Word 2003 Issues

[Anna Summers]

I am debating whether to get Office 2003. On my friend's machine, every time
Word2003 starts up, ZoneAlarm sees that it is trying to "phone home." There
were several helpful suggestions, but even with internet access turned off
everywhere in Word 2003, it still tries to access the internet (UNLESS there
is no connection available - computer is actually offline - it seems to
detect this) and if she says "no" when a connection is available, it refuses
to start. It seems to know if there is internet access available and if so,
insists on "phoning home." IF ZoneAlarm was NOT installed with instructions
to ask permission EVERY time ANY software tried to access the internet, then
we would have NO IDEA that Word 2003 was doing this - it would just sneak in
under the radar. If you don't have this type of firewall then it may be
doing it without you realizing it when you DO have an internet connection.
Does anyone have an open internet connection WITH this type of firewall (that
notifies you of every connection attempt) - AND is able to stop Word 2003
from this behavior? (if you don't have this sort of notification, you
wouldn't know it was happening)

Another issue is the format & styles. My friend's dropdown style box on the
toolbar fills up with 30 items - everytime she changes a font on a word in a
document, it seems to add a style to that list. It is unwieldy and
overwhelming to have to PAGE thru the drop down list. It obviously doesn't
work the same way as Word 2000 - what is going on?

Thanks, --Anna

 

[lostinspace]

"I am debating whether to get Office 2003. On my friend's machine, every
time
Word2003 starts up, ZoneAlarm sees that it is trying to "phone home." There
were several helpful suggestions, but even with internet access turned off
everywhere in Word 2003, it still tries to access the internet (UNLESS there
is no connection available - computer is actually offline - it seems to
detect this) and if she says "no" when a connection is available, it refuses
to start. It seems to know if there is internet access available and if so,
insists on "phoning home." IF ZoneAlarm was NOT installed with instructions
to ask permission EVERY time ANY software tried to access the internet, then
we would have NO IDEA that Word 2003 was doing this - it would just sneak in
under the radar. If you don't have this type of firewall then it may be
doing it without you realizing it when you DO have an internet connection.
Does anyone have an open internet connection WITH this type of firewall
(that
notifies you of every connection attempt) - AND is able to stop Word 2003
from this behavior? (if you don't have this sort of notification, you
wouldn't know it was happening)"

Have you tried TURNING OFF automatic updates?

There are many software's, freeware and otherwise which provide
notification.
The old Proximitron is one, although there hasn't been any updates, it still
functions.

Another that I use is XP Firewall Logger.

 

[Jezebel]

Answered in your other thread.

 

[Joe McGuire]

Your Word 2003-Zone Alarm issue is not clear, e.g., "phone home." (Phone?
Home? Is that E.T. using the phone again?) I use to use ZA, but with Word
/Office 2000. ZA is a very good firewall. Some say it's the best. You can
set it to allow varous programs to access the internet. Word 2003 would be
one such program, along with other Office applications and Windows and your
antivirus software. Most of these programs are set up to go on line and
check for updates. If you set ZA to alert you each time a particular
program wants to go on line you will be bothered a lot with pretty useless
information. If you are concerned that something untoward might be
happening if Word wants to go online I don't think you should worry. As I
recall, ZA gets very detailed about programs going on line; not only does it
control whether a program may do so but what site(s) it is allowed to
access. Actually, the fact that ZA is that is so thorough and detailed can
also be seen as a drawback. I use Office?Word 2003, but with a different
firewall, so I can't help you beyond what I have outlined.

Your question about styles is a good one. The phenomenon also occurs n Word
2002. I raised this question in an earlier post on thie BB and was pointed
to this article:
http://shaunakelly.com/word/sfpane/StylesAndFormattingPane.html#WordDoesNotCreateNewStyles.
I learned that what looks like the out-of-control proliferation of styles
isn't really styles at all but formatting. It can be turned off by going to
Tools, Options, Edit and unchecking Keep Track of Formatting. See if that
helps.

Joe McGuire