Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap

[rafael montserrat]

In July of 2003 I wrote: "characters will overlap or bunch up every ten
minutes." see below for my original email.*

Beth Rosengard gave me the following fix which I have done carefully as per
instructions but to no avail in solving the problem.

"You need the updaters listed at the URL below (not counting the optional
ones) plus the Microsoft Office 98 SSL Security Updater:
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/resources/resources.aspx?pid=resourcekits&rk=o
fficex&article=/mac/download/misc/make_office_current.xml#98>"

I have downloaded the updaters "not counting the optional ones". Then I
installed them in the order instructed.

As I write my book, the problem becomes increasing bothersome and I fear
loss of material.

Can someone or Beth elaborate on a fix.

Rafael

*Original email:
"In a word document, every ten minutes or so, some characters will overlap,
or bunch up. The temporary cure for this is to put the cursor on that line
anywhere and space forward and back, only one space seems necessary. Then
the characters return to normal.

The other thing that happens, not always with characters bunching up, is
that when selecting a word, the highlight doesn't just stay on that word,
but will cover half of the previous word making it impossible to move or
copy or cut the word I selected. Again this is remedied by the process
described above.

This is happening so often that it is very irritating. There is something
flawed in the application program. I have yet to uninstall and reinstall
word. Is anyone familiar with this phenomenon and it's cure?"

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Rafael,

My next suggestion would be to test your Normal Template and Word Settings
files as follows:

1) Quit Word and navigate to your Normal template which should be in
Applications> Microsoft Office 98> Templates. Rename Normal to something
else (like OldNormal), then relaunch Word. If this fixes the problem but
you have customizations, etc, in OldNormal that you want to maintain, you
can use Organizer to transfer those from OldNormal to the newly-created
Normal template. Then you can trash the old renamed file.

To learn how to use Organizer, see here (use IE not Safari to view this
site): <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/MacWordNormalTemplate.htm>

If this doesn't fix the problem, quit Word again, trash the new Normal and
rename OldNormal back to Normal.

2) To test your Preference files, quit *all* Office Applications.
Navigate to your System folder> Preferences> Microsoft folder. Rename the
Word Settings (8) file. When you restart Word, the files will be recreated.
If all is well, you can trash the old file. You will have to reset some
Preferences and AutoCorrect settings.

If this doesn't help, you can trash the new file and rename the old one
back.

One other thing: Does this happen with only one particular document? If
that's the case, it may be corrupt. Turn on Show/Hide Formatting (the
backwards paragraph symbol), copy all but the very last paragraph mark of
the document and paste it into a blank new Word document. Do a Save.

It's not always easy to track down oddball problems like yours. I hope
something here helps.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

 

[rafael montserrat]

A description of the problem again:

Two things happen.

a. The first, and this happens right when starting work on a document,
is that in selecting a word with a double click, and sometimes with a drag
across selection of a word, the space between that word and the next is also
selected. The following word is not selected. This doesn¹t happen in any
other aplications such as OE Express, or TexEdit, a word processor with
functionings between simpletext and word.

b. The letters at the beginning of one word and at the start of the next
word bunch together and overlap in the ³no wrap to window² mode, and I think
in in the ³wrap to window² mode too.

c. The right edge of the text from top to bottom loses designated margin
and falls over to the right behind the right scroll bar. This is in ³align
left² and not ³justify²


Here are the results of your suggestions:

1. ³Normal² template to ³oldnormal² - no fix

2.a. Under ³Preferences², there is no ³Microsoft folder², only a ³Microsoft
Find File² Folder.

³Word Settings (8) File² is directly in the ³Preferences Folder² because
there is no ³Microsoft folder².
- no fix

2.b. I renamed the ³Word Settings (8) File² to ³Old Word Settings (8)² ‹ no
fix

2.c. The problem happens in all word98 files

2.d. ³Show/hide... ³ copying all but the last paragraph mark of the document
and pasting into a
blank w98 doc and saving².

Upon opening the new blank document, the blank document has the one
paragraph mark at the beginning left
of the page. this seems logical. The cursor will only fall before the
paragraph symbol and the cursor will
not move across the paragraph symbol to the right of the page. Pasting
the document where the
cursor lies, that paragraph mark disappears and the document appears
normal but there is no fix.

The problem persists.


From: Beth Rosengard <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 10:58:40 -0700
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap


Hi Rafael,

My next suggestion would be to test your Normal Template and Word Settings
files as follows:

1) Quit Word and navigate to your Normal template which should be in
Applications> Microsoft Office 98> Templates. Rename Normal to something
else (like OldNormal), then relaunch Word. If this fixes the problem but
you have customizations, etc, in OldNormal that you want to maintain, you
can use Organizer to transfer those from OldNormal to the newly-created
Normal template. Then you can trash the old renamed file.

To learn how to use Organizer, see here (use IE not Safari to view this
site): <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/MacWordNormalTemplate.htm>

If this doesn't fix the problem, quit Word again, trash the new Normal and
rename OldNormal back to Normal.

2) To test your Preference files, quit *all* Office Applications.
Navigate to your System folder> Preferences> Microsoft folder. Rename the
Word Settings (8) file. When you restart Word, the files will be recreated.
If all is well, you can trash the old file. You will have to reset some
Preferences and AutoCorrect settings.

If this doesn't help, you can trash the new file and rename the old one
back.

One other thing: Does this happen with only one particular document? If
that's the case, it may be corrupt. Turn on Show/Hide Formatting (the
backwards paragraph symbol), copy all but the very last paragraph mark of
the document and paste it into a blank new Word document. Do a Save.

It's not always easy to track down oddball problems like yours. I hope
something here helps.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>




On 9/16/03 1:35 AM, in article BB8C7BE7.2A94%[email protected], "rafael

In July of 2003 I wrote: "characters will overlap or bunch up every ten
minutes." see below for my original email.*

Beth Rosengard gave me the following fix which I have done carefully as per
instructions but to no avail in solving the problem.

"You need the updaters listed at the URL below (not counting the optional
ones) plus the Microsoft Office 98 SSL Security Updater:
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/resources/resources.aspx?pid=resourcekits&rk=o
fficex&article=/mac/download/misc/make_office_current.xml#98>"

I have downloaded the updaters "not counting the optional ones". Then I
installed them in the order instructed.

As I write my book, the problem becomes increasing bothersome and I fear
loss of material.

Can someone or Beth elaborate on a fix.

Rafael

*Original email:
"In a word document, every ten minutes or so, some characters will overlap,
or bunch up. The temporary cure for this is to put the cursor on that line
anywhere and space forward and back, only one space seems necessary. Then
the characters return to normal.

The other thing that happens, not always with characters bunching up, is
that when selecting a word, the highlight doesn't just stay on that word,
but will cover half of the previous word making it impossible to move or
copy or cut the word I selected. Again this is remedied by the process
described above.

