Word 2003 opens in strange mode

[Wowbagger]

How do I tell Word 2003 to open documents in 'Normal' or 'Print Layout'
instead of some sort of weird preview that doesn't even get the pages right?

--
Thanks

"He had had his immortality thrust upon him by an unfortunate accident with
an irrational particle accelerator, a liquid lunch and a pair of rubber
bands. The precise details of the accident are not important because no one
has ever managed to duplicate the exact circumstances under which it
happened, and many people have ended up looking very silly, or dead, or
both, trying."

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

See http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/SaveViewAndZoom.htm

 

[Wowbagger]

I didn't state the problem correctly. The documents that are opening
strangely aren't new (blank), but documents that were mailed to me as an
attachment.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

As I believe the referenced article makes clear, all documents open in the
view in which they were saved. You therefore can't do anything about the way
documents you receive open the first time. However, if you change the view
and make some other change, then resave, the document will open in your
preferred view the next time.

 

[Wowbagger]

The weird thing is that I've never used this "reading layout" before... is
this something new to Word 2003?

I've found the answer - for some reason it wasn't coming up in the online
help search that was on by default - "Note When you open a Microsoft Word
document that you have received as an e-mail attachment, Word automatically
switches to reading layout view. If you don't want to use reading layout
view for e-mail attachments, clear the Allow starting in Reading Layout
check box on the General tab of the Options dialog box (Tools menu)."

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Yes, Reading Layout view is new in Word 2003 but has obviously made a hit
with the people who are sending documents to you!

I agree it's weird (and certainly not suitable for editing or displaying
highly formatted documents), but it does appear very satisfactory for just
reading plain text.

 

[Wowbagger]

Yes, Reading Layout view is new in Word 2003 but has obviously made a hit
with the people who are sending documents to you!

Everything that is sent as an email attachment opens in reading layout by
default.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Ah, okay. I don't open attachments directly from email.