Different look in '03 dialog boxes

[Suzanne]

I just installed Office 2003 on a Windows XP Pro system and the dialog boxes look the same as in Office XP. Coworkers got a different look, with rounded buttons and more color, why didn't I? I want the new look. Someone said I had to reformat my hard drive (!) but there must be another way. I had a beta version installed previously, but I removed it before installing the RC. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks .

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Suzanne,

This depends on your Display Settings in Windows XP. Are you using a
Windows XP theme or the Windows Classic theme?

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

I just installed Office 2003 on a Windows XP Pro system and the

dialog boxes look the same as in Office XP. Coworkers got a different
look, with rounded buttons and more color, why didn't I? I want the
new look. Someone said I had to reformat my hard drive (!) but there
must be another way. I had a beta version installed previously, but I
removed it before installing the RC. Any help would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks .

 

[Suzanne]

I have the Windows XP theme modified with a plain blue desktop background, so that probably isn't the problem. I tried removing/reinstalling Office Pro 2003 to a new directory and still get "Classic" looking dialog boxes. Any other suggestions?

 

[Beth Melton]

Try using just the Windows XP theme (not modified) and see if that
resolves it. Also check your Appearance tab and the "Windows and
buttons" is set to the Windows XP style.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

I have the Windows XP theme modified with a plain blue desktop

background, so that probably isn't the problem. I tried
removing/reinstalling Office Pro 2003 to a new directory and still get
"Classic" looking dialog boxes. Any other suggestions?I'm

 

[Suzanne]

Thanks for trying again. I've trie unmodified XP theme, and the buttons are set to XP style, but still -- square command buttons and no new colors in dialog boxes! Someone told me I'd have to reformat my hard drive and do a clean install, but that seems kind of extreme. There must be some way to reset it. It's only the dialog boxes -- toolbars, etc. have the 2003 look. Also, it seems to be just the Office programs. For example, the Save As dialog box in Macromedia's Fireworks has rounded command buttons.

 

[Eric Lawrence [MSFT]]

You'll need to update to the latest Windows XP service pack to get the
theme. This will also help keep your computer secure.

--
Thanks,

Eric Lawrence
Program Manager
Assistance and Worldwide Services

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Thanks for trying again. I've trie unmodified XP theme, and the buttons

are set to XP style, but still -- square command buttons and no new colors
in dialog boxes! Someone told me I'd have to reformat my hard drive and do a
clean install, but that seems kind of extreme. There must be some way to
reset it. It's only the dialog boxes -- toolbars, etc. have the 2003 look.
Also, it seems to be just the Office programs. For example, the Save As
dialog box in Macromedia's Fireworks has rounded command buttons.

 

[Eric Lawrence [MSFT]]

One of the earlier versions of WindowsXP has a bug which prevents the
theming from working correctly in Office 2003. If you install all of the
updates from http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com, the problem should go away.

--
Thanks,

Eric Lawrence
Program Manager
Assistance and Worldwide Services

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Suzanne]

This brings up a whole new problem -- which is that I cannot install the latest service pack. I have installed all other updates, but the service pack quits during installation -- claims there is a WIndows Media Player file that is in the way. Windows Media Player is not running (doesn't show up in Task Manager) and I can't locate the file to remove it. I have tried three times, each try is very time consuming, frustrating, and annoying. Is there any other solution?

 

[Suzanne]

This is the message when trying to install Service Pack 1:
The file C:\windows\system32\dllcache\wmploc.dll is open or in use by another application. Close all other applications then click Retry.
Of course, no other applications are open and the file is not listed in Task Manager. Any other suggestions?

 

[SA]

Suzanne:

Have you tried launching the service pack immediately after you boot Windows
Xp? Also make sure that you don't have any internet apps launching on start
up like messager etc.

Steve Arbaugh

This is the message when trying to install Service Pack 1:
The file C:\windows\system32\dllcache\wmploc.dll is open or in use by

another application. Close all other applications then click Retry.

Of course, no other applications are open and the file is not listed in

Task Manager. Any other suggestions?

 

[Suzanne]

Thanks for the advice but you don't tell me how to do it. Messenger launches whenever I boot, no matter how many times or ways I try to disable it it keeps coming back (I never use it and would like to get rid of it permanently). Also, How do I install the SP1 without being online? Windows Update has downloaded the files, but I don't know where they are. It doesn' ask where to store them. There's nothing in the downloads folder that looks like SP1.

 

[Suzanne]

Thanks for the advice but you don't tell me how to do it. Messenger launches whenever I boot, no matter how many times or ways I try to disable it it keeps coming back (I never use it and would like to get rid of it permanently). Also, How do I install the SP1 without being online? Windows Update has downloaded the files, but I don't know where they are. It doesn' ask where to store them. There's nothing in the downloads folder that looks like SP1.