This is happening so often that it is very irritating. There is something
flawed in the application program. I have yet to uninstall and reinstall
word. Is anyone familiar with this phenomenon and it's cure?"

 

[rafael montserrat]

Re "a." This *might* be a setting in Word Prefs, Edit tab--I think "smart
cut and paste" selects the space after the word so that you don't have to
manually delete the extra space when deleting a word. (Although I thought I
remembered appreciating that as a new feature in Word 2001, so possibly
not).

I HAVE ALWAYS HAD THE "SMART CUT AND PASTE" BOX CHECKED. AS I RECALL, THE
TWO CLICK SELECTION ONLY SELECTS THE WORD AND DOESN'T GO OVER INTO EITHER
SPACE. IN FACT, I'M SURE. SO IT'S DOING IT AUTOMATICALLY RATHER THAN
SELECTING THE SPACE AT THE END OF THE WORD. THE WAY THINGS ARE RIGHT NOW I
CAN'T RE-CREATE EITHER WAY PROPERLY, BOX CHECKED OR UNCHECKED.

For the other problems, suggest you play around with your View | Zoom
settings, the size of the window, and the views (Normal vs. page layout) to
see if the problem is always consistent. Zoom can definitely affect letters
bunching together, although I've never seen overlapping. Some fonts are
squeezed closer together than others.

IN VIEWS (NORMAL & PAGE LAYOUT) & IN ZOOM THE PROBLEM IS THE SAME.

Re "c." it sounds to me like your window is smaller than the margins, easily
fixable by making the window larger or using "wrap to window" mode, so I
think I must not be understanding your description properly.

IN DON'T WRAP TO WINDOW, THE WINDOW SIZE MATTERS. IF MADE TOO NARROW, IT
OVERLAPS THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE TEXT. IN WRAP TO WINDOW BOX CHECK IT DOESN'T
MATTER. THE TEXT WILL FALL INTO PLACE SHOWING ALL TEXT NO MATTER HOW WIDE OR
HOW NARROW THE WINDOW IS SET. I DON'T THINK THE PROBLEM IS HERE. THAT'S HOW
IT ACTS WHEN IT'S FUNCTIONING PROPERLY.

ABOUT "c."
"c. The right edge of the text from top to bottom loses designated margin
and
falls over to the right behind the right scroll bar. This is in ³align left²
and not 'justify'³.
THIS IS A RUNNING TO THE RIGHT UNDERNEATH THE SCROLL BAR THAT LOOKS
DIFFERENT THAN 'DON'T WRAP TO WINDOW' OVERLAPPING THE TEXT WHEN THE RIGHT
SIDE OF THE WINDOW (SCROLL BAR) IS BROUGHT TO FAR OVER TO THE LEFT. WHEN MY
PROBLEM HAPPENS AND I 'SELECT ALL', THE SELECT COLOR IS ALL OVER THE PLACE,
OVERLAPPING FROM ONE WORD TO THE OTHER. I KNOW THAT BECAUSE ONE TEMPORARY
FIX IS TO SELECT ALL-CUT-PASTE THE WHOLE DOC. THE SELECT ALL SHOWS THE TEXT
FACACA AND THEN WHEN I PASTE THE WHOLE THING BACK, IT'S ORDINARY AGAIN -
EXCEPT FOR THE OVERLAPPING SELECTION ON EACH SPACE AFTER A WORD. I HOPE I'M
EXPLAINING THIS CLEARLY. THE TEMPORARY FIX DOESN'T LAST FOR LONG AND IS
CORRUPTING SOONER AND SOONER.

Are these solely display problems?

I DON'T THINK IT'S A DISPLAY PROBLEM. I THINK IT'S A PROGRAM PROBLEM BECAUSE
ALL OTHER APPLICATIONS WORK OK.

Do documents print out fine?

YES THEY DO. THANKS FOR POINTING THAT OUT BECAUSE I DIDN'T TRY THAT BEFORE.

I HAVE UNINSTALLED AND INSTALLED WORD ONCE AND THE PROBLEM PERSISTED.
MY MAIN CONCERN IS NOT ONLY IF PROGRAM HAS BECOME CORRUPTED (THOUGH I DON'T
YET KNOW HOW I'D FIX THAT), BUT IF THE DOCUMENTS SANS APPLICATION ARE
CORRUPTED PERMANENTLY AND COULD BRING THE PROBLEM RIGHT BACK INTO A NEW
APPLICATION.

I WENT ONTO THE 'MVP' WEBSITE BUT COULDN'T LOCATE ANYTHING PERTINANT THERE.

THANKS DAYO.

RAFAEL

Dayo

On 9/18/03 6:26 AM, in article BB8F38F2.2C17%[email protected], "rafael


a. The first, and this happens right when starting work on a document, is
that in selecting a word with a double click, and sometimes with a drag
across
selection of a word, the space between that word and the next is also
selected. The following word is not selected. This doesn¹t happen in any
other
aplications such as OE Express, or TexEdit, a word processor with
functionings
between simpletext and word.

b. The letters at the beginning of one word and at the start of the next
word bunch together and overlap in the ³no wrap to window² mode, and I think
in in the ³wrap to window² mode too.

c. The right edge of the text from top to bottom loses designated margin and
falls over to the right behind the right scroll bar. This is in ³align left²
and not ³justify²


Here are the results of your suggestions:

1. ³Normal² template to ³oldnormal² - no fix

2.a. Under ³Preferences², there is no ³Microsoft folder², only a ³Microsoft
Find File² Folder.

³Word Settings (8) File² is directly in the ³Preferences Folder² because
there is no ³Microsoft folder².
- no fix

2.b. I renamed the ³Word Settings (8) File² to ³Old Word Settings (8)² ‹ no
fix

2.c. The problem happens in all word98 files

2.d. ³Show/hide... ³ copying all but the last paragraph mark of the document
and pasting into a
blank w98 doc and saving².

Upon opening the new blank document, the blank document has the one
paragraph mark at the beginning left
of the page. this seems logical. The cursor will only fall before the
paragraph symbol and the cursor will
not move across the paragraph symbol to the right of the page. Pasting the
document where the
cursor lies, that paragraph mark disappears and the document appears normal
but there is no fix.

The problem persists.


From: Beth Rosengard <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 10:58:40 -0700
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap


Hi Rafael,

My next suggestion would be to test your Normal Template and Word Settings
files as follows:

1) Quit Word and navigate to your Normal template which should be in
Applications> Microsoft Office 98> Templates. Rename Normal to something
else (like OldNormal), then relaunch Word. If this fixes the problem but
you have customizations, etc, in OldNormal that you want to maintain, you
can use Organizer to transfer those from OldNormal to the newly-created
Normal template. Then you can trash the old renamed file.

To learn how to use Organizer, see here (use IE not Safari to view this
site): <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/MacWordNormalTemplate.htm>

If this doesn't fix the problem, quit Word again, trash the new Normal and
rename OldNormal back to Normal.

