and Launch when Excel is started.
      3. You will have to re-add your Office root directory (and subdirectories) to the Trusted Locations in Office’s Trust Center, as described above, the first time Word or Excel runs for each user that logs into this machine, but this process only has to be performed once, and does not require Administrator privileges.
    12. This concludes setup for the TekVISA Toolbar for Excel.
  10. If you have found these instructions to be useful, please peruse the rest of this website to see if any of our fine products, such as our RJ45 to SMA adapter, might be useful to you.
    1. If you are not a professional electrical engineer, technician, system engineer, or lab manager, please send our website to anyone you know who is!
    2. Send feedback to toolbars@pulseresearchlab.com to let us know if this worked for you. Please include:
      1. Version and build of Windows you’re using, e.g. Windows 10 Pro 22H2
      2. Version of Office you're using, e.g. Office Pro 2021
      3. Version of TekVISA you’re using, e.g. 4.0.4
      4. Version of TekVISA Toolbars you’re using, e.g. 4.0.0.80