custom dictionary gone?

[thomasesimpson]

Recently (sometime in the last couple of weeks), Apple Updates sent
out a big Office Update. Since installing that, it seems that my
custom dictionary is no longer working.

Did the update replace it with a blank one? I have a backup. Can I
restore the dictionary?

I've also begun to receive emails from sources I had previously
blocked. Is this a known issue?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Apple Updates doesn't send out updates for Office.

Perhaps you mean the Microsoft AutoUpdate.app application?

AFAIK, that update *shouldn't* have touched your Custom Dictionary
settings, but you can easily restore them by choosing
Preferences/Spelling and Grammar, clicking Dictionaries, and navigating
to your Custom Dictionary (I keep my dictionaries in the MUD folder so
that Remove Office won't touch it).

If that doesn't work, have a look here:

http://word.mvps.org/mac/SpellCheck.html

 

[Elliott Roper]

Recently (sometime in the last couple of weeks), Apple Updates sent
out a big Office Update. Since installing that, it seems that my
custom dictionary is no longer working.

Apple *never* sends out Office updates.
Every now and then, they send out OS X updates that pooch Office, but
that is another matter entirely.

Did the update replace it with a blank one? I have a backup. Can I
restore the dictionary?

Yep. Use preferences file locations to remind yourself of where your
dictionary should be. (beware that Microsoft's Office update, if
indeed you did apply that one, may have deleted your custom dictionary,
strapped a broken detector to its wrist and lied about it.)

I've also begun to receive emails from sources I had previously
blocked. Is this a known issue?

That may be unrelated.
On the other hand, if you are naive enough to use Entourage, anything
is possible.
Less arrogantly, which mail client are you using? Have you augmented it
with Spamsieve or other junk filtering animals. Could you have possibly
lost the junk mail corpus associated with your mail client/ junk
filter?
Pray tell. Which updates did you apply from where?
It is pretty impossible to offer anything but smart-alec advice until
you explicate.

 

[Clive Huggan]

Tom,

If you'd like some detail on JE's recommended practice of moving
dictionaries etc to the Microsoft User Data folder (which I and many others
follow for peace of mind), it's under the heading 'Backing up the Normal
template, other templates, and settings files' on page 53 of some notes on
the way I use Word for the Mac, titled "Bend Word to Your Will", which are
available as a free download from the Word MVPs' website
(http://word.mvps.org/Mac/Bend/BendWordToYourWill.html).

[Note: "Bend Word to your will" is designed to be used electronically and
most subjects are self-contained dictionary-style entries. If you decide to
read more widely than the item I've referred to, it's important to read the
front end of the document -- especially pages 3 and 5 -- so you can select
some Word settings that will allow you to use the document effectively.]

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from North America and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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