2) To test your Preference files, quit *all* Office Applications.
Navigate to your System folder> Preferences> Microsoft folder. Rename the
Word Settings (8) file. When you restart Word, the files will be recreated.
If all is well, you can trash the old file. You will have to reset some
Preferences and AutoCorrect settings.

If this doesn't help, you can trash the new file and rename the old one
back.

One other thing: Does this happen with only one particular document? If
that's the case, it may be corrupt. Turn on Show/Hide Formatting (the
backwards paragraph symbol), copy all but the very last paragraph mark of
the document and paste it into a blank new Word document. Do a Save.

It's not always easy to track down oddball problems like yours. I hope
something here helps.

 

[rafael montserrat]

COULD THIS PROBLEM BE:
All word files corrupted
System corrupted (tho everything else works)
Need for clean install
Unload everything word from the computer, reinstall word from disk . . .
and two upgrades.
Bring back one backed up word file to see if the problem still exists
Pay MS usurious fee to simply have the privilege to ask
Write in longhand
?





-------------------------------------

Re "a." This *might* be a setting in Word Prefs, Edit tab--I think "smart
cut and paste" selects the space after the word so that you don't have to
manually delete the extra space when deleting a word. (Although I thought I
remembered appreciating that as a new feature in Word 2001, so possibly
not).

I HAVE ALWAYS HAD THE "SMART CUT AND PASTE" BOX CHECKED. AS I RECALL, THE
TWO CLICK SELECTION ONLY SELECTS THE WORD AND DOESN'T GO OVER INTO EITHER
SPACE. IN FACT, I'M SURE. SO IT'S DOING IT AUTOMATICALLY RATHER THAN
SELECTING THE SPACE AT THE END OF THE WORD. THE WAY THINGS ARE RIGHT NOW I
CAN'T RE-CREATE EITHER WAY PROPERLY, BOX CHECKED OR UNCHECKED.

For the other problems, suggest you play around with your View | Zoom
settings, the size of the window, and the views (Normal vs. page layout) to
see if the problem is always consistent. Zoom can definitely affect letters
bunching together, although I've never seen overlapping. Some fonts are
squeezed closer together than others.

IN VIEWS (NORMAL & PAGE LAYOUT) & IN ZOOM THE PROBLEM IS THE SAME.

Re "c." it sounds to me like your window is smaller than the margins, easily
fixable by making the window larger or using "wrap to window" mode, so I
think I must not be understanding your description properly.

IN DON'T WRAP TO WINDOW, THE WINDOW SIZE MATTERS. IF MADE TOO NARROW, IT
OVERLAPS THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE TEXT. IN WRAP TO WINDOW BOX CHECK IT DOESN'T
MATTER. THE TEXT WILL FALL INTO PLACE SHOWING ALL TEXT NO MATTER HOW WIDE OR
HOW NARROW THE WINDOW IS SET. I DON'T THINK THE PROBLEM IS HERE. THAT'S HOW
IT ACTS WHEN IT'S FUNCTIONING PROPERLY.

ABOUT "c."
"c. The right edge of the text from top to bottom loses designated margin
and
falls over to the right behind the right scroll bar. This is in ³align left²
and not 'justify'³.
THIS IS A RUNNING TO THE RIGHT UNDERNEATH THE SCROLL BAR THAT LOOKS
DIFFERENT THAN 'DON'T WRAP TO WINDOW' OVERLAPPING THE TEXT WHEN THE RIGHT
SIDE OF THE WINDOW (SCROLL BAR) IS BROUGHT TO FAR OVER TO THE LEFT. WHEN MY
PROBLEM HAPPENS AND I 'SELECT ALL', THE SELECT COLOR IS ALL OVER THE PLACE,
OVERLAPPING FROM ONE WORD TO THE OTHER. I KNOW THAT BECAUSE ONE TEMPORARY
FIX IS TO SELECT ALL-CUT-PASTE THE WHOLE DOC. THE SELECT ALL SHOWS THE TEXT
FACACA AND THEN WHEN I PASTE THE WHOLE THING BACK, IT'S ORDINARY AGAIN -
EXCEPT FOR THE OVERLAPPING SELECTION ON EACH SPACE AFTER A WORD. I HOPE I'M
EXPLAINING THIS CLEARLY. THE TEMPORARY FIX DOESN'T LAST FOR LONG AND IS
CORRUPTING SOONER AND SOONER.

Are these solely display problems?

I DON'T THINK IT'S A DISPLAY PROBLEM. I THINK IT'S A PROGRAM PROBLEM BECAUSE
ALL OTHER APPLICATIONS WORK OK.

Do documents print out fine?

YES THEY DO. THANKS FOR POINTING THAT OUT BECAUSE I DIDN'T TRY THAT BEFORE.

I HAVE UNINSTALLED AND INSTALLED WORD ONCE AND THE PROBLEM PERSISTED.
MY MAIN CONCERN IS NOT ONLY IF PROGRAM HAS BECOME CORRUPTED (THOUGH I DON'T
YET KNOW HOW I'D FIX THAT), BUT IF THE DOCUMENTS SANS APPLICATION ARE
CORRUPTED PERMANENTLY AND COULD BRING THE PROBLEM RIGHT BACK INTO A NEW
APPLICATION.

I WENT ONTO THE 'MVP' WEBSITE BUT COULDN'T LOCATE ANYTHING PERTINANT THERE.

THANKS DAYO.

RAFAEL

Dayo

On 9/18/03 6:26 AM, in article BB8F38F2.2C17%[email protected], "rafael


a. The first, and this happens right when starting work on a document, is
that in selecting a word with a double click, and sometimes with a drag
across
selection of a word, the space between that word and the next is also
selected. The following word is not selected. This doesn¹t happen in any
other
aplications such as OE Express, or TexEdit, a word processor with
functionings
between simpletext and word.

b. The letters at the beginning of one word and at the start of the next
word bunch together and overlap in the ³no wrap to window² mode, and I think
in in the ³wrap to window² mode too.

c. The right edge of the text from top to bottom loses designated margin and
falls over to the right behind the right scroll bar. This is in ³align left²
and not ³justify²


Here are the results of your suggestions:

1. ³Normal² template to ³oldnormal² - no fix

2.a. Under ³Preferences², there is no ³Microsoft folder², only a ³Microsoft
Find File² Folder.

³Word Settings (8) File² is directly in the ³Preferences Folder² because
there is no ³Microsoft folder².
- no fix

2.b. I renamed the ³Word Settings (8) File² to ³Old Word Settings (8)² ‹ no
fix

2.c. The problem happens in all word98 files

2.d. ³Show/hide... ³ copying all but the last paragraph mark of the document
and pasting into a
blank w98 doc and saving².