 

[SA]

Suzanne:

1.) To disable Messager from automatically starting up, open Messenger and
go to Tools->Options and on the Preferences tab, uncheck Run this program
when Windows Starts

2.) The suggestion about logging off all on line activity was to make sure
that nothing was launching Windows Media Player. WMP will launch whenever
there's a media file that it is set to play. So maybe you can make your
temporary homepage as something that is 100% text as in www.google.com or
similar.

3.) If doing 1 & 2 don't work and you are on a high speed connection, you
can download the entire service pack directly without going through Windows
Update by going to the following web page:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/servicepacks/sp1/sp1lang.asp

(Its a huge file so even on a high speed connection it may take a bit of
time.) Then you can run the SP off line.

Hope this helps
--
Steve Arbaugh
MS Access MVP

Thanks for the advice but you don't tell me how to do it. Messenger

launches whenever I boot, no matter how many times or ways I try to disable
it it keeps coming back (I never use it and would like to get rid of it
permanently). Also, How do I install the SP1 without being online? Windows
Update has downloaded the files, but I don't know where they are. It doesn'
ask where to store them. There's nothing in the downloads folder that looks
like SP1.

 

[Suzanne]

Steve -- Thanks for trying. I found the installation file on my PC, but even trying to install offline right after startup I get the same message. I do not know what is running media player, but I cannot get rid of the wmploc.dll file -- it seems to run all the time, but I don't know what process to end -- the file names in Task Manager are quite cryptic. This is a major headache.
~Suzanne

 

[SA]

Suzanne:

"Wmplayer" is the main media player process. you should be able to kill it
in the process list (not applications, but processes).

Do you have or did you ever have anything like Kaaza or Gator running on
your machine? If so try uninstalling them. (Gator can be a pain to get rid
of. Try using either Lava Soft's AdAware or a program called hijackthis.exe
to see everything that's running at start up. (you'll have to search the web
for that)) its a bit cryptic as well but with a little hunting you can
figure out what its telling you.

HTH

Steve Arbaugh

Steve -- Thanks for trying. I found the installation file on my PC, but

even trying to install offline right after startup I get the same message. I
do not know what is running media player, but I cannot get rid of the
wmploc.dll file -- it seems to run all the time, but I don't know what
process to end -- the file names in Task Manager are quite cryptic. This is
a major headache.

 

[Eric Lawrence [MSFT]]

Which version of Windows Media Player is installed? Do you have the little
"Windows Media" toolbar showing on the Taskbar? (Right-click the taskbar,
choose Toolbars, and ensure Windows Media Player is unchecked).

--
Thanks,

Eric Lawrence
Program Manager
Assistance and Worldwide Services

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Suzanne]

wmplayer does not show up in the process list. I do not have any other programs like Kazaa installed. The Windows Media Player toolbar is not displayed.

I'm telling you -- the file just won't go away. I tried installing the Service Pack in Safe Mode, and I go the same message. I tried just plain old deleting the WMP folder, and guess what -- I can't because the file's in use by another application! Is there some way to disable WMP temporarily?

In any case, I'm not sure it will solve the dialog box appearance problem, which is really all I want to do. In WMP and other, non microsoft apps, the dialog boxes have the new look. It's only in the Office 2003 programs that they retain the Classic look. Please, help.

 

[Eric Lawrence [MSFT]]

In Office 2003, we wrote specific code to NOT show the new theme unless
you're running the latest service pack. This is to work around bugs in the
older version of Windows XP, which, strangely enough, were only exposed by
Office 2003. This would explain the behavior you're seeing.

You might want to call product support regarding your issue with installing
the SP. In addition to enabling the theming, installing the latest service
packs helps to keep your computer secure.

If you run the MSINFO32.EXE utility, under the Software Environment group,
look at the "Startup Programs" list. Anything unexpected in that list?

Thanks,

Eric Lawrence
Program Manager
Assistance and Worldwide Services

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

wmplayer does not show up in the process list. I do not have any other

programs like Kazaa installed. The Windows Media Player toolbar is not
displayed.

I'm telling you -- the file just won't go away. I tried installing the

Service Pack in Safe Mode, and I go the same message. I tried just plain old
deleting the WMP folder, and guess what -- I can't because the file's in use
by another application! Is there some way to disable WMP temporarily?

In any case, I'm not sure it will solve the dialog box appearance problem,

which is really all I want to do. In WMP and other, non microsoft apps, the
dialog boxes have the new look. It's only in the Office 2003 programs that
they retain the Classic look. Please, help.