Nromal.dot gets renamed

[Perry]

Hi there,

Any ideas why [normal.dot] gets renamed to [normal.dot.old] when an instance
of word is called from another application.

Situation:
Powerbuilder application calls MS Word as automation server with general,
out-of-the-books automation code.

Extra info:
OS: Windows XP
MS Office XP UK with a Dutch language pack.
Word startup folder (in this enterprise setting) located in user's profile.
Problem seems to occur with a virgin/clean user's profile
(in other words: first enterprise login session or first MS Office/Word
session ...
MS Office FirstRun entry in registry = true)
We've monitored Windows Explorer (Word's startup folder).
When Word is called from the Powerbuild app, no instance of Word is
active...

We've noticed that the problem occurs once: during first MS Word session.
Searching for any file being modified in user's profile during appr. same
time as the instance of Word
was called from the Powerbuilder app turned out useless ...

What is forcing MS Word to rename [normal.dot] to [normal.dot.old]??
or
What is set during this first MS Word session in user's profile (or any
other location) ?

Is it a language setting? In other words, is Word trying to set any language
pack setting ??

 

[Cindy Meister]

Hi Perry

I've never heard of anything like this, but... I do know that more recent
versions of Word don't save a Normal.dot to disk until something has occurred
in a Word session that would require saving a Normal.dot (like creating an
AutoText entry).

So, is there a Normal.dot in the user profile before this first Word
sesssion? If yes, who or what put it there?

You might try pursuing this in the word.setup.networking and office.setup
newsgroups, as you're more likely to encounter people there who may know more
about what happens with Normal.dot on a "new" installation, or for a new
profile.

-- Cindy