Upon opening the new blank document, the blank document has the one
paragraph mark at the beginning left
of the page. this seems logical. The cursor will only fall before the
paragraph symbol and the cursor will
not move across the paragraph symbol to the right of the page. Pasting the
document where the
cursor lies, that paragraph mark disappears and the document appears normal
but there is no fix.

The problem persists.


From: Beth Rosengard <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 10:58:40 -0700
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap


Hi Rafael,

My next suggestion would be to test your Normal Template and Word Settings
files as follows:

1) Quit Word and navigate to your Normal template which should be in
Applications> Microsoft Office 98> Templates. Rename Normal to something
else (like OldNormal), then relaunch Word. If this fixes the problem but
you have customizations, etc, in OldNormal that you want to maintain, you
can use Organizer to transfer those from OldNormal to the newly-created
Normal template. Then you can trash the old renamed file.

To learn how to use Organizer, see here (use IE not Safari to view this
site): <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/MacWordNormalTemplate.htm>

If this doesn't fix the problem, quit Word again, trash the new Normal and
rename OldNormal back to Normal.

2) To test your Preference files, quit *all* Office Applications.
Navigate to your System folder> Preferences> Microsoft folder. Rename the
Word Settings (8) file. When you restart Word, the files will be recreated.
If all is well, you can trash the old file. You will have to reset some
Preferences and AutoCorrect settings.

If this doesn't help, you can trash the new file and rename the old one
back.

One other thing: Does this happen with only one particular document? If
that's the case, it may be corrupt. Turn on Show/Hide Formatting (the
backwards paragraph symbol), copy all but the very last paragraph mark of
the document and paste it into a blank new Word document. Do a Save.

It's not always easy to track down oddball problems like yours. I hope
something here helps.

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

Re "a." This *might* be a setting in Word Prefs, Edit tab--I think "smart
cut and paste" selects the space after the word so that you don't have to
manually delete the extra space when deleting a word. (Although I thought I
remembered appreciating that as a new feature in Word 2001, so possibly
not).

For the other problems, suggest you play around with your View | Zoom
settings, the size of the window, and the views (Normal vs. page layout) to
see if the problem is always consistent. Zoom can definitely affect letters
bunching together, although I've never seen overlapping. Some fonts are
squeezed closer together than others.

Re "c." it sounds to me like your window is smaller than the margins, easily
fixable by making the window larger or using "wrap to window" mode, so I
think I must not be understanding your description properly.

Are these solely display problems? Do documents print out fine?

Dayo

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

I used Word 98 for years and never saw anything like this, but vaguely
brainstorming avenues to try:

Some people, in relation to PC Word problems, have said that because Word is
very complex, problems with graphics cards can show up there when they don't
show up in any other program. Perhaps you could investigate whether new
drivers are available for your display hardware or software, etc. (I'm
just repeating what I've heard, so I'm afraid I have no idea how one goes
about checking that, I'm sorry). Since this happens with all documents, and
they print fine, it really does seem most likely to be a problem in the
interaction of Word and your display.

I know your problem started in July, but did you possibly install anything a
bit before then that might have affected the display software?

You checked to make sure it isn't some type of virus?

Do you have access to any other computers (mac or pc) where you could try
opening up some of the documents? That should tell you whether the
documents themselves are actually corrupted. My admittedly non-expert
impression is that it would require a virus/worm for a corrupted document to
contaminate a program, and that this test should be safe if you have run
Norton or MacAfee with updated virus defs.

When you uninstalled and reinstalled, did you use the Remove Office tool, or
just drag files to the trash? Remove Office is supposed to be better, and I
think you should use the one from the website, as the 2001 Remove Office
that comes on the CD is apparently imperfect, not sure re the 98 one. If
the program were corrupted, remove/reinstalling should fix it. If you
really think the installation CD may be corrupted, try this link for
Knowledge Base article 326246, which I've not checked out myself, just seen
cited:

How to Replace Lost, Broken, or Missing Microsoft Software or Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[ln];326246

Hope something helps,
Dayo

PS. Two slightly off-topic comments that you probably won't appreciate right
now ‹for some reason your reply to me came up dated as *before* my post?
And please don't use ALL CAPS, it is surely the *least* reader-friendly way
to differentiate your text from mine without HTML. It's difficult to read
and means shouting....

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Rafael,

You say below that you uninstalled and reinstalled Word. I assume by that
you mean that you dragged Word to the trash and then reinstalled from the
CD. If that's what you did, it's no good. You need to use the MS Office
Remover tool or you'll never get a clean reinstall. Use the following
procedure:

-- Download the Office Remover from
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx?pid=download&location=/mac/down
load/office98/remove_officetools.xml&secid=20&ssid=6&flgnosysreq=False>. If
there is a removal tool on the Office 98 CD, do not use it; it is most
likely not up-to-date.

-- With all Office applications closed, run the Remover. That searches your
hard disk, and particularly your System folder, to make sure everything is
removed.

-- Rebuild the desktop.

-- Reinstall Office 98 from the CD.

-- Start each Office 98 application once to cause it to initialize itself.

-- Download and install the following updaters from Mactopia.com
(<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx#Office98>) in this
order:

Combined Updater for Office 98
Microsoft Office 98/Mac OS 9/Excel Y2K Updater
Microsoft Word 98 / PowerPoint 98 Updater
Microsoft Word 98 for Mac Security Update: Macro Vulnerability
PowerPoint/Excel Macro Updater
Microsoft Office 98 SSL Security Updater

There are other optional updaters which you can read about here:
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/download/default.asp?navindex=s10#Office98>

-- Rebuild the desktop.

Now, I can't promise that this will cure your problem but until you know you
have a clean install, it's hard to troubleshoot further.

On an unrelated topic, Rafael, you're making it very difficult to follow
your posts by replying to plain text messages in HTML. It's forcing you to
"shout" (use all caps) which is very difficult to read. In the future, I
recommend that you reply in plain text to messages that were created in
plain text. That way, since you're using OE, you can tell the generation
of past posts by color and by how many caret marks (>) precede the lines.
It's much, much easier to read.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Sorry, Dayo. I replied more or less exactly as you did before I noticed
your post. (Thought I had checked for replies, but somehow I missed it; I
don't read "threaded" ­ don't like it .

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

 

[rafael montserrat]

Dayo,

Sorry. I didn't mean to shout. I didn't know about that. I was just trying
to differentiate... you know. Also, is that the kind of threading that Beth
doesn't like? Seemed like a good way to answer point by point. I guess the
thing to do on the newsgroup would be to go point by point in a separate
answer not intermingled with yours.

Would you please clue me in on this.

Now. About the w98 problem.

I will try your suggestions. Thank you.

At present I have found something on the KB that might be pertinant. I just
started working on the steps it says to take. If you wouldn't mind, could
you go to the url below, take a look at it and see if I'm wasting my time?

