Deploy signatures to non-Exchange Outlook clients

Question

In my office, I have a few computers that are running Outlook (some 2007, some 2010). They are standalone clients using IMAP; there is no Exchange or AD present.

Is there any means in which I can deploy standardized email signatures to the Outlook clients?

All of the research I've done all involve doing it with an Exchange server or Active Directory, but I can't afford nor want one.

Answer 1

The Microsoft article How to deploy a default email signature in Outlook describes the procedure to follow.

1. Close Outlook.

2. Delete the First-Run value under the following key in the Windows registry:
   KEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\x.0\Outlook\Setup
   Note, x.0 depends on your version of Outlook.
   Outlook 2013 = 15.0
   Outlook 2010 = 14.0
   Outlook 2007 = 12.0

3. Add/deploy the signature files and folders you want to use for email signatures to the \Signatures folder under the user profile. This location varies, depending on your version of Windows.
   Windows Vista,Windows 7, or Windows 8
   %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Signatures
   Windows XP
   %userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Signatures

4. Create or locate the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\x.0\Common\MailSettings
   or
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\x.0\Common\MailSettings
   Note, x.0 depends on your version of Outlook.

5. Create the following value(s) under the MailSettings registry key:
   Name: NewSignature
   Type: REG_EXPAND_SZ
   Value: The name of signature to use for new messages (see step 3 above for signature names)
   Name: ReplySignature
   Type: REG_EXPAND_SZ
   Value: The name of signature to use for reply messages (see step 3 above for signature names)

6. Start Outlook and open a new e-mail message.
   The signature specified in the NewSignature registry value will automatically appear in the body of the message.