Word going at snails pace .......

Donnie

The Normal.dot, being the main default file in Word, contains a lot of customisation settings. And because of this, it is prone to corruption. Lots of problems in Word can be blamed on the Normal.dot file and it seems the problem gets worse with each new version of Word. So a very common fix you'll hear about with Word is having someone tell you that your Normal.dot is corrupt and you need to get a clean version. Yes, this can solve a lot of problems...from Word not being able to open or close properly, hidden module errors, clearing virus issues, or fixing text or formatting problems, just to name a few.

However, my pet peeve is when someone mindlessly tells a user to delete their Normal.dot! This is not good advice, particularly when advising a new user! The user may not realize that many custom settings they may have worked hard to create will be blown away when they delete the file. Sure, it may fix the current problem, but may also cause them many hours of work to recreate macros or custom styles which are now gone!

A better piece of advice is to help the user understand what's contained in the Normal.dot file and tell them to temporarily rename the Normal.dot file to Normal.OLD. This will cause Word to think the file has been deleted and Word will create a new vanilla Normal.dot. You can then test Word to see if this did, indeed, fix the problem. If this doesn't solve your problem, you can always rename your file back to get back your old settings. Or, if it does help, you can then rescue some of your customisations from your old file through use of the Organizer.

Although, an even better solution is to keep a couple of backup versions of your Normal.dot. Then if it does become corrupt, you can go back and try older versions to try to save some of your previous customisations. I have about a dozen versions of my Normal.dot kept safe. One or two backups are fine for most users.

And when you're attempting to hunt down your Normal.dot template, the fastest way to figure out where it's located is to click Tools/Options/File Locations. There you'll find a path to your default template directory. The path may be long and truncated so you can't view the full path. But you can click Modify to move to another dialog that fully displays the path. Also know that recent versions of Word come with the Normal.dot files set as hidden by default. So you'll have to go into your Windows Explorer's Folder Options (under View or Tools, depending on the version of Windows you have) and snoop around the Hidden File settings to open access to all the stuff Microsoft suggests newbies don't mess with!

If you do have to try to restore your old settings, or maybe you just want to move some from one computer to another, you would use the Organiser. The Organiser is accessible through a few menus, but I generally access it through Tools/Macros/Macro. There you'll see an Organiser button. Click it to open the Organiser. Below you'll see the four categories of settings accessible through the Organiser.

Also, try a program such as http://www.releaseram.com/ if you are using an older version of Windows.

MimiJane

Task Manager is the box that comes up when you do ctrl alt delete.  (qttask is just a process for Quick Time)

"Close Program" is the box that comes up when I press control, alt and delete, with a list of programs to delete within it .... no task manager on this machine.

MimiJane

Which version of Windows? Right Click ""My Computer" and select "Properties"

Which Version of Word?  In Word - Help | About

Windows 98, second edition.

Donnie

MimiJane, did you not read my instructions? >:(

MimiJane

Hi Donnie,

Yes, briefly thanks. Just changed to Broadband, so got my work cut out at the moment. Still keep looking here though as Windows is driving me mad!

I've had a quick look under Tools/Options/File Locations and found the templates, but when I press "Modify", I get nothing displayed, so presume it's "hidden". Haven't managed to find these hidden files yet (though I haven't spent much time on it yet). It sound complicated though to a novice ......

:-/

Donnie

The 'hidden files' thing; Click on 'My Computer' and then 'View' and then, 'Folder Options' and the click on the 'view' tab. Therein, you will be able to choose the option to 'show all files'. Once done, click ok and then you can go back to Word...

Good luck, HunnyBunny. (You'd better be a girl! )

MimiJane

Hi Donnie,

Found "hidden" files and it's already showing "all files". Went back into Word again and File Locations, found templates, clicked on modify, then get the box up with the templates file name at the bottom. Can't seem to access the list of templates though, no matter what I do. Any ideas?

By the way, yes I am female ... can't you tell, I'm so bloomin' thick as far as computers are concerned?! Mind you, the old man's far worse (?), doesn't want to know and leaves it all to me!! By the way, thanks for sticking with me and my problems ... means a lot.

:-*

Donnie

It's probably here; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office or C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates

If not there, use the 'Find' utility by clicking on 'Start' and then 'Find'.

There's a similar thread running that may be helpful.

MimiJane

Hi Donnie,

No further forward I'm afraid ... tried "find" and got all my pre-set templates up, but no normal.dot! I'm mystified ... it's as if it's disappeared.

:-/

Donnie

Maybe that's the problem.. I could try sending you the two files by email. You could then enter them into the two places I've indicated.