"<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;176050>
WD98: Troubleshooting Damaged Documents in Word 98 for Macintosh
This article was previously published under Q176050"

Thanks much,
Rafael


From: Beth Rosengard <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 23:14:04 -0700
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap


Sorry, Dayo. I replied more or less exactly as you did before I noticed
your post. (Thought I had checked for replies, but somehow I missed it; I
don't read "threaded" ­ don't like it .

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>


On 9/19/03 9:48 PM, in article BB915464.13AB6%[email protected],

When you uninstalled and reinstalled, did you use the Remove Office tool, or
just drag files to the trash? Remove Office is supposed to be better, and I
think you should use the one from the website, as the 2001 Remove Office
that comes on the CD is apparently imperfect, not sure re the 98 one. If
the program were corrupted, remove/reinstalling should fix it. If you
really think the installation CD may be corrupted, try this link for
Knowledge Base article 326246, which I've not checked out myself, just seen
cited:

How to Replace Lost, Broken, or Missing Microsoft Software or Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[ln];326246

Hope something helps,
Dayo

PS. Two slightly off-topic comments that you probably won't appreciate right
now ‹for some reason your reply to me came up dated as *before* my post?
And please don't use ALL CAPS, it is surely the *least* reader-friendly way
to differentiate your text from mine without HTML. It's difficult to read
and means shouting....

 

[rafael montserrat]

I didn't see this full copy of your post. I'll look into some of these
things too.

From: Dayo Mitchell <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 00:48:49 -0400
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap


I used Word 98 for years and never saw anything like this, but vaguely
brainstorming avenues to try:

Some people, in relation to PC Word problems, have said that because Word is
very complex, problems with graphics cards can show up there when they don't
show up in any other program. Perhaps you could investigate whether new
drivers are available for your display hardware or software, etc. (I'm
just repeating what I've heard, so I'm afraid I have no idea how one goes
about checking that, I'm sorry). Since this happens with all documents, and
they print fine, it really does seem most likely to be a problem in the
interaction of Word and your display.

I know your problem started in July, but did you possibly install anything a
bit before then that might have affected the display software?

You checked to make sure it isn't some type of virus?

Do you have access to any other computers (mac or pc) where you could try
opening up some of the documents? That should tell you whether the
documents themselves are actually corrupted. My admittedly non-expert
impression is that it would require a virus/worm for a corrupted document to
contaminate a program, and that this test should be safe if you have run
Norton or MacAfee with updated virus defs.

When you uninstalled and reinstalled, did you use the Remove Office tool, or
just drag files to the trash? Remove Office is supposed to be better, and I
think you should use the one from the website, as the 2001 Remove Office
that comes on the CD is apparently imperfect, not sure re the 98 one. If
the program were corrupted, remove/reinstalling should fix it. If you
really think the installation CD may be corrupted, try this link for
Knowledge Base article 326246, which I've not checked out myself, just seen
cited:

How to Replace Lost, Broken, or Missing Microsoft Software or Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[ln];326246

Hope something helps,
Dayo

PS. Two slightly off-topic comments that you probably won't appreciate right
now ‹for some reason your reply to me came up dated as *before* my post?
And please don't use ALL CAPS, it is surely the *least* reader-friendly way
to differentiate your text from mine without HTML. It's difficult to read
and means shouting....

 

[rafael montserrat]

Question about:
Download details: Office 98/2001 Remove Tools
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f0dd6242-3a73-4702-
a821-93531a6dedc0&displaylang=en

The following is from the "Office 98/2001 Remove Tools Read Me". What I want
to know is about the underlined section under Instructions. Does "remove ALL
files associated with '...Office 98' mean all my Word98 and IE5, OE5
documents"

"The Remove Office tools utility offers an easy way to remove Office 98 and
Office 2001. The tools move Office components that are stored in the System
Folder to the Trash and remove the Office folder.

Instructions
Important: The Remove Office tools remove ALL files associated with
Microsoft Office 2001 for Mac® or Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition. If
other programs ‹ such as Microsoft Outlook for Macintosh ‹ that rely on
Office components, are installed on your computer, the Remove Office tools
will also disable those programs and you will have to reinstall."

Thanks,

Rafael

From: rafael montserrat <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 16:40:08 +0000
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap


I didn't see this full copy of your post. I'll look into some of these
things too.

From: Dayo Mitchell <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 00:48:49 -0400
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap


I used Word 98 for years and never saw anything like this, but vaguely
brainstorming avenues to try:

Some people, in relation to PC Word problems, have said that because Word is
very complex, problems with graphics cards can show up there when they don't
show up in any other program. Perhaps you could investigate whether new
drivers are available for your display hardware or software, etc. (I'm
just repeating what I've heard, so I'm afraid I have no idea how one goes
about checking that, I'm sorry). Since this happens with all documents, and
they print fine, it really does seem most likely to be a problem in the
interaction of Word and your display.

I know your problem started in July, but did you possibly install anything a
bit before then that might have affected the display software?

You checked to make sure it isn't some type of virus?

Do you have access to any other computers (mac or pc) where you could try
opening up some of the documents? That should tell you whether the
documents themselves are actually corrupted. My admittedly non-expert
impression is that it would require a virus/worm for a corrupted document to
contaminate a program, and that this test should be safe if you have run
Norton or MacAfee with updated virus defs.

When you uninstalled and reinstalled, did you use the Remove Office tool, or
just drag files to the trash? Remove Office is supposed to be better, and I
think you should use the one from the website, as the 2001 Remove Office
that comes on the CD is apparently imperfect, not sure re the 98 one. If
the program were corrupted, remove/reinstalling should fix it. If you
really think the installation CD may be corrupted, try this link for
Knowledge Base article 326246, which I've not checked out myself, just seen
cited:

How to Replace Lost, Broken, or Missing Microsoft Software or Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[ln];326246

Hope something helps,
Dayo

PS. Two slightly off-topic comments that you probably won't appreciate right
now ‹for some reason your reply to me came up dated as *before* my post?
And please don't use ALL CAPS, it is surely the *least* reader-friendly way
to differentiate your text from mine without HTML. It's difficult to read
and means shouting....

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

Hi Rafael,

The "threaded" Beth referred to is just sorting the posts by subject,
instead of date, and it's entirely a matter of personal preference, not a
netiquette issue. I *think* you should be able to set Outlook Express to
either post to NGs in plain text instead of HTML, or to reply to a message
in the same format it was written, which should fix the differentiation
problem by using colors and >>> for different posters automatically. Posting
in-line (interspersed point by point) or top-posting is fine--sometimes one
makes more sense than another.

Re your later question: Remove Office will not remove any of your documents,
but will get rid of the myriad prefs files, system extensions, etc that MS
Office puts in and doesn't always label clearly. And reinstalling should
return the components that Outlook, etc, may depend on, which is what the
warning is really for. You will want to backup your preferences, especially
in Excel, Powerpoint, which will also get removed along with Word, as part
of Office.

