normal.dot loading

A

Anon

Recently, Word 2002 keeps telling me that there have been changes to
normal.dot and giving me a chance to save them, even when there could
not have been any real changes because I didn't *do* anything. Even
more recently, I've noticed that, when I quit Word, there was a copy
of normal.dot opened up. I cannot see it when I click Window on the
toolbar, but it's there briefly when I shut down the program.

What's going on, and how can I make the program behave itself better?
 
C

Charles Kenyon

1) Something _is_ changing normal.dot. The usual suspect is a poorly-written
Add-In, of which there are a number. The Add-In will show up under Tools =>
Templates and Add-Ins... if it is a .dot file. If it is a .com Add-In, it
won't.

2) You probably have Windows set to hide system or hidden files. If you
change this setting, normal.dot may be visible all the time. If you have
never saved changes to normal.dot, it is my understanding that you won't
have such a file when Word 2002 closes; it creates and deletes it on the
fly. It saves a permanent copy when changes are made and saved.
--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
<URL: http://addbalance.com/word/index.htm>

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
<URL: http://addbalance.com/usersguide/index.htm>

See also the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
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B

Bob Weaver

I'm having similar problems, in that whenever I close Word the system
automatically saves the normal.dot.

Check in Tools/Options/Save and see if the "Prompt to save Normal.dot"
option is checked.
 
T

TF

AND KEEP IT CHECKED. That setting should be kept on all the time: it warns
you that something is changing your global template. Clearing the check box
achieves nothing: the global template is still being changed and you haven't
investigated why or what.

This problem is normally caused by a third party add-in, template or COM
add-in. Usual suspects are anything by Adobe or Symantec, Works Suite
Add-in, Stamps.com and the Microsoft Remove Hidden Data add-in.



: I'm having similar problems, in that whenever I close Word the system
: automatically saves the normal.dot.
:
: Check in Tools/Options/Save and see if the "Prompt to save Normal.dot"
: option is checked.
:
:
: : > Recently, Word 2002 keeps telling me that there have been changes to
: > normal.dot and giving me a chance to save them, even when there could
: > not have been any real changes because I didn't *do* anything. Even
: > more recently, I've noticed that, when I quit Word, there was a copy
: > of normal.dot opened up. I cannot see it when I click Window on the
: > toolbar, but it's there briefly when I shut down the program.
: >
: > What's going on, and how can I make the program behave itself better?
:
:
 
G

Ginger

I have this problem too. No dot file shows up in the Templates/Add in box. I've unchecked the Symantec add-in and can't find one in Adobe or Photoshop. What is a COM add-in? Perhaps it's that?
 
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