The file locations aren't stored in a file at all. They're stored in the
registry, in a key that's specific to each individual user. At logon, that key
is copied into the corresponding location in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER part of the
registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\<version>\Word\Options
where <version> is, for example, 11.0 for Word 2003 or 12.0 for Word 2007. If
the location hasn't been customized, the DOC-PATH entry doesn't exist. In that
case, the default location is the "My Documents" or "Documents" folder in that
user's profile.
While an AutoExec macro in the Normal.dot (or Normal.dotm) template or an add-in
could set the location, those templates also reside in each user's profile,
which just pushes the problem one level further up without solving it.
The only reasonable way to force all users on the machine to use the same
non-default location is to use a logon script to set the registry entry. The
Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) can be used to designate the script to run for
all users.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
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