But your data will be fine (although it's always a good idea to backup
before doing any type of installation, and especially a good idea to backup
more frequently when your system is acting wacky.

I checked out the KB article you mentioned--I'm really not an expert on this
at all but....--since it happens with every document, I think you can be
pretty confident you don't have a damaged document, but the first six things
they say to try under "Identifying a Damaged Document" may help you narrow
down the problem. I feel like extension conflicts usually result in crashes
rather than misbehaving displays, but starting up with extensions off is
always worth a try, and a fairly quick check.

Did a KB search for either MS or Apple return anything helpful re graphics
cards or display problems?

Dayo

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Dayo & Rafael,

Hi Rafael,

The "threaded" Beth referred to is just sorting the posts by subject,
instead of date, and it's entirely a matter of personal preference, not a
netiquette issue.
Right.

I *think* you should be able to set Outlook Express to either post to NGs in
plain text instead of HTML, or to reply to a message in the same format it was
written, which should fix the differentiation problem by using colors and >>>
for different posters automatically. Posting in-line (interspersed point by
point) or top-posting is fine--sometimes one makes more sense than another.

I just fired up Outlook Express to check. Go to Edit> Preferences> Compose
and check the option to "Reply to messages in the format in which they were
sent." In the same location, you can also set the Preference for News
Format to Plain Text ... which I strongly advise. Plain text works much
better for newsgroup posts where you're quoting back sometimes several
generations of posts. You can keep your Mail Format setting at HTML if you
prefer it that way.

Re your later question: Remove Office will not remove any of your documents,
but will get rid of the myriad prefs files, system extensions, etc that MS
Office puts in and doesn't always label clearly. And reinstalling should
return the components that Outlook, etc, may depend on, which is what the
warning is really for. You will want to backup your preferences, especially
in Excel, Powerpoint, which will also get removed along with Word, as part
of Office.

Removing Office will affect Outlook but not Outlook Express. They're two
different applications. OE comes preinstalled on the Mac (or used to,
rather) and is not part of Office as Outlook is. Since you're using OE,
Rafael, you have nothing to worry about although Dayo's advice about backing
up is solid.

But your data will be fine (although it's always a good idea to backup
before doing any type of installation, and especially a good idea to backup
more frequently when your system is acting wacky.

I checked out the KB article you mentioned--I'm really not an expert on this
at all but....--since it happens with every document, I think you can be
pretty confident you don't have a damaged document, but the first six things
they say to try under "Identifying a Damaged Document" may help you narrow
down the problem. I feel like extension conflicts usually result in crashes
rather than misbehaving displays, but starting up with extensions off is
always worth a try, and a fairly quick check.

I agree with Dayo here. What's more, there's no point in troubleshooting
extensions, etc., when you're not sure if you've got a good install. Do the
removal/reinstall first.

 

[rafael montserrat]

Thanks Dayo,

It seemed that the newsgroups were defaulted by date. I know I can change
that in my outlook.

I've turned off HTML in this response in the box on the letter menu bar just
above the letter window. Then in OE Preferences > messages there are two
formats that can be chosen both for "Mail Format" and "News Format". I'm not
clear about this. Does "News Format" mean newsgroups and "Mail Format" mean
the rest of my email correspondence"? Do you work on Outlook Express? "Same
format it was written" is in preference choices.

I've selected some colors and >> in preferences but they have not shown up
in this letter. Maybe when sent. I'll send a copy to myself.

So "posting in line", as I did shouting, is OK?

The rest of your email below describes things to be tried.

Thanks, Rafael

Hi Rafael,

The "threaded" Beth referred to is just sorting the posts by subject,
instead of date, and it's entirely a matter of personal preference, not a
netiquette issue. I *think* you should be able to set Outlook Express to
either post to NGs in plain text instead of HTML, or to reply to a message
in the same format it was written, which should fix the differentiation
problem by using colors and >>> for different posters automatically. Posting
in-line (interspersed point by point) or top-posting is fine--sometimes one
makes more sense than another.

Re your later question: Remove Office will not remove any of your documents,
but will get rid of the myriad prefs files, system extensions, etc that MS
Office puts in and doesn't always label clearly. And reinstalling should
return the components that Outlook, etc, may depend on, which is what the
warning is really for. You will want to backup your preferences, especially
in Excel, Powerpoint, which will also get removed along with Word, as part
of Office.

But your data will be fine (although it's always a good idea to backup
before doing any type of installation, and especially a good idea to backup
more frequently when your system is acting wacky.

I checked out the KB article you mentioned--I'm really not an expert on this
at all but....--since it happens with every document, I think you can be
pretty confident you don't have a damaged document, but the first six things
they say to try under "Identifying a Damaged Document" may help you narrow
down the problem. I feel like extension conflicts usually result in crashes
rather than misbehaving displays, but starting up with extensions off is
always worth a try, and a fairly quick check.

Did a KB search for either MS or Apple return anything helpful re graphics
cards or display problems?

Dayo

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Rafael,

My response to Dayo's post answers most of your questions. Check back for
it.

As for selecting "colors and >> in preferences", you're best off leaving it
at the default, though you can make changes if you want. Look at what I did
to your post below. If you return your preferences to the default, you'll
see what six generations of posts would look like. The colors stop changing
after the fourth generation. The >>> marks seemingly go on forever.

Posting in-line is fine. Shouting is not fine. EXCEPT for deliberate
emphasis . Now that you're in plain text (thank you!), you won't need to
shout.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

Thanks Dayo, [This is 1 generation removed.]

It seemed that the newsgroups were defaulted by date. I know I can change
that in my outlook. [This is 2 generations removed.]

I've turned off HTML in this response in the box on the letter menu bar just
above the letter window. Then in OE Preferences > messages there are two
formats that can be chosen both for "Mail Format" and "News Format". I'm not
clear about this. Does "News Format" mean newsgroups and "Mail Format" mean
the rest of my email correspondence"? Do you work on Outlook Express? "Same
format it was written" is in preference choices. [This is three...]

I've selected some colors and >> in preferences but they have not shown up
in this letter. Maybe when sent. I'll send a copy to myself. [this is four...]

So "posting in line", as I did shouting, is OK? [This is five...]

The rest of your email below describes things to be tried. [This is

six...]

Thanks, Rafael

Hi Rafael,

The "threaded" Beth referred to is just sorting the posts by subject,
instead of date, and it's entirely a matter of personal preference, not a
netiquette issue. I *think* you should be able to set Outlook Express to
either post to NGs in plain text instead of HTML, or to reply to a message
in the same format it was written, which should fix the differentiation
problem by using colors and >>> for different posters automatically. Posting
in-line (interspersed point by point) or top-posting is fine--sometimes one
makes more sense than another.

Re your later question: Remove Office will not remove any of your documents,
but will get rid of the myriad prefs files, system extensions, etc that MS
Office puts in and doesn't always label clearly. And reinstalling should
return the components that Outlook, etc, may depend on, which is what the
warning is really for. You will want to backup your preferences, especially
in Excel, Powerpoint, which will also get removed along with Word, as part
of Office.

