Attaching the Normal template to multiple Word files

[Bob]

It seems that Word files with a template other than Normal.dot attached are
taking an extremely long time to open if the user doesn't have access to the
folder where the template is located. I'd like to create a macro that will
batch check Word docs and attach Normal.dot if another template is attached.
Suggestions are appreciated regarding how to automate the process so we
don't have to check and swap templates one file at a time. Thanks.

Bob

 

[Harold Kless[MSFT}]

Hi Bob,
I wrote sample application in VB6 that does what you are requesting.
The code is in this article:
823372 WD2002: Documents Take a Long Time to Open When They Have Attached
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=823372

There is also a discussion of the issue and other workarounds that you can
use.

Harold Kless, MCSD
Support Professional
Microsoft Technical Support for Business Applications
(e-mail address removed)

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[Bob]

Harold,
Thanks for pointing me to the KB article. It helps explain the problem, but
it doesn't seem like the article's solutions will be of much help. These
solutions seem to require action on the part of persons who are trying to
open the problem Word docs. These people are our clients and it's not an
option to ask them to take any special steps in order to open Word docs we
send them by email.

The template that's causing the problem doesn't need to be attached to the
document once the document has been created. When the document is finished
the Normal.dot template can be attached in place of the custom template.
There are no adverse side effects on the document and no one seems to have a
problem opening documents with the Normal.dot template attached.

This solution will work fine for new docs based on the template, but my
problem is that there are many documents created in the past that still have
the custom template attached. I'm looking for a VBA solution that will check
all Word files in a folder (or group of folders) to see if the custom
template is attached. If it is, I want the macro to attach the Normal.dot
template instead of the custom template. I'm particularly interested in a
macro that will allow me to perform this operation on many files in one
operation rather than manually, one file at a time. There are too many files
to do this manually.

I hope I've been able to make myself clear. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Bob