Problem after transfering custom.dic file to laptop.

[Snickers]

I have used Word 2000 for several years and have added many terms to the
custom dictionary. I recently bought a laptop computer, and transfered the
Custom.dic file from my desktop computer. (I also transfered normal.dot, and
the files for autocorrect.) However, the spellchecker stops on words that I
KNOW I have added, and they are in the dictionary on my desktop computer. I
was going to just copy and paste the text file from one computer to the
other, but when I open the custom.dic file on my desktop, the only words I
see are ones added recently, so there is not much to cut and paste. I have
checked to make sure there are not multiple dictionaries. I added a nonsense
word to the desktop dictionary and then transfered the file again to the
laptop, and the nonsense word is indeed there, so I know it is reading the
correct file. But it still stops on multiple other words that it should
recognize. All suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

It's possible that when you copied your old Custom.dic to the new computer,
you didn't copy it to the location where Word is looking for Custom.dic.

 

[Snickers]

I have verified that it indeed is in the proper location and that Word is
reading that file. I added a specific nonsense word to the desktop
dictionary, then copied that dictionary file to the laptop, created a
document and used a misspelled version of the nonsense word, and the laptop
spellchecker did indeed stop on it and suggest the "correct" spelling of that
word. However, it is not recognizing countless other words that have been
added and that are accepted by the desktop dictionary. Again, this is Word
2000, and I am using with Windows XP Professional, if that is helpful.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Make sure that the language of the dictionary is set to All Languages. I'm
pretty much running out of ideas (though there might be something in
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/MasterSpellCheck.htm that would suggest
an avenue of exploration). Do you have an exclusion dictionary? I had an
episode recently where every word I added to my Custom.dic was also being
added to the .exc file. It was very bizarre, and since I got it straightened
out there has been no recurrence, but it's worth investigating.

If none of that helps, you might post in the
microsoft.public.word.spelling.grammar newsgroup, which specializes in
proofing tools issues.

 

[Snickers]

The language is set okay, and words get added to the dictionary just fine.
It's previously added words that the spellchecker refuses to recognize.

Thanks for the help. Will let you know if I find a solution.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You have confirmed that the previously added words are actually in the
Custom.dic when you open it via Tools | Options | Spelling and Grammar?

 

[Snickers]

I have opened the custom.dic as a text file and there are recently added
words there, but not words that have added in past years. For example
physician names or medical terms that I have used for a long time, and the
desktop spellchecker does not stop on them, but when I spellcheck on the
notebook computer, it will stop on these words as if they had not been added.
However, I can add a word when spellchecking on the notebook computer, and it
will then retain and recognize that word in the future, but many of these are
terms that have already been added in years past and the desktop spellchecker
passes them just fine. And it is the same custom.dic file that I have copied
from the desktop computer onto the notebook. Does the custom.dic file reach
a point where it compresses or stores entries in some way that they are no
longer visibile when viewing it as a text file, yet they are still in there
somewhere?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

This is not really an answer to my question. Did you open the Custom.dic
file through Tools | Options | Spelling & Grammar? (Not as a text file
through or outside of Word.) That is, did you click on Custom
Dictionaries..., select Custom.dic, and choose Modify, then check to make
sure that the relevant terms are included? If the words are not in
Custom.dic, then they will not be accepted.

And if they are accepted on the desktop and not on the laptop, then the
likelihood is that the Custom.dic file you copied from the desktop is not
the correct or most recent or applicable Custom.dic file. Word can use more
than one custom dictionary (though only one can be named Custom.dic), and
there could be several copies of Custom.dic spread around the hard drive; I
suggest you use Windows Search to look for others.

Alternatively, open Custom.dic on the desktop, copy its entire content and
paste it into a text file. Open the text file on the laptop and copy/paste
the contents into Custom.dic.

 

[Snickers]

Yes, I have opened the file from that location on both computers, and they
appear to be the same. In addition the nonsense word I added to the desktop
dictionary is also in the notebook version. I have searched both computers
for additional custom.dic files and found no others. However, not all of the
words I expected to find in the custom.dic file are there. For example,
proper names that I have added in the past are not in that list of words, yet
the spellchecker does not stop on them. Some of the words that the
spellchecker stops on in the notebook computer, yet accepts in the desktop
computer, are also not in that custom.dic file. Could that mean the problem
is with the main dictionary file, and not the custom.dic file? But I thought
the main dictionary file could not be altered in any way, and I installed
Word on the laptop using the same program disc that I used with the desktop
computer. Once again, I appreciate your continued patience with my
questions.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I have to say that it is definitely getting "curiouser and curiouser." Have
you perhaps applied updates to one installation that have not been added to
the other? I don't know it for a fact, but it's not impossible that words
might have been added to the built-in lexicon by an update, though again
that's really a long shot. Certainly more recent versions of Word have
included a lot more proper names than earlier ones did.

And again I'm assuming that you've verified that the words that aren't being
marked as misspelled have not been "ignored" or formatted as "Do not check
spelling or grammar."