But your data will be fine (although it's always a good idea to backup
before doing any type of installation, and especially a good idea to backup
more frequently when your system is acting wacky.

I checked out the KB article you mentioned--I'm really not an expert on this
at all but....--since it happens with every document, I think you can be
pretty confident you don't have a damaged document, but the first six things
they say to try under "Identifying a Damaged Document" may help you narrow
down the problem. I feel like extension conflicts usually result in crashes
rather than misbehaving displays, but starting up with extensions off is
always worth a try, and a fairly quick check.

Did a KB search for either MS or Apple return anything helpful re graphics
cards or display problems?

Dayo

 

[rafael montserrat]

There's a lot of good material to work on here. Thanks.

I think I've got OE set to plain text now. Beth & Dayo give reasons for this
re: NGs, but then Beth says "You can keep your Mail Format setting at HTML
if you prefer it that way." which I don't quite understand in the context of
reasons given for plain text. Anyway. I can figure that all out.

One thing that I see happening that I like, which I think is the result of
Plain Text is that incoming messages default to my choice of Courier Medium.
I've always wanted that to happen.

Thanks,

Rafael

 

[rafael montserrat]

Hi Beth,

OK. (ok.... not to shout already

More good input.

Thanks,

Rafael

From: Beth Rosengard <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 10:56:47 -0700
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap

Hi Rafael,

My response to Dayo's post answers most of your questions. Check back for
it.

As for selecting "colors and >> in preferences", you're best off leaving it
at the default, though you can make changes if you want. Look at what I did
to your post below. If you return your preferences to the default, you'll
see what six generations of posts would look like. The colors stop changing
after the fourth generation. The >>> marks seemingly go on forever.

Posting in-line is fine. Shouting is not fine. EXCEPT for deliberate
emphasis . Now that you're in plain text (thank you!), you won't need to
shout.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

Thanks Dayo, [This is 1 generation removed.]

It seemed that the newsgroups were defaulted by date. I know I can change
that in my outlook. [This is 2 generations removed.]

I've turned off HTML in this response in the box on the letter menu bar
just
above the letter window. Then in OE Preferences > messages there are two
formats that can be chosen both for "Mail Format" and "News Format". I'm
not
clear about this. Does "News Format" mean newsgroups and "Mail Format" mean
the rest of my email correspondence"? Do you work on Outlook Express? "Same
format it was written" is in preference choices. [This is three...]

I've selected some colors and >> in preferences but they have not shown up
in this letter. Maybe when sent. I'll send a copy to myself. [this is four...]

So "posting in line", as I did shouting, is OK? [This is five...]

The rest of your email below describes things to be tried. [This is

six...]

Thanks, Rafael

Hi Rafael,

The "threaded" Beth referred to is just sorting the posts by subject,
instead of date, and it's entirely a matter of personal preference, not a
netiquette issue. I *think* you should be able to set Outlook Express to
either post to NGs in plain text instead of HTML, or to reply to a message
in the same format it was written, which should fix the differentiation
problem by using colors and >>> for different posters automatically. Posting
in-line (interspersed point by point) or top-posting is fine--sometimes one
makes more sense than another.

Re your later question: Remove Office will not remove any of your documents,
but will get rid of the myriad prefs files, system extensions, etc that MS
Office puts in and doesn't always label clearly. And reinstalling should
return the components that Outlook, etc, may depend on, which is what the
warning is really for. You will want to backup your preferences, especially
in Excel, Powerpoint, which will also get removed along with Word, as part
of Office.

But your data will be fine (although it's always a good idea to backup
before doing any type of installation, and especially a good idea to backup
more frequently when your system is acting wacky.

I checked out the KB article you mentioned--I'm really not an expert on this
at all but....--since it happens with every document, I think you can be
pretty confident you don't have a damaged document, but the first six things
they say to try under "Identifying a Damaged Document" may help you narrow
down the problem. I feel like extension conflicts usually result in crashes
rather than misbehaving displays, but starting up with extensions off is
always worth a try, and a fairly quick check.

Did a KB search for either MS or Apple return anything helpful re graphics
cards or display problems?

Dayo

Dayo,

Sorry. I didn't mean to shout. I didn't know about that. I was just trying
to
differentiate... you know. Also, is that the kind of threading that Beth
doesn't like? Seemed like a good way to answer point by point. I guess the
thing to do on the newsgroup would be to go point by point in a separate
answer not intermingled with yours.

Would you please clue me in on this.

Now. About the w98 problem.

I will try your suggestions. Thank you.

At present I have found something on the KB that might be pertinant. I just
started working on the steps it says to take. If you wouldn't mind, could
you
go to the url below, take a look at it and see if I'm wasting my time?

"<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;176050>
WD98: Troubleshooting Damaged Documents in Word 98 for Macintosh
This article was previously published under Q176050"

Thanks much,
Rafael


From: Beth Rosengard <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 23:14:04 -0700
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap


Sorry, Dayo. I replied more or less exactly as you did before I noticed
your
post. (Thought I had checked for replies, but somehow I missed it; I don't
read "threaded" ­ don't like it .

 

[rafael montserrat]

Hi Beth,

In plain text, then, emphasis HAS to be done with caps because ITALIC,
customarily used for emphasis, is not available.

Best.

Rafael

From: Beth Rosengard <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 10:56:47 -0700
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap

Hi Rafael,

My response to Dayo's post answers most of your questions. Check back for
it.

As for selecting "colors and >> in preferences", you're best off leaving it
at the default, though you can make changes if you want. Look at what I did
to your post below. If you return your preferences to the default, you'll
see what six generations of posts would look like. The colors stop changing
after the fourth generation. The >>> marks seemingly go on forever.

Posting in-line is fine. Shouting is not fine. EXCEPT for deliberate
emphasis . Now that you're in plain text (thank you!), you won't need to
shout.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

Thanks Dayo, [This is 1 generation removed.]

It seemed that the newsgroups were defaulted by date. I know I can change
that in my outlook. [This is 2 generations removed.]

I've turned off HTML in this response in the box on the letter menu bar
just
above the letter window. Then in OE Preferences > messages there are two
formats that can be chosen both for "Mail Format" and "News Format". I'm
not
clear about this. Does "News Format" mean newsgroups and "Mail Format" mean
the rest of my email correspondence"? Do you work on Outlook Express? "Same
format it was written" is in preference choices. [This is three...]

I've selected some colors and >> in preferences but they have not shown up
in this letter. Maybe when sent. I'll send a copy to myself. [this is four...]

So "posting in line", as I did shouting, is OK? [This is five...]

The rest of your email below describes things to be tried. [This is

six...]

