import .dot into word 2007

[simple simon]

Hi there,

how do people upgrading from word 2003 to word 2007 (on a new pc) import the
..dot templetes into word 2007.

These .dot files are often over 600kb in size, and full of macros. The
business is a legal firm and the secrataries do not want new computers with
Office 2007 because without theses template .dot files thew will lose their
macros.

Indeed these macros are so important to the secretaries that they even store
backup copies on the sever, for when word crashes.

Thanks
Simon

 

[Beth Melton]

They just open their old files in Word 2007. Files created in a previous
version will open in Compatibility Mode which will disable the majority of
commands that aren't compatibility with the old file format. They can be
converted to the new file format or leave them "as is", no conversion is
necessary.

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

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

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

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

 

[simple simon]

Thank you for your reply Beth but your reply did not answer my question.

Yes, the old documents will open in Word 2007 with ease. But, whereas when
people upgraded from Word 2000 and Word XP to Word 2003 it was possible to
just copy over the 'normal.dot' templates file with Word 2007 this does not
work.

With older versions of Word all I had to do was make sure the software was
closed and then go to the Templates folder (C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates) and replace the
exisiting normal.dot with the user's personal version of normal.dot

Word 2007 has a templates file with a file ending of .dotx, which is
something different, so copying the normal.dot to the relevant folder does
not have any affect.

What I was hoping to learn is how to import the data from the 'normal.dot'
into the 'normal.dotx'.

Simon

ps, I backed up a secretaries' normal.dot today and it contained so much
data that it was 1.6mb in size. As things stand right now switching to Word
2007 would see this lady loose everything in her 'normal.dot'

 

[Beth Melton]

Ah, but you didn't specify you were referring to Normal.dot. ;-) Yes, that
is different than converting any .dot file.

There are a couple ways to do this. One is to use the Organizer and copy the
macros from Normal.dot to Normal.dotx. The other is to force Word to covert
the old Normal.dot to the new file format.

For the Organizer:
- On the Developer tab click Document Template and then click Organizer.
Close the active document and open Normal.dot. Then on the Macro Project
Items tab, copy all Modules from Normal.dot to Normal.dotm.

To covert Normal.dot:
- Exit Word
- Place Normal.dot in the same location as Normal.dotm
- Rename Normal.dotm
- Right-click Normal.dot and then click Open (do not double-click the file)
- Click the Office Button and then click Convert
- Save Normal.dot as Normal.dotx. (Word will convert it to Normal.dotm
automatically)

Another alternative is to rename their old Normal.dot (to avoid confusion)
and place it in the user's Word Startup folder so it will automatically load
when Word starts and make the macros and customizations available.
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

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

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

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

 

[simple simon]

Thank you Beth, and apologies for the initial confusion about the type of
..dot file.

Simon

 

[Beth Melton]

You're welcome. Apology not necessary - it can be difficult to determine the
information that needs to be provided. As a general rule, the more details
the better.

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

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

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

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

 

[IT Admin]

Is there a script that I could run to convert the .dot to a .dotm.

Just go 500 users and i don't want to convert them all for them?

Cheers

Don