Copying normal.doc

[Nancy]

Through these boards I found out how to do a lot of things
I needed to do to back up autotext and autocorrect, the
last of which was to back up the normal.doc file. This is
necessary to put the info on a second computer as well as
to maintain backups. Anyway, in helping a friend do this
she ran across a problem (described below from her email
to me) that I can't help her with. If anybody can, please
email me directly so I can get it to her along with a link
to this site for her future reference. Much appreciation,
as always.

The text of her email (using Windows 98 or XP, Word 2000)

i transferred the normal.dot file from my computer to my
amphion computer and went to save the file last week and
it will not save. if i open my normal.dot file, there is
nothing in it, yet it shows a file size. if i open the one
on my computer, i can open the file and see the whole
list. i can't figure this out. do you know if there is a
way to find out if the normal.dot file is where my things
are being saved. it is saving any changes i make and i
copied it just like i was told on the page you sent
before. i did the transfer from one computer to another,
so if it was saved to the normal.dot file, i can't figure
out why it wouldn't be there. i hate to not back it up and
risk losing that file too, as i have made so many changes
to it already. any ideas?

 

[Graham Mayor]

I'm afraid your friend writes gibberish, but if I can see through what she
is trying to say, it would appear that she has tried and apparently failed
to replace the normal.dot file on her new machine with a much customized one
from another machine?

That being the case, your friend should note the location of normal.dot on
the target machine - which is defined in tools > options > file locations >
user templates. On a Windows 2000 or XP machine, this will almost certainly
be:
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates.

On a Word 2002 installation, normal.dot will be a hidden file and she will
need to set Windows Explorer to display hidden files in order to see it.

Copy the customized normal.dot file into this folder (with Word closed).

I am not sure what she is referring to about the 'list'. Could this be the
autotext list? Autotext lists are contained in templates - usually, but not
necessarily, normal.dot. If this is from a company machine, the autotexts
may be in a global template, in the Word (or Office) startup folder.

See http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/FilesToBackup.htm


--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP
E-mail (e-mail address removed)
Web site www.gmayor.dsl.pipex.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>

 

[Nancy]

Thanks, Graham ... I'm a little confused as well as I also
now learned that the two computers are running different
versions of Windows as well. I've forwarded your message
directly to her (Cindy) and asked her to get in touch with
you personally through the board listing from start to
finish what she is trying to do. You were the one who
answered our first questions (copying autotext and
autocorrect entries for backups) so I know if anybody can
help her/me it will be you!! Thanks, in advance, for the
excellent help you always provide!!

Nancy

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

It's also possible that she's confusing Normal.dot (which should not show
any visible content--it should look just like a Blank Document) with the
AutoCorrect list created by the backup macro, which is a text file (list of
word substitutions).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
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