Office Word 2003 fails to load template.

[Paul Muller]

Word 2003 from Office fails to load template.
I know about file locations and have changed this installation to verify
that it is not loading the template normal.dot. This is the only template I
use or have ever used.
***Instead it loads a false template in 'non-page' view mode, and will not
change to 'page view' or allow any other similar format changes. I can open a
document (INCLUDING the template itself) and then it functions correctly.
***It worked ok before then suddenly changed. This has happened before, then
fixes itself after a few weeks. I suspect this correlates when a Microsoft
update comes along. I have tried repairing it including erasing all settings
back to Default.
***I believe this failure correlates with double-clicking to start Word
BEFORE XP has finished the startup procedures.
*****That is why I am posting this; I think I have spotted a useful
correlation.
Paul Muller (Retired IT consultant).

 

[Guest]

What happens if you start Word in Safe Mode? From Start, Run, type in

WinWord /a

and press enter. If Word starts correctly now, it suggests that normal.dot
has been corrupted. Try renaming normal.dot as normal.bad and opening Word
again.

 

[Paul Muller]

Hi Terry:

Thanks for the response. I will do that and report back.

However, it is unlikely that Normal.dot is corrupted because I have created
and recreated that and test templates, checked that the directories are
correctly cited under Tools submenu where one can change them, and I have
indeed changed that directory and put a fresh normal.dot in it. It fails to
load, but if I open normal.dot from that directory, it then operates
correctly in and on that same file.

There is another point worth emphasizing. When Word opens with the
wrong/corrupted/inop "template" or "null" situation, Word is not functioning
correctly, for example, if I enter some text it takes it, but View/Print View
does not work along with some other formatting instructions.

I suspect that something is corrupted elsewhere, and Word isn't loading a
template at all, some sort of primordial "nominal" or "default" that we don't
usually see.

I 'repaired' the software including resetting of all parameters. That also
did not work.

Best regards, Paul.

 

[Paul Muller]

Hi Terry:

Further to your post, thanks.

I opened Word in Safe mode via Run as suggested, and it opened correctly.
This did surprise me for the reasons given in my first reply.
I looked into the Template; it is Microsoft's Standard Letter Format Template.
I had made sure that my target directory did not contain "normal.dot".
On exit, Word created "normal.dot" in the correct directory.
If I then run Word from the desktop, the "normal.dot" is the template used,
but Word displays it incorrectly (per my initial post). It will allow view
Web, but not View Page and other format changes are unreliable. It is
apparent that the template file is being corrupted when Word writes it.

I verified this by Running Word (runs okay as noted), and putting some text
in the first document, and saving that as a template, then renaming it
"normal.dot". On next run Word from desktop the text appears, but the format
has been corrupted.

I am reasonably certain that this is a bug.

An aside: I looked up in XP help the procedure for invoking Safe Mode as I
have not done this in 10 years! It bears no relationship to the procedure
that I had to use, discovered by trial and error: Restart (or just Open) XP,
wait for the 'beep' then hit F8. I know the BIOS entry and options quite
well. I could not find a way to get the safe mode menu other than by blindly
using F8 after the 'beep'! Strange, but irrelevant to this.

Best regards, Paul (Thanks for your comment as a senior member).

 

[Guest]

When you say you ran Word from your desktop, what do you mean? Is it
different than running it from the Start, Programs... route?

Terry

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Note that you cannot create Normal.dot in the way you describe. Only Word
can create Normal.dot.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Paul Muller]

Hi Terry again:

I am having a lot of trouble finding my way through this post and reply
system. I can read your reply, but if I click on reply main page of site, it
takes me away and I must search etc. Then if I wait, the reply window comes
up but your most recent reply does not show, and I am not sure you will see
this. I use other similar systems without difficulty.

Reply is that I opened XP in Safe Mode with the desktop. I opened Word
several times with Run, winword /a as you suggested. It loaded correctly. If
I then opened it from the desktop, it did not load correctly. That is
consistent with your prediction. What doesn't work is to replace normal.dot
(with or without text to check that the file is actually being read); if I
open with run it comes in with the nominal as expected, when I run it from
the desktop it brings in my file (normal.dot) but the format is corrupted,
not in page view, and will not accept format changes.

I hope that is clear. Thanks for you help.

Paul.

 

[Guest]

Suzanne gave you the clue here. You cannot manually create a normal.dot like
this. You must let Word create its own normal.dot and then edit it to meet
your requirements.

However, that is not the way to use Word. By all means edit the standard
features of normal.dot such as page margins, fonts, styles, etc. But if you
want to add text, change the Headers/Footers or whatever, you should create
a template. Then put a shortcut to the template on the desktop and when you
double-click it, the default action is to open a new document based on the
template.

Terry

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

For more on creating templates, see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org