"Normal file" already exists warning

[Mark]

Whenever I exit out of OUTLOOK or WORD I get the
warning: "The file normal alread exists. Do you want to
replace the existing file?" "Normal" is a template file
but I don't know what has triggered my s/w to start
prompting me every time I exit the applications. I have
been using the s/w for over a year....any suggestions?

 

[Rob Schneider]

Whenever I exit out of OUTLOOK or WORD I get the
warning: "The file normal alread exists. Do you want to
replace the existing file?" "Normal" is a template file
but I don't know what has triggered my s/w to start
prompting me every time I exit the applications. I have
been using the s/w for over a year....any suggestions?

My hunch is that you have slightly edited the error message in the above
post, and that you use Word as your Outlook editor (not mentioned above).

My hunch is that the problem is that Word is prompting you about saving
the normal.dot template file when you close Word.

See in Word: Menu: Tools/Options, Tab; Save, check box on "Prompt to
Save Normal template". Read in Help about this option (click on the ?
in uppper right corner, and rad about the this save option).

 

[Mark]

Thanks, that is new and helpful information for me.
However, upon further analysis, I discovered there was
something else screwy with my s/w in that
WORD/EXCEL/PPOINT could not read any files. (kept
getting "file doesn't exist") warning whenever I tried to
open any file from those apps. So, I uninstalled and
reinstalled Office XP and everything is fine now.

-----Original Message-----


My hunch is that you have slightly edited the error message in the above
post, and that you use Word as your Outlook editor (not mentioned above).

My hunch is that the problem is that Word is prompting you about saving
the normal.dot template file when you close Word.

See in Word: Menu: Tools/Options, Tab; Save, check box on "Prompt to
Save Normal template". Read in Help about this option (click on the ?
in uppper right corner, and rad about the this save

option).

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Mark,

If you turned off the "Prompt to save Normal" then you should turn it
back on. It's kinda like your smoke detector, it's there to warn you
of a possible problem.

Turning off the prompt is like removing your smoke detector batteries
because it's beeping.

If you continue to encounter the prompt then more than likely you have
a misbehaved add-in that modifies your Normal.dot each time Word
starts which could ultimately lead to the corruption of your
Normal.dot. (This really depends on how poorly the add-in was written)

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

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

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

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Mark,

Do you also use Norton AV? If you do chances are it is responsible for
both problems.

In Norton go to Options and in the Miscellaneous section turn off
"Enable Office Plug-in".

Otherwise if you still encounter the prompt then to determine if you
are using any global templates go to Tools/Templates and Add-Ins and
see if there are any global templates or add-ins listed. If so they
are located in one of your Startup folders. The location of the
Word\Startup folder can be found under Tools/Options/File Locations
and the Office\Startup folder can be found in the Office installation
path..

Take a look in each folder and if you find more than one file move
them one at a time and try duplicating the error after each file is
moved out of the folder until you determine which one is causing the
problem.

As of Word 2000, Word can have COM add-ins. COM are added via the
Registry rather than the Startup folders. To determine whether or not
you are using COM Add-In you can add the "COM Add-in" command to your
toolbar:

- Right-click any toolbar and select Customize
- On the Commands tab, select the Tools category
- Locate COM Add-Ins on the right
- Drag/Drop to a location of your choice

For more information on COM Add-Ins, see this article:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CheckIfAddinsInstalled.htm
--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

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

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

 

[Rob Schneider]

Mark,

You'll work through this ... but *rarely* is it necessary to reinstall
to fix these sort of problems......... Don't rush to reinstall
anything. Know exactly what it will do before doing it.