 

[Snickers]

I have not applied any updates to Word 2000. I have used this for several
years, and I have installed it on both of these computers from the same
original program disk. I believe that Windows updates have been applied on
the notebook computer that have not been applied on the desktop computer, but
would that have any effect on how Word would function? I continue to use
Word 2000, because I use another program, a text-expander called Smartype,
and the version I have only works with Word 2000. They both have always
worked fine in the past, and I haven't had any need to update them. I have
also transfered both programs from a previous computer to my current desktop
computer and did not have a dictionary problem then. I have even created a
document on the desktop computer, then transferred a copy to the other
computer before spellchecking, and then spellchecked it on both computers.
The notebook computer will stop on lots of words that don't even seem to be
that out of the ordinary to me, and that are accepted just fine by the
desktop. Medical terms indeed, but terms I have used for years. And I have
not added any kind of medical spellchecker. I had one of those a few years
ago on an old computer, but I have not installed it on either of my two
current computers, the desktop or the notebook.

I have also gone through the Options in Word on both computers line by line
and made sure I had all the boxes checked the same on each computer. If
there is anytning outside of Word that I should take a look at, just let me
know.

Thanks again for all your help and patience.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I guess I've just run out of ideas. If Smartype is a Word add-in, it's
possible that it could have some effect, but I would be hard put to it to
say why this would be true in one instance and not the other.

What you describe sounds a lot like the problem I was having where words
were being put in the exclusion dictionary, but I believe we have
established that you don't have any such thing?

 

[Snickers]

Not to my knowledge, I don't have an exclusion dictionary. It's not anything
that I have intentionally created anyway.

 

[Snickers]

I just did another search of the hard drive on my desktop computer and found
a custom.dic file in the recycle bin. This is one that someone sent to me to
use with a new client, but since I preferred my own creation, I deleted it.
I just opened it and looked at what it contains. It has a lot of the words
that I think should be in mine, but I assume they were added there by its
previous owner. It has never been in the Microsoft Proof folder on my
computer, and this is not the one I copied to the laptop. I suppose I could
rename this and then add it to the Proof file on the laptop, becuase it does
contain a lot of needed words, but I have noted a couple of misspellings, so
I am reluctant to do that. I also don't think this is the one that my
desktop computer has been reading, because there are some regional proper
names that I have added to mine, and they are not in this file. I also
cannot understand why the custom.dic file that I have used for years would
only be 1 KB in size and not have things like the reginoal proper names in
its list of words when I open the file. This is driving me nuts, and I am
sure I am driving you nuts, also! Oh, well, I suppose I will just have to
start adding words to the notebook computer's dictionary, which is so
frustrating, because I like to verify everything before adding it, and that
can be very time-consuming. Thanks for listening.

 

[Snickers]

Could this possibly be part of the problem? I was just reading your article
about exclusion dictionaries and saw that the main Word dictionary is
MSSP3EN.lex. I did a search for .lex files on both computers. The MSSP3EN
file on my desktop computer is larger (667 KB) than the one on my laptop
computer and also has its last date modified as 1/8/2004. The laptop lists
the same file as being last modified in 11/22/1999 and is only 322 KB in
size. Could it be that at some point previous custom.dic words were
incorporated into the main dictionary, and that is the reason they are not in
the list when I open the custom.dic file? Should I copy the MSSP3EN file
from the desktop to the laptop and see if that solves the issue? Is it safe
to do that? Thanks. Nelda

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You're in uncharted territory as far as I'm concerned. I think I've probably
suggested before that you post in the microsoft.public.word.spelling.grammar
NG, and now I think we definitely need their expertise. I'll cross-post to
that group (should have done that days ago!).

 

[Snickers]

Woohoo! I fixed it. For some reaon, tne main dictionary file on the desktop
was larger and had been modified last in 2004. Apparently at some point,
words I had entered into the custom dictionary were incorporated into the
desktop dictionary. I copied that file onto my laptop computer, and the
spellcheckers recognizes all my stuff now. Thanks for all your help. I
couldn't have come to this point without reading all of your posts and your
article on exclusion dictionaries, which made me think to check the .lex
files and compare. Have a good weekend!

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I find that truly bizarre, but I'm glad you got it sorted. If you had been
updating the app on the desktop, I would think that perhaps the words had
been added to the lexicon by MS and therefore somehow automagically deleted
from the Custom.dic file, but that's rather a long shot, too. Thanks for the
feedback!

 

[Snickers]

I don't understand it either. I truly do not remember ever updating Word
2000 in any way, plus I have only been using this desktop computer since
2006, so the main dictionary file would have had to have been updated on my
previous computer. I don't remember transferring that file to the new one,
but that doesn't necessarily mean I didn't do it--the old gray brain cells
"just ain't what they used to be!" And I can't go back and look at my
previous computer, because the disc has been wiped since then. Thanks again
for all your help, because it was reading your posts and articles that
inspired me to compare the two main dictionary files. Happy Holidays!