No normal.dot* doc... how do I make one?

[Terry Farrell]

It should start if the XPS Doc Writer is set as the default.

Without any clues other than 'Word doesn't start' there is nothing more I
can suggest.

Terry

 

[Kerrick]

Sorry, but that's all I can really tell you - if I double-click on a document
or winword.exe, or Start/Programs/MS Office/Word, it all does the same thing
- hourglass for a second or two, it shows up on the task manager, then
vanishes and nothing happens. I can try DLing drivers for my printer and see
if those work... I don't understand why Word has to have a printer driver
installed to work anyway.

 

[Terry Farrell]

Because Word needs to know the printer's parameters - such as line pitch,
printable area, resolution, etc. - in order to lay out the page correctly
(as it will appear on a particular printer): the parameters are held in the
printer driver. Every printer is different and every printer driver is
different. You can even get slightly different page layouts when switching
from an XP driver to a Vista driver for exactly the same printer.

Terry

 

[Beth Melton]

Sorry, but that's all I can really tell you - if I double-click on a
document
or winword.exe, or Start/Programs/MS Office/Word, it all does the same
thing
- hourglass for a second or two, it shows up on the task manager, then
vanishes and nothing happens. I can try DLing drivers for my printer and
see
if those work... I don't understand why Word has to have a printer driver
installed to work anyway.

To rule out the printer driver try installing any printer driver, such as an
HP Laser Jet 5, and set it as the default. You don't actually need the
printer in order to install a driver. I have several different drivers
installed in order to test various scenarios in Word.

As for why Word needs a printer, it does and it doesn't. As Terry explained,
it needs a printer driver in order to display your document on the screen as
it will look when printed. However, there isn't a requirement to install a
printer in order to run Word. If there isn't a printer installed then it
uses an internal driver. BUT if there is a printer installed and if there is
a problem with it, for example if Word can't find the printer driver to
obtain the needed information, such as printable area, fonts, etc, then
you'll encounter issues and Word may hang or crash. They (MS) have tried to
correct this issue and it works better in Word 2007, for example if the
printer driver can't be found you'll be prompted accordingly and the
internal driver will be used, but they have yet to perfect their procedure
and accommodate every scenario. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Beth Melton]

Word doesn't create a normal template with a new installation until it is
needed.

Not that this is applicable to the OP's question but your post reminded me
of something I stumbled on awhile back. In the past we've discussed when the
Normal template is created. Some find it's created when the application is
installed and others find it's created only after a change to trigger its
creation. I believe we chalked it up to "one of Word's oddities" but I may
have found the difference in behavior I found if you are using Terminal
Services then a Normal template isn't created until the user makes a
modification that triggers the creation of the Normal template. If you
aren't using Terminal Services then the Normal template is created when Word
is installed.

Could that be the answer Terry? Were you using Terminal Services when you
weren't seeing the automatic creation of the Normal template?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Terry Farrell]

Beth

It was certainly the case that I did use VPN and TS to work remotely at
home: we later upgraded to Citrix. I did meet that scenario, so it is a
possibility. Now I am retired, I will be installing my next version of Word
without any remote software - but that will probably be on Windows 7, so
much will differ. But I will definitely watch to see the status of
normal.dotm (or whatever) when I do my next clean installation.

Terry

 

[Beth Melton]

Thanks for the confirmation, Terry. If you encountered this on TS then I'm
thinking we can finally put this mystery to rest.

Speaking of mysteries, I just thought of another Word discrepancy we've
discussed in the past as well and I think it too has to do with TS. Do you
recall the discussion about the ability to modify a global template and save
the changes even though other users were in Word and had the global template
loaded? IIRC, you said you could modify and save a global template while
other users had it loaded but others reported they encountered the "locked
file" message when they attempted to save the changes.

While working for a client who uses TS there were times I could also save a
modified global template even though Word was running the global template
was loaded in his session. I couldn't pinpoint the difference until I
encountered a situation in which my client (who had Word running at the
time) was unable to see the revisions until he logged off and then logged
back on again. That led me to think his profile was cached. Later verified
that TS does enable users to cache a roaming profile.

Sooo...the mystery of the ability to modify a global template while others
have it loaded could also be attributed to TS. If one isn't using TS and a
cached profile then when one attempts to modify a loaded global template
they encounter the "locked file" message. What do you think? Do you think TS
may have solved two "Word mysteries"?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Terry Farrell]

That sounds a possible scenario. I know that normal.dot has some unusual
characteristics when using TS, so it may explain those two anomalies and
maybe some others that we haven't thought of yet.

Terry

 

[Beth Melton]

I agree, it might end up explaining a lot. But now we know to ask about TS.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx