copying old settings into new installation

[Jo-Anne]

I recently installed Office Home & Student 2007 on a new computer. Is there
any simple way I can copy my Word settings--the look, the shortcuts I
created, etc.--into the new installation? I don't use Word very often, so
I've made it as easy for myself as possible on the old computer.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

 

[Daddy]

Unfortunately, no. At least, there's no way that's supported by Microsoft.

Daddy.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Actually, this is not true. Many of the settings are stored in Normal.dotm,
and copying that to the folder assigned to user templates on the new machine
will transfer them. For other elements, see these pages:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179177(v=office.12).aspx
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926927
http://compusavvy.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/where-important-word-2007-files-are-stored/
http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/do...cros-toolbar-customizations-etc-t3958004.html

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

 

[Jo-Anne]

Thank you for the information, Suzanne! I knew about normal.dotm, but I
didn't know about the .qat files. I ended up doing the QAT changes manually,
but I've copied your post onto my hard drive for future reference.

By the way, one change I wanted to make but couldn't find in my Word book or
online was the screen color. I had changed the color on my old computer from
the default blue to silver. I finally located it by accident as I was going
through various Word options on the new computer. Is this change something
that is kept somewhere so it could be transferred? (It's at Office Button |
Word Options | Top options for working with Word.)

Jo-Anne

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

This type of setting is usually stored in the Registry, and transferring
Registry settings is more than a little iffy and definitely should not be
attempted if the OS is different. In fact, the bottom line would be that
locating the appropriate Registry key and changing it would almost certainly
be more trouble than just changing the option in Word.

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

 

[Jo-Anne]

Thank you again, Suzanne. The Registry is something I avoid playing with
unless it's absolutely necessary.

But finding out how to change the screen color in Help was time-consuming
and unintuitive. I tried it today, knowing now that what I was after was
"screen color." I typed that into the Search box and got a very long list of
possibilities, with no entry dealing directly with screens. I finally
clicked on Change the Appearance of Office Programs, then Customizing, then
(again) Change the Appearance of Office Programs, and finally found Change
the Office Color Scheme.

Does Word have a simple alphabetical list of Help subjects anywhere?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Finding anything in Word's Help is a bit of a crap shoot because it uses
Bing as a search engine. <g> You're better off just googling for an answer.

That said, wrt the actual Help file, there is nothing like an index, but
there is a button on the toolbar for Show Table of Contents, and this might
be helpful. Select the Customizing heading, and one of the topics is "Change
the appearance of Office programs." Click on that topic, and it includes
"Change the Office color scheme."

The problem with searching is that there isn't much Help actually built into
Office, so if you don't search online but use just the local Help file, the
chances of getting an answer to any very abstruse question are small. But if
you do enable online search, the first few hits tend to be time-consuming
tutorials (often videos) rather than the simple Help topics you remember
from earlier versions. It actually used to be possible to access the entire
Word 2003 Help file online; now, alas, the URL redirects to a generic search
page. <sigh> There's what purports to be a replacement at
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/CL010072934.aspx, but it's not
the same thing at all.

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

 

[Jo-Anne]

Thank you, Suzanne! It's frustrating...

Jo-Anne

 

[Daddy]

I gave up on Office 2010 in-program help long ago. I get better
information quicker with a (Google) web search.

Daddy

 

[Jo-Anne]

Thank you! I should have done that--and will in the future.

Jo-Anne