Word 97 - how to always open in normal mode?

[Chris]

Being "the guy who knows computers", my dad asked me to troubleshoot his
Word 97 for him. I never use Word, so I've had trouble helping him.

Somehow, Word always opens files - new ones (CTRL-N) or old files saved
on disk - in a mode (Layout mode I think) which displays a sidebar
containing headlines and such on the left side of the screen. It never
"used to do this" - it just "suddenly started".

Choosing "Normal mode" from the "View" menu cures this temporarily, but
when a new document is opened - the sidebar is there again. Any way to
stay in normal mode *permanently*?

Searching the Web and Usenet, some of the solutions to similar problems
involved creating macros or messing around with template files, but
there has to be a simpler way. (My dad could never misconfigure an
autostart macro to open documents in Layout mode...)

Isn't there some option, a checkbox or something, hidden somewhere,
saying "Default editing mode: Normal mode"?

Any help greatly appreciated!

/Chris

 

[Stefan Blom]

See http://word.mvps.org/faqs/general/SaveViewAndZoom.htm.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message
news:[email protected]...

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

And note that what your dad is seeing sounds like the Document Map. There's
a toolbar button to turn it on and off, and it's also on the View Menu.
Switching to Normal view wouldn't get rid of it (since it is visible only in
Normal view). I suspect what your dad meant by "normal" view was Page Layout
view. The tip Stefan gave you will help with that, but it would also help to
turn off the DM before switching to Page Layout view.

 

[Chris]

And note that what your dad is seeing sounds like the Document Map. There's
a toolbar button to turn it on and off, and it's also on the View Menu.

That was it - problem solved. Thank you both for your replies.

Switching to Normal view wouldn't get rid of it (since it is visible only in
Normal view).

Hmm, but it did... That was why I originally wanted to make Word open in
Normal view, because Normal view got rid of the Document Map, so I
figured that Normal view was what he had used from the beginning, then
unknowingly switched to some other mode.

I suspect what your dad meant by "normal" view was Page Layout
view. The tip Stefan gave you will help with that, but it would also help to
turn off the DM before switching to Page Layout view.

Indeed it was - turning off the Document Map and choosing Page Layout
view returned Word to a state he was 100% familiar with.

/Chris

 

[Stefan Blom]

Actually, you can display the Document Map in Normal, Print Layout and
Outline views. Note, however, that displaying the DM in a certain view
does not affect the display in other views; whether it displays seems
to be stored with the view setting, just like Word has/can have
different zoom levels with different views. If, in a specific
document, the DM has only been displayed in Normal view, it won't
automatically show when you switch views. In other words, if you
display the DM in Normal view but not in Print Layout view, that
choice will be preserved as you close and reopen the document.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Ah, thanks for that. It didn't seem reasonable to me that it was available
only in Normal view, but I turned it on in Normal view, switched to Print
Layout and didn't see it, and drew the wrong conclusion. It makes sense (I
guess) that it would be analogous to Zoom.