new template overwrites (?) Normal.dot

[Barbara White]

Hi, everyone...

A co-worker (who uses Word XP) added-in a Word template that contained
macros. The template came from a trusted source (Springer-Verlag, I
believe).

Now, whenever she opens Word, she sees that Springer-Verlag template
instead of her Normal.dot template.

I instructed her to do several things, but none of them worked. Namely:

.. check the Global templates and add-ins to see if the Springer template
was listed; delete it if it was. It wasn't listed. I believe
"Normal.dot" was listed as the document template.

.. delete Normal.dot & restart Word

.. copy a fresh Normal.dot to replace the existing one

.. do a new template add-in to point to the new Normal.dot

.. disable macros


Aside of re-installing Word XP, is there anything that I'm forgetting to
have her try? I couldn't find anything about this in the knowledgebase.

Many thanks for any pointers.

Barbara

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi, Barbara,

When you open Word without specifying an existing document to open or a
specific template to use, it creates a blank document based on Normal.dot.
If deleting Normal.dot and restarting didn't fix the problem, then there's
only one conclusion: the Normal.dot file that was deleted wasn't the one
Word uses.

To find the correct Normal.dot file, open Word and look in Tools > Options >
File Locations. The folder indicated as the User Templates location is where
the "real" Normal.dot lives. This is usually C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates.

Rather than delete the file (which would lose any customizations stored
there), rename it. After restarting Word, use the Organizer to copy any
customized styles, toolbars, AutoText entries, and macros from the old
template to the new one.

See http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/BlankDocNotBlank.htm for more.