Thanks, Rafael

Hi Rafael,

The "threaded" Beth referred to is just sorting the posts by subject,
instead of date, and it's entirely a matter of personal preference, not a
netiquette issue. I *think* you should be able to set Outlook Express to
either post to NGs in plain text instead of HTML, or to reply to a message
in the same format it was written, which should fix the differentiation
problem by using colors and >>> for different posters automatically. Posting
in-line (interspersed point by point) or top-posting is fine--sometimes one
makes more sense than another.

Re your later question: Remove Office will not remove any of your documents,
but will get rid of the myriad prefs files, system extensions, etc that MS
Office puts in and doesn't always label clearly. And reinstalling should
return the components that Outlook, etc, may depend on, which is what the
warning is really for. You will want to backup your preferences, especially
in Excel, Powerpoint, which will also get removed along with Word, as part
of Office.

But your data will be fine (although it's always a good idea to backup
before doing any type of installation, and especially a good idea to backup
more frequently when your system is acting wacky.

I checked out the KB article you mentioned--I'm really not an expert on this
at all but....--since it happens with every document, I think you can be
pretty confident you don't have a damaged document, but the first six things
they say to try under "Identifying a Damaged Document" may help you narrow
down the problem. I feel like extension conflicts usually result in crashes
rather than misbehaving displays, but starting up with extensions off is
always worth a try, and a fairly quick check.

Did a KB search for either MS or Apple return anything helpful re graphics
cards or display problems?

Dayo

Dayo,

Sorry. I didn't mean to shout. I didn't know about that. I was just trying
to
differentiate... you know. Also, is that the kind of threading that Beth
doesn't like? Seemed like a good way to answer point by point. I guess the
thing to do on the newsgroup would be to go point by point in a separate
answer not intermingled with yours.

Would you please clue me in on this.

Now. About the w98 problem.

I will try your suggestions. Thank you.

At present I have found something on the KB that might be pertinant. I just
started working on the steps it says to take. If you wouldn't mind, could
you
go to the url below, take a look at it and see if I'm wasting my time?

"<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;176050>
WD98: Troubleshooting Damaged Documents in Word 98 for Macintosh
This article was previously published under Q176050"

Thanks much,
Rafael


From: Beth Rosengard <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 23:14:04 -0700
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap


Sorry, Dayo. I replied more or less exactly as you did before I noticed
your
post. (Thought I had checked for replies, but somehow I missed it; I don't
read "threaded" ­ don't like it .

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

Plain text workarounds are asterisks for *emphasis* and _underline_ for
titles, though caps for emphasis is not rude...

But here's a second NG issue to deal with--I'm online and getting your posts
about midnight, 1am Sunday but they show up in my Entourage NG dated about
6pm Sunday. Anybody know what might be causing this? Rafael, do you have
your time zones set properly? Would this be my issue?

And don't forget to let us know how the Word problem progresses...

Dayo

Hi Beth,

In plain text, then, emphasis HAS to be done with caps because ITALIC,
customarily used for emphasis, is not available.

Best.

Rafael

From: Beth Rosengard <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 10:56:47 -0700
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap

Hi Rafael,

My response to Dayo's post answers most of your questions. Check back for
it.

As for selecting "colors and >> in preferences", you're best off leaving it
at the default, though you can make changes if you want. Look at what I did
to your post below. If you return your preferences to the default, you'll
see what six generations of posts would look like. The colors stop changing
after the fourth generation. The >>> marks seemingly go on forever.

Posting in-line is fine. Shouting is not fine. EXCEPT for deliberate
emphasis . Now that you're in plain text (thank you!), you won't need to
shout.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

Thanks Dayo, [This is 1 generation removed.]

It seemed that the newsgroups were defaulted by date. I know I can change
that in my outlook. [This is 2 generations removed.]

I've turned off HTML in this response in the box on the letter menu bar
just
above the letter window. Then in OE Preferences > messages there are two
formats that can be chosen both for "Mail Format" and "News Format". I'm
not
clear about this. Does "News Format" mean newsgroups and "Mail Format"
mean
the rest of my email correspondence"? Do you work on Outlook Express?
"Same
format it was written" is in preference choices. [This is three...]

I've selected some colors and >> in preferences but they have not shown
up
in this letter. Maybe when sent. I'll send a copy to myself. [this is four...]

So "posting in line", as I did shouting, is OK? [This is five...]

The rest of your email below describes things to be tried. [This is six...]

Thanks, Rafael

Hi Rafael,

The "threaded" Beth referred to is just sorting the posts by subject,
instead of date, and it's entirely a matter of personal preference, not a
netiquette issue. I *think* you should be able to set Outlook Express to
either post to NGs in plain text instead of HTML, or to reply to a message
in the same format it was written, which should fix the differentiation
problem by using colors and >>> for different posters automatically. Posting
in-line (interspersed point by point) or top-posting is fine--sometimes one
makes more sense than another.

Re your later question: Remove Office will not remove any of your documents,
but will get rid of the myriad prefs files, system extensions, etc that MS
Office puts in and doesn't always label clearly. And reinstalling should
return the components that Outlook, etc, may depend on, which is what the
warning is really for. You will want to backup your preferences, especially
in Excel, Powerpoint, which will also get removed along with Word, as part
of Office.

But your data will be fine (although it's always a good idea to backup
before doing any type of installation, and especially a good idea to backup
more frequently when your system is acting wacky.

I checked out the KB article you mentioned--I'm really not an expert on this
at all but....--since it happens with every document, I think you can be
pretty confident you don't have a damaged document, but the first six things
they say to try under "Identifying a Damaged Document" may help you narrow
down the problem. I feel like extension conflicts usually result in crashes
rather than misbehaving displays, but starting up with extensions off is
always worth a try, and a fairly quick check.

Did a KB search for either MS or Apple return anything helpful re graphics
cards or display problems?

Dayo


On 9/20/03 12:29 PM, in article BB9230F6.300C%[email protected], "rafael

Dayo,

Sorry. I didn't mean to shout. I didn't know about that. I was just trying
to
differentiate... you know. Also, is that the kind of threading that Beth
doesn't like? Seemed like a good way to answer point by point. I guess
the
thing to do on the newsgroup would be to go point by point in a separate
answer not intermingled with yours.

Would you please clue me in on this.

Now. About the w98 problem.

I will try your suggestions. Thank you.

At present I have found something on the KB that might be pertinant. I
just
started working on the steps it says to take. If you wouldn't mind, could
you
go to the url below, take a look at it and see if I'm wasting my time?

"<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;176050>
WD98: Troubleshooting Damaged Documents in Word 98 for Macintosh
This article was previously published under Q176050"

Thanks much,
Rafael


From: Beth Rosengard <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 23:14:04 -0700
Subject: Re: Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up & Overlap


Sorry, Dayo. I replied more or less exactly as you did before I noticed
your
post. (Thought I had checked for replies, but somehow I missed it; I
don't
read "threaded" ­ don't like it .