how do i stop design mode automatically turning itself on?

[AndyCat]

I have designed a form with option buttons/text boxes etc that are to be
filled in by various users. I don't want them editing the document by mistake
etc. so protecetd the document, after turning design mode off. When i re-open
the document though, design mode is turned on and so the form cannot be
unprotected, while at the same time as it is protected design mode cannott be
turned off!

any help?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

ActiveX controls and document protection are not compatible. If you want to
create a protected form, you need to use form fields. See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/FillinTheBlanks.htm and especially
the forms tutorials by Dian Chapman that this article links to.

 

[Jay Freedman]

While it's more or less true that Control Toolbox objects and document
protection aren't compatible, the problem of the document being locked
up is caused by having your macro security level set to High (Tools >
Macro > Security). This is the situation described by the first note
in
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnword2k2/html/odc_activeX.asp.

Close the document and open some other document that doesn't contain
any ActiveX controls or macros. Set the macro security level to
Medium. Then reopen the protected document, and click the Enable
button in the warning message box. Then you'll be able to unprotect
the document